Rough Gems Application

Chief Curator of Union Hall

Esther is a multidisciplinary artist and arts professional. She recently managed an international artist residency, youth program, podcast, and exhibition space as Associate Director at PlatteForum. Her passion for supporting emerging artists and composing out-of-the-box opportunities and events shines through in her work. She has mentored young artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver through the Creator's Studio and Failure Lab programs and girls at Resilience Rising. Currently, she also works as an Executive Assistant at Black Ball Projects, a small arts nonprofit based in New York City, and maintains her studio practice at XDenver. A past resident artist at Redline Contemporary Art Center, she curated several experimental art events and has become well-known for installation and performance, setting up interactive creative experiences for the viewer. You can find her playing in her studio, hiking, and checking out art and music in her free time.

Derrick is an artist and exhibition organizer who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. He was a 2017 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors and a 2019 MacDowell Fellow. Derrick has served on the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs and the boards of Denver nonprofits Tilt West, Union Hall, and Minerva Projects. His most recent exhibitions include solo exhibitions at The Herron School of Art and Design, The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Robischon Gallery (Denver), Pentimenti (Philadelphia), Carvalho Park (Brooklyn), Galerie Robertson Ares (Montreal), and Hawthorn Contemporary (Milwaukee) as well as group exhibitions at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Transmitter in New York. Derrick founded Yes Ma’am Projects, an artist-run gallery in the basement of his Athmar Park home and Friend of a Friend, a project space in the Evans School, a mostly vacant schoolhouse in Downtown Denver. He has organized exhibitions at the MCA in Denver, Trestle Gallery in New York, The Carnegie in Covington, Kentucky and at Galerie Robertson Arés in Montreal.

Heather Park Meek is a commercial real estate development and leasing attorney.  She has served on the board of Union Hall since 2022 and is an active supporter of the arts.

Cortney Lane Stell is the Executive Director + Chief Curator of Black Cube, a nomadic contemporary art museum based in Denver, Colorado.  Stell has additionally held independent curatorial practice since 2006, which has included curating numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally for museums, university galleries, biennials and art events. Stemming from a philosophical interest in art as communication, Stell has organized exhibitions that focus on artworks experimental in both conceptual and material nature, including exhibitions with artists such as Liam Gillick, Cyprien Gaillard, Gabriel Rico, and Shirley Tse.

Jane Sook Burke (she/her/hers) was appointed Curator at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art almost two years ago and has since organized numerous exhibitions featuring predominantly local artists. Just prior, she was the curatorial fellow for the Textile Art & Fashion department at the Denver Art Museum, where she co-produced multiple blockbuster exhibitions in collaboration with international artists, designers, and collectors while concurrently guest curating independently. Burke received a bachelor’s in studio art with an emphasis on painting from the University of Colorado at Boulder and obtained an interdisciplinary master’s degree in Asian Art history and Mandarin from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She has previously held curatorial and collections positions at the Honolulu Museum of Art, The Contemporary Museum, and The East West Center Gallery in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Amy Hoagland (she/her) creates sculptural installations about the human relationship within nature. She received her BFA from the University of Kentucky in 2016 and her MFA in Sculpture from University of Colorado, Boulder in 2022. She is a recipient of a 2022 Windgate Fellowship for sustainable art presented by Honoring the Future. Amy has completed residencies with the Arctic Circle Program, Mountain Research Station in Nederland, CO, Marpha Foundation in Marpha, Nepal, Casa Lü in Mexico City, Firehouse Art Center in Longmont, CO, Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Matfield Green, KS. She currently resides in Denver and is a Visiting Teaching Assistant Professor in Sculpture at the University of Denver.

Brandon Vargas is a Denver-based painter, sculptor, and muralist and is currently an Alto Gallery resident supported by the Redline Satellite Studio Resident program. Brandon has been shown in solo and group shows around the CO, including at Dateline, Redline, Art Gym, Alto Gallery, Bell Projects, and Emmanuel Gallery. Brandon received his BFA in Fine Arts from CU Denver in 2018. Brandon also serves as the Colorado Artist Liaison for Meow Wolf and serves on the board of two arts non-profits, La Serra and Denver Digerati.