Ilan Gutin (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator originally from the Washington, D.C. area. He earned his BA in Studio Arts with a focus in Printmaking from the University of Maryland (2008) and his MFA in Printmedia from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2014). An avid world traveler, Ilan draws inspiration from his experiences abroad, which continue to inform a studio practice rooted in formalism, the ephemerality of light and place, and the wonder of looking. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in cities including Chicago, Reykjavík, and Denver. Before moving to Denver in 2020, Ilan taught in the Fiber and Material Studies Department at SAIC and was the Founder and Co-Director of Fernwey Gallery in Chicago, dedicated to promoting emerging and mid‑career artists. Since moving to Denver, he served as Gallery Curator and Membership & Program Director at Art Gym Denver, and later as Curator and Engagement Director at PlatteForum. Ilan is currently the Gallery Director at Visions West Contemporary in Denver, the Co‑Director and Co‑Curator of Friend of a Friend Gallery, an independent curator, and a Board Member of Tilt West.

Ustina Tawadros is the Manager of Individual Giving at the Denver Art Museum. She is passionate about designing experiences that cultivate support, build community, and elevate ideas through philanthropy. She spent many years fundraising to elect political candidates, where she first recognized how vital funding is to shaping change. Motivated by social impact, she has led new development initiatives, launched and pivoted programs to meet evolving needs, and produced compelling events that connect people with arts and culture in meaningful ways.

Amanda Berg Wilson is the Artistic Director of The Catamounts, and a freelance artist specializing in boundary-pushing performance. With The Catamounts, she has conceived and directed several original immersive and site-specific works in collaboration with and/or on commissions from the City of Westminster; Hanzon Studios and the Museum of Outdoor Arts; 3rdLaw Dance/Theater; and Anythink Libraries. She has also worked on several DCPA Off-Center immersive projects, including performing as an original cast member in Sweet & Lucky, directing The Wild Party and Between Us: The Whiskey Tasting, and assistant directing and performing in Theater of the Mind by Mala Gaonkar and David Byrne. Most recently, The Catamounts received a 2025 Best Immersive award from Denver Westword for Impossible Things, which Amanda directed.

Katie Jean Shinkle (she/her) is the author of five books of prose, most recently None of This Is an Invitation. A Lambda Literary fellow, she serves as co-poetry editor of DIAGRAM and teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing program at Sam Houston State University.

Steven Dunn (he/him) is a 2021 Whiting Award winner and the author of Potted Meat and water & power. He was born and raised in West Virginia and teaches in the MFA programs at Regis University and Stetson University.

Mariana Pereira Vieira (b. Brazil 1983) is a multi-media artist and arts educator based in Colorado, USA. She received a BFA in Photography from Georgia Southern University and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices from the University of Colorado Boulder. Mariana’s artwork has been featured in exhibitions at the Museo de las Américas, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, the Dairy Center for the Arts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, the Center for Fine Art Photography, the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Lenscratch, among others. In 2019, she was awarded the first Denis Roussel Fellowship from the Center for Fine Art Photography. In 2017, she curated the Colorado edition of The States Project for Lenscratch. Her latest project, Touching, received an Honorable Mention Award from the Center for the Humanities and the Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder. Mariana is an Assistant Professor of Photography and Digital Arts at Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Franklin Cruz (they/he) is a queer latin dancer, poet and environmental nerd born in Idaho, raised Texan and polished in Denver. Born from an immigrant family their work has placed them in science museums, as an emcee for dance & poetry competitions, conferences and environmental spaces. A Tedx Mile High performer and Nature of Cities residency, he worked throughout the southwest, Peru, Puerto Rico for universities and environmental leadership camps. Their work encompasses self love, immigration, culture, conservation and more.  Franklin always aims to address intersectional liberation, confronting our complicity to privilege and oppression and the lesson of specificity over simplicity.

Instagram: @fcruz_unido

Olivia Abtahi (she/her) is a film director and writer based in Denver, Colorado. Born to an Iranian father and an Argentine mother, she is a melting pot of distinct cultures. Growing up in the DC area, Olivia always had a passion for cinema and storytelling. She is a graduate of NYU Film School and VCU Brandcenter, and has lived in New York, San Francisco, Richmond Virginia, and Dublin, Ireland. She holds a BFA and MaSC.

Kate M. Nicholson (she/her) is a civil rights attorney, arts activist, and the founder and Executive Director of the National Pain Advocacy Center, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the health and human rights of people with pain. She has spoken at TED, universities, and think tanks, testified in state legislatures, and briefed the U.S. Congress. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Hill, STAT, and MedPage Today. Her advocacy has been featured by the New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, NBC, Scientific American, BBC, Newsweek, NPR, the ACLU’s At Liberty, and elsewhere.  She previously served on the collecting committee at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Advisory Board of the University of Colorado Art Museum in Boulder, and she currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Ulrich Museum. Nicholson was a founding board member of Tilt West and edits its written responses to roundtables.

Whitney Carter (she/her) has two decades of expertise in the art world, encompassing roles as an art dealer, fine art logistics specialist, collector, and co-founder of Tilt West. She holds an M.A. in Art History with a focus on Feminist Studies and an M.S. in Business Analytics. Currently working as a Data Analyst in environmental services, Whitney's passion for the art world remains ever-strong.