Aurora Adams (US, 1988) is a visual artist and performer based in Denver, working primarily in portraiture and editorial photography. Playing the edge of stylized and gritty her work touches upon themes of naturalism, nostalgia, and sometimes the erotic. With vintage-inspired styling, pulling from themes of her extensive travels, she creates a space for her subjects to blossom into new characters and forms; cultivating a space between the true nature of her subjects and who they become in front of her lens.

Kaylee Bender (she/they) is a Pittsburgh-born, Denver-based painter, educator, community outreach coordinator, and life-long artist inspired by her journey of healing, feeling and growing. She explores beauty and authenticity through surreal imaginations of human nature and our diverse stories.

Kaylee shares her craft and creative process in the community and empowers those around her. Her community engagement is focused on sharing “art as liberation” with black and brown youth and improving arts access for people experiencing social inequity. She mentors with RedLine’s EPIC and ArtCorps programs and launched the “Art in Public Places” Project with Lake Middle School in 2021.

LEANA (she/her) is a self-taught acrylic, mixed media, and digital artist bridging consciousness and expression. With focus on Afro-Surrealism portraits and Vibrant Abstract expression, every piece is meant to pull your awareness to your emotions and let you learn more about yourself. Deep creole and indigenous roots call for art as a pathway of spiritual interpretation, ancestral story telling, and release of energy in motion. Finding new ways to feel, in surreal ways. Without expression, we are stuck in the same evolution.

monaeism (they/them) (b. 1994, Galveston, TX) is a self-taught visual artist whose practice is a fluid exploration of identity, memory, and the intersections of the personal and the ancestral. Currently studying visual arts at Houston Community College, Monae works across multiple disciplines—including painting, collage, music/sound, poetry, and textiles—to weave narratives that honor Blackness, queerness, and the deep emotional textures of lived experience.

Their work has been featured in exhibitions such as the African-American Citywide Exhibit in Houston, TX, being a two-time recipient of an Award of Excellence from the Glassell School of Fine Arts and Texas Southern University (2022, 2024). Monae has also been a grant awardee of the Shane Patrick Boyle Memorial Grant for Emerging Zinesters (2024) lands of the American West.

Sergio Noé Perez Reyes (he/him) (b. 1997) is a Denver-based, multimedia artist from Chihuahua, Mexico. His practice expands past visual art, as he creates toys, produces music, serves as a creative director and stage designer. Sergio is a first generation senior at the University of Northern Colorado working towards his Bachelors in Software Engineering. He has participated in group exhibitions across CO, and held his first solo show in August 2019 at Favor. Most recently, he has been creating collaged oil pastel drawings, producing music for an upcoming EP release and has just finished creating his second line of toy collectables. His work encapsulates his daily life and the happenings around him. 

yvens Alex saintil (he/they) (b. 1985) is a Haitian-born multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of identity, race, power, systemic injustice, and their intricate interconnections. Residing in Denver, Colorado, Saintil draws on his experiences as a Black man, an immigrant, and a U.S. Army veteran to create art that intertwines deeply personal narratives with broader social critiques. As a Purple Heart recipient and combat veteran, he has transitioned into the arts with a robust commitment to activism.

His work has been prominently showcased in exhibitions such as "Through Their Lens” at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center (2020), “Yvens Alex Saintil” at East Window (2022), and the Youth Art Exhibitions at RedLine Contemporary Art Center (2022–2024). Notably, his series “Unrest in Denver” captures the profound intensity and impact of the 2020 protests, employing candid and spontaneous compositions to fully immerse viewers in the atmosphere of collective action and solidarity.

CURATOR

J. Benjamin Burney (he/him) is a Creative Technologist, photographer, curator, and world-builder whose work fuses photography, film, poetry, digital art, and immersive media. Rooted in Afrofuturism and auto-ethnography, his practice reimagines Black cultural narratives through myth, technology, and speculative design.

As the first student to earn a dual master’s in art Practices and Business from CU Boulder, Benjamin explores the intersection of art, historiography, and economic innovation. Photography is central to his work, serving as both documentary tool and portal, capturing history while distorting time and memory. His lens constructs living archives and speculative ecosystems that challenge dominant narratives.

As the founder of Zoid Art Haus (ZAH), he integrates storytelling, AI, and interactive design to create communal spaces—both digital and physical—where art, economics, and culture intersect. His ultimate aim is to build visual mythologies that redefine Black history, identity, and futurity.