Danielle Krysa - “Finding Your Voice (while quieting that ‘other’ voice!)”

Danielle Krysa has a BFA in Visual Arts, and a post-grad in graphic design. She is the writer behind the contemporary art site, The Jealous Curator (est.2009), and has curated art shows all over North America. Danielle is also an artist herself, and her narrative mixed media work is held in private collections worldwide. She is the author of several art books, including “Creative Block”, “Your Inner Critic Is A Big Jerk”, “A Big Important Art Book - Now with Women”, and two children’s books; “How To Spot An Artist” and “Art and Joy”. Danielle has had the great pleasure of speaking at TEDx, PIXAR, Creative Mornings, and was interviewed in series of video segments on oprah.com about breaking through creative blocks and self-doubt.

Hettie Judah - Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood - Hettie Judah talks about her new touring exhibition and forthcoming book.

Hettie Judah is chief art critic on the British daily paper The i, a regular contributor to The Guardian’s arts pages, and a columnist for Apollo magazine. Following publication of her 2020 study on the impact of motherhood on artists’ careers, in 2021 she worked with a group of artists to draw up the manifesto How Not To Exclude Artist Parents, now available in 15 languages. Recent books include How Not To Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents) (Lund Humphries) and Lapidarium: The Secret Life of Stones (Penguin). In 2022, together with Jo Harrison, Hettie co-founded the Art Working Parents Alliance - a supportive network and campaigning group for parents working in the arts. Find out more and join the network here. Her Hayward Touring exhibition Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood opens at the Arnolfini in Bristol, UK, on 9 March 2024 and tours to Birmingham, Sheffield and Dundee. A book of the same title is published globally by Thames & Hudson in summer 2024.

Kimia Kline - “Trauma and Alchemy”

Artist and curator Kimia Ferdowsi Kline earned an M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute and a B.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was named a Danforth Scholar. She has mounted solo exhibitions at Turn Gallery, Marrow Gallery, Wayne State University, and 68 Projects. Select group shows include, Ceysson & Bénétière, The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, PACE University, CANADA Gallery, and The Drawing Center. In 2015 she was awarded The Basil Alkazzi Detroit Residency and Grant through the New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2018 she was honored to be nominated for a Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant, and was awarded a residency at the Macedonia Institute in Hudson, NY. Currently she is working on a monograph with Radius Books. Guest lectures and teaching include Yale University, Vanderbilt University, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, SUNY Purchase, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Brooklyn College, Wayne State University, and Chautauqua Institute. As a freelance curator, she consults for various private collectors and corporations. Select press includes, The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Cultured Magazine, New American Paintings, Architectural Digest, The Harvard Advocate, Departures Magazine, & Travel + Leisure. She splits her time between Nashville and New York.

Rachel Hayes - Where Color, Textile, and Installation Intersect: An Artist Talk with Rachel Hayes

I am a textile-based sculptor, often working in the realm of large format, site-specific installation. Using both familiar and unexpected materials that are typically machine sewn entirely by myself, I design and construct pieces that are visually remarkable, physically tactile, and emotionally uplifting, providing an opportunity for unexpected and elevated experiences. I interject color and form into environments that are both natural and man made, and use scale and the inherent responsiveness of the materials to create reflective experiences. When I install my work in nature, the pieces insert themselves into the surrounding environment and are activated by natural elements such as winds and sunlight. When installed indoors, the works respond to the architecture of the site and come alive through viewer engagement as bodies move in and around the space. Inspired by a vast array of sources, from abstract painting and minimalism to contemporary fashion and assorted textile techniques from around the world–my installations work within a given environment to reveal inherent qualities of that site, yet simultaneously function as stand alone pieces in their own right.