Gretchen Marie Schaefer (she/her) thinks primarily about sight and perception as they relate to understanding when making drawings, sculptures, installations, and performances. Schaefer was born, raised, and currently lives and works in Denver, Colorado. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Visual Arts from Regis University. She is a co-founding member of artist-owned and operated TANK Studios, LLC., a sustainable, community-centered studio space for professional artists in Denver. Schaefer is a former board member of RedLine Contemporary Art Center and of Tilt West. Since 2013 Schaefer has directed the Visiting Artist, Scholar, and Designer Program at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD) where she curates the annual theme and roster of visiting artists. Her curatorial work includes exhibitions by Catherine Haggarty and Esteban Cabeza de Baca. In 2014, Schaefer was listed as one of Denver Westword’s “100 Colorado Creatives” and in 2016 she received Westword’s “Best Of” for her work directing the Visiting Artist Program at RMCAD. Her artwork has been exhibited at numerous locations including the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the University of Colorado Boulder Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Rule Gallery in Marfa, TX, Texas Tech University’s School of Art, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. Schaefer was an artist-in-residence at RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO) Breckenridge Creative Arts (Breckenridge, CO), and the Jentel Foundation Artist Residency.

Derrick Velasquez (he/him) 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 shows 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 The Black Cube Nomadic Museum, and 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 new 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.

Geoffrey Shamos (he/him) is the Director of the Vicki Myhren Gallery and Curator of the University Art Collections at the University of Denver. He graduated from Yale University and has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he specialized in Renaissance art from Northern Europe. Prior to joining the University of Denver, Geoffrey worked at the Yale University Art Gallery, the Cantor Center for Visual Art at Stanford University, and RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver. Geoffrey is thrilled to be at the University of Denver, where he plans exhibitions and programs and helps grow the university’s collection. He particularly enjoys engaging with students, faculty, artists, and the local community.

Marty Spellerberg (he/him) is the director of Spellerberg Projects, a cultural incubator in Lockhart, Texas. He has 20 years experience in interactive design and development, including a decade working specifically with cultural institutions. He is the co-lead of the National Museum Website Visitor Motivation Study and co-author of the resulting paper in the Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing. He presents regularly at industry conferences such as Museum Computer Network, Museums and the Web, SXSW Interactive and WordCamp. He has worked with the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History; and the Toronto International Film Festival, among others. He is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto.

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.

Ruth Wilson (she/her) is the Director of Administration and Partnerships at Colorado Creative Industries, Colorado's arts agency. She joined Colorado Creative Industries in 2014 and manages Colorado’s Art in Public Places Program. She has an extensive background in the arts, including working at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Biennial of the Americas, the Denver Art Museum and the SCFD. Ruth earned a MA in Arts Administration from New York University and a BA from Colorado College. Ruth currently serves on the Jefferson County Cultural Council.

Maria Elena Buszek, Ph.D. (she/her) is Professor of Art History and President's Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado Denver, where she teaches courses on Modern and contemporary art and design. Her recent publications include the books Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture and Extra/ordinary: Craft and contemporary art; contributions to numerous international anthologies and exhibition catalogs; and articles and criticism in such journals as Art in America, Art Journal, and Flash Art. With Hilary Robinson, she edited the 2019 anthology of new writing, A Companion to Feminist Art. Her current book project, Art of Noise, explores the ties between contemporary feminist art and popular music. Dr. Buszek is also a prolific independent curator, who has previously worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Recent exhibitions include Danger Came Smiling: Feminist Art and Popular Music at the Franklin Street Works, Inner Ear Vision: Sound as Medium (with Raven Chacon and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe) at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and Sensitive Content (with Alayo Akinkugbe and Helen Beard) at Unit London.

Joel Swanson (he/him) is a text-based interdisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of language and technology. As an Associate Professor at the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, he directs the TYPO Lab, an experimental art and design space exploring text-based technologies. He earned his Master of Fine Arts at the University of California, San Diego with a focus on Computing and the Arts. Website

Sarah Wambold (she/her) is the executive producer and content strategist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she leads a team of editors and producers who create interpretive media, including videos, articles, essays, and podcasts. With more than 18 years in the arts and culture sector, she has also worked for the Clyfford Still Museum and the MCA Chicago, and is the co-founder of Denver-based non-profit Tilt West, an organization whose mission is to promote critical discourse on arts and culture in Denver.

Brenton Weyi (he/him) uses the power of words to cultivate humanity. He is a writer, thinker, creative polymath, and the son of Congolese immigrants. Informed by travel to nearly seventy nations, his work blends narrative, philosophy, and history to examine questions of ethics and the human social fabric. At Whitman College, he co-founded an award-winning poetry collective and founded an award-winning dance troupe. Currently, Brenton is an inaugural playwright fellow at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and his poem “Multiplicity” is one of the official poems of the City of Denver. His work has appeared in Boulevard Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, INC, Daily Stoic, and Head Room Sessions on RMPBS, among others. He was an inaugural fellow in the Lighthouse Writers’ Workshop Writing-in-Color retreat, and he is a finalist at SPACE on Ryder Farm. Brenton is the former campaign architect of a groundbreaking Congolese presidential campaign that appeared in the BBC, LA Times, and more. He also spent time living at a meditation and martial arts school in Asia before working with disenfranchised populations in the region. He collaborated with Union Hall on their nationally curated exhibits of writers and visual artists, Poems for Our Country and Words for Our Country, he has worked with the NFL, Airbnb, and others, and he serves on the board of Tilt West. Brenton is a Moth story slam champion, a proud member of Playback Theatre West & Storytellers Acapella, and a TEDx speaker and lead organizer. He believes truth can be found at the intersection of disciplines and stories.