(Denver, CO). Johnny DeFeo lives and works in Denver, Colorado. He earned his MFA in painting from CU Boulder in 2017. During his graduate studies he exhibited in national juried MFA exhibitions in New York and Chicago, and organized exhibitions and collaborative curatorial projects with artists and curators in Boulder and Denver. He is a co-founder of SWAB (Southwest American Bullet), a traveling artist residency organized along with painter Aaron Zulpo. In 2018 and 2019 he has exhibited works nationally and internationally. DeFeo creates artworks, textiles, and tufted yarn wall hangings, all of which belong to the concept of souvenir, attempting to capture the experiences he has in the natural world, where he feels free and most at home. IMPERFECT EFFORTS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING/ IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU, SPECIFICALLY This flag has two sides, one is a raccoon reaching for a glowing rainbow. I chose a raccoon because a reaching raccoon looks awkward and it's funny to watch, and it ultimately has become very good at getting what it needs, grace and poise be damned. And it's ok to try things and look and feel awkward. On it the words "your imperfect efforts will change everything" in the negative space. On the other side of the flag there is a depiction of an adult deer pulling a branch down to a fawn to help it eat the last leaf on the branch. On this side I wrote "it all depends on you, specifically." Because it does, all of it-- other people, the environment, the world-- and I want the viewer to know that it is all counting on them. I hope that the viewer takes both of these messages literally. The flag is constructed by a process called "yarn tufting" which entails shooting yarn with a sewing machine presser foot type mechanism through a woven matrix, locking the yarn in place.

(Palouse, WA). Mary Welcome is a multidisciplinary cultural worker with an emphasis on cultural empowerment in rural and under-recognized communities. As an artist-activist, her projects are rooted in community engagement and the development of intersectional programming to address hyper-local issues of equity, cultural advocacy, inclusivity, visibility, and imagination. She uses conversational research, publications, performance, picnics, and play to express and understand the places we situate ourselves within. Mary believes in small towns, long winters, optimists, parades, and talking about feelings. 50 STATES FOR 50 LOVERS AND 50 WAYS TO LEAVE THEM is a litany that looks forward in geologic time to our next great mistakes. We break and bend the miles between us; we fold into and fault each other; we measure out the flood and fury trapped within the blink of an eye. The soft edge of this meditatifon is a long haul across a country where every place can be a hoping machine. Sometimes you’ve got to tear it apart to keep it together.

(Boulder, CO). Steven Frost holds an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is an instructor in the Media Studies Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Using weaving, Frost combines yarn and cotton with non-traditional weaving materials from a range of sources, exploring the ways history and time are embedded in materials. His materials evoke specific narratives and stories, referencing aspects of the artist’s personal and family history, the history of the LGBTQ rights movement, and the recent Women’s Marches, among other topics. In workshops and interactive performance events, the artist invites participants to weave, using laser-cut versions of a traditional backstrap loom. By bringing together groups to weave collectively, Frost explores the ways weaving can act as a metaphor for communities working together. USING THE POWER OF HIS OFFICE In September 2019 a whistleblower inside the CIA made reported that the president was, “Using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.” My poem for our nation is not one of unity or peace but is instead, an incantation created to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box or in the Senate. My banner reads, “USING THE POWER OF HIS OFFICE”, and was hand-embroidered with a bright coral pink acrylic yarn. The background of the banner was handwoven line by line using reflective gold and umber materials. These materials reflect the facade of wealth and celebrity that helped Trump gain fame. The laborious production methods used in constructing this piece reflect efforts big and small by millions of hopeful individuals working to resist the harmful policies of the Trump administration.

(Denver, CO). Susan Wick (b. 1938, Madison, Wisconsin) is an artist living and working in Denver, Colorado. As part of the 1970’s San Francisco based performance collective Baker/Rappaport/Wick, she exhibited at the California State University, Los Angeles, University Art Museum, Berkeley, San Francisco Art Institute, Musee Des Beaux Arts Laussane, Switzerland and the Bologna Biennial among others. As a solo artist she had a one-person exhibition at the DeSaisset Art Museum, Santa Clara, California (1981) thereafter moving to Denver, Colorado where she continued to work in relative isolation from the broader art world, periodically exhibiting in local exhibitions, until recently. In 2006, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver named Wick “Colorado Artist of the Year” and presented a solo exhibition of her work. In 2015, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art presented a 50 year-survey of the artist’s work. WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHAT ABOUT ME? “It’s all about the people! All the people! The red ones, the purple ones, the different ages, the different orientations. We all need the same human survival plus things, interactions, respect, love. Etc etc etc etc etc etc. 2020 is a magic number! Let’s make magic together!”

(Denver, CO). Noah Schneiderman is a Denver transplant of 3 years from a small rural town in Southern Illinois. His work serves as a pictorial diary for the inner-self where escapist tendencies express themselves as note-cards, ethereal figures, or repetitious mark making to create abstract color fields. WE WILL START LOVING EACH OTHER “As we insist on complicating our lives, we allow ourselves to lose touch with our innate ability to care for each other. Didn’t we learn this a long time ago? What happened to the golden rule? Anyways, we better get to work, the test is tomorrow and we haven’t studied a bit.”

(Ypsilanti, MI/Denver, CO). Jackie Barry is an artist and wildland firefighter making work involving community, ecology, and feelings. LESS CURATION/MORE CONVERSATION As a society, we have carefully, slowly, and intently backed ourselves into our safe and perfectly-curated worlds. We follow news that echoes our own beliefs. Those we talk to regularly nod in agreement and don’t challenge our opinions. Our dinner guests are always on the same side of the picket line. I implore you - my friends, family, and acquaintances - to join me and take one step out of your comfort zone, (albeit SAFELY) and have more conversations with those whose beliefs are different from your own. It is of utmost importance.

(Los Angeles, CA). Frohawk Two Feathers is the pseudonym for L.A.-based artist Umar Rashid. His works typically contain a mashup of references, combining elements of 18th- and 19th-century colonial portraiture and folk art with visual signifiers of contemporary urban culture, including jewelry and body art associated with present-day gangsters and hipsters. By re-imagining colonial history, his work shows the subjective nature of historical recollection and wryly points to the instability of public histories and confronts issues of race, power, and greed. COLONIALISM IS STATE SPONSORED TERROR is a work in line with my reimagined, historical narrative of the colonial area. Currently I'm focused on the Guianas (more importantly, Suriname) and by combining iconography of the period with modern hobo symbols, I have created a visual language to describe the imagery of the flag.

(Los Angeles, CA). Sally Chung is an artist living and making in Los Angeles. Her work draws from motifs in Korean folk art and mythology, interwoven with personal narratives. Creating portraits of women utilizing symbolism and text, she explores themes of 'han' (한), a collective form of grief in Korean culture. I HOPE YOU GROW WELL is a piece about starting again. Reflecting on the year, a wildfire almost ravaged my childhood home and with it came a laundry list of unpleasant happenings in the world. However, just like fire is a crucial part of a forest ecosystem, there is always a need for regeneration. As an anthem for the new year, a cheers to the ability to grow again.