Through years of exploration, Alexis has developed a keen eye for landscapes, especially trees, and their ability to be translated into various art forms. Alexis uses a wide range of artistic medium not limited to, but including Indian ink, oil paint, and water color. After graduating Radford University with a Masters of Fine Arts in 2009, Alexis has taught art to children and adults alike, opened exhibitions, and is currently the Director of Gallery Flux in Ashland, VA.

Paloma Barhaugh-Bordas is a visual artist living and working in Richmond, VA. Originally from Denver, Colorado, she received a BA in liberal arts from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Before moving to Richmond in August of 2013 to teach at VCU, Paloma was a Dean’s Scholar at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI where she earned an MFA in Printmaking. Her work adapts and appropriates the vernacular of the many regions she’s called home and traces the self-conscious search for cultural roots as a first-generation American.

After 25 years as a graphic designer and illustrator, Dan Michael began painting full-time in 2008. The majority of his work is produced on-site at locations near his home in Hanover County, Virginia. His approach to painting involves hundreds of scumbled strokes and marks of pigment, organized into patterns of shape and value, the result is a representation of reality. These arrangements of pastel marks go beyond a mechanical process, they are orchestrated to try and capture the elusive qualities of light and atmosphere that display the extraordinary characteristics of common subject matter.

Ashley Hawkins is the executive Director of Studio Two Three. She Graduated in 2007 from VCU with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, and was awarded a masters of Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from VCU in May, 2014. When not busy running S23 in all its awesome glory, Ashley enjoys designing props for movies that will never be made and dressing her newborn son in adorable outfits that he will grow up to resent.

Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Alexandria VA. Constant exposure to  public sculpture led to his decision to become a sculptor at the early age of nine. Starr  enlisted in the Marine Corps and served a 13 month tour in Vietnam, which would remain a deep secret from fellow students at VCU as an art major, after his return.  Moved to New York to experience the real NY art world while living with accomplished artist Larry Zox. Starr has now returned to Richmond and is about to have his second solo show on first Friday in October.

Ashley Kistler directs the Anderson Gallery at the VCU School of the Arts, having previously served as  exhibitions curator at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Over the past 25 years, she has organized dozens of exhibitions  presenting the work of regional, national, and international artists, as well as significant new commissions.

Jorge Benitez has an impressive array of expertise across various disciplines. He is a master in painting, drawing and printmaking. He has a deep understanding of art history and critical theory, communication arts practices, design arts, linguistic arts, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of digital technology. He has also had a career as co-founder and creative director of C5 Communications, an advertising firm specializing in business-to-business accounts. As a fluent French and Spanish speaker he developed advertising and collateral materials for the European and Latin American markets and designed ads for Japanese software publications and packaging for products sold throughout Asia.
www.arts.vcu.edu

Professor emeritus and former assistant chair of the Communication Arts + Design Department at Virginia Commonwealth University. BFA degree from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois and an MFA degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Chuck currently teaches courses in collage and assemblage at the Studio School in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.
www.chuckscalin.com

Reni Gower has over 30 years of professional experience in the fine arts. Her work has been showcased internationally in Qatar, UAE, Australia, Italy, Peru, Korea, Israel, Belgium, England, Moldova, and Moscow. Reni currently resides in Virginia where she is a professor in the Painting and Printmaking Department at Virginia Commonwealth University.
www.renigower.com