BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Kennedy Center -- Exhibit: MERGE

DC -- Kennedy Center -- Exhibit: MERGE:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: MERGE Exhibition
Hall of Nations
MERGE, an exhibition of artwork that considers the intersections, juxtaposition and combinations of creative process and disability identity. This exhibit displays artwork by 15 emerging artists. MERGE is on display to the public free of charge. The result of a longtime collaboration with Volkswagen Group of America, this national art competition and exhibition gives fifteen artists with disabilities, ages 16-25, the opportunity to display their work in venues across the country where each artist’s individual talent, mode of expression, and view of the world is showcased and valued. With this traveling exhibition, we aim to give visibility to the work of artists with disabilities throughout the United States, positioning them to broaden our understanding of disability and the arts.
This year’s theme, MERGE, invites artists to consider the intersections and combinations of their creative process and disability identity. In art, the juxtaposition of ideas can blur distinctions or reveal something new. With their work, these artists explore uniting paths and ask what we can learn when it all comes together.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.135.190.101 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] MERGE_220630_001.JPG	[2] MERGE_220630_004.JPG	[3] MERGE_220630_008.JPG
[4] MERGE_220630_015.JPG	[5] MERGE_220630_031.JPG	[6] MERGE_220630_037.JPG
[7] MERGE_220630_042.JPG	[8] MERGE_220630_048.JPG	[9] MERGE_220630_051.JPG
[10] MERGE_220630_057.JPG	[11] MERGE_220630_063.JPG	[12] MERGE_220630_072.JPG
[13] MERGE_220630_079.JPG	[14] MERGE_220630_083.JPG	[15] MERGE_220630_090.JPG
[16] MERGE_220630_097.JPG	[17] MERGE_220630_108.JPG	[18] MERGE_220630_111.JPG
[19] MERGE_220630_116.JPG	[20] MERGE_220630_118.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MERGE_220630_004.JPG: Merge The 2021 VSA Emerging Young Artists Competition, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program of the Kennedy Center, drew submissions from talented young artists with disabilities, ages 16-25, from around the United States. This year’s theme, MERGE, explores uniting paths and asks what we can learn when it all comes together. The call invited artists to consider the intersections and combinations of their creative process and disability identity. In art, the juxtaposition of ideas can blur distinctions or reveal something new. Since 2002, the Kennedy Center and Volkswagen Group of America have teamed up for the VSA Emerging Young Artists Program, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program, to recognize and showcase the work of emerging young artists living with disabilities in the United States. This collaboration creates opportunities for these artists at a critical time when many are making the life-defining choice to pursue arts-based careers. The Kennedy Center and Volkswagen are committed to investing in the future of young artists living with disabilities. After an extended delay due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to debut the exhibition in Washington, D.C. Listed ages of artists are as of June 1, 2022
2. MERGE_220630_008.JPG: “Poppy Pleasure” by Taylor Koedyker La Verne, California, Age 28 Award of Excellence Bronze and copper with cubic zirconia stones (8” x 6.5” x 6.5”) Taylor Koedyker’s works aim to promote an appreciation for our natural world, highlighting our physical connections to the earth while acknowledging humanity’s growing disconnect to it. Using our relationship with our bodies as a parallel to our treatment of the planet, she sees her disability as a way to connect with our universal afflictions and provides great strength and empathy. The stones used in Koedyker’s art are practical and symbolic, grown of the earth but each unique, and strong and beautiful despite fractures. Poppy Pleasures was inspired by a poem Koedyker wrote about people crushing natural poppy fields in California for photo opts. koedykercrafted.com
3. MERGE_220630_015.JPG: “Crossing Brooklyn” by Joshua Ben-Dylan New York, New York, Age 24 Award of Excellence Crossing Brooklyn, 2020 35mm film photograph (26.5” x 35” x 0.875”) Joshua “Shuah” Ben-Dylan is an artist exploring emotions and moments that are seldom communicated. Working within the mediums of photography, visual art, poetry, film and music, their art reflects the hyperculture nature of society with a constant inundation of information that distorts and warps the senses. They draw heavily from transcendentalism, mythology and pioneers in the field of color, seeking to push art to the extreme and hoping to uncover something new. Crossing Brooklyn is a meditation on the 21st-century man, splicing the old world of religious practice with today’s metropolitan landscape. Ben-Dylan’s artistic practice derives from an acute sensitivity to the world due to bipolar disorder; everything around them is heightened to extremes. Using hypercolor, an artistic style they developed, to blend their vision of the world with a fantasy of what it could be, they hope to share something previously unseen. Ben-Dylan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film from Purchase College. They are currently creating a fourth poetry book and an experimental feature film, as well as their next photo series. joshuabendylan.com
4. MERGE_220630_031.JPG: “When I Think” by Jasina Yu Lexington, Massachusetts, Age 17 Award of Excellence When I Think Insulation spray foam, pastel, Bristol board, LED lights, nuts (40” x 41” x 6”) As a ninth grader, Jasina Yu was a nationally ranked ping-pong player who was struck by a drunk driver while driving home from practice in 2016. She sustained a traumatic brain injury and an injury to her right optic nerve that will never recover. Following three major brain surgeries and two weeks in a coma, she was transferred to a rehabilitation center, where she had to relearn normal functions such as eating, talking, reading and writing. Following her accident, Yu was unable to open her right eye for months, but with the help of her occupational therapist, is now able to slowly open it again. To this day, her right eye still does not move properly. While she is no longer able to compete as a ping-pong player due to impaired coordination, she has begun to view art as her vocation and seeks to pursue it professionally.
5. MERGE_220630_037.JPG: “Curved Enthusiasm” by MJ Cooper Backlick, Ohio, Age 18 Award of Excellence Curved Enthusiasm, 2020 Acrylic painting on curved, double-sided canvas (24.5” x 48” x 12”) Many of MJ Cooper’s paintings are created after a time of meditation. Her acrylic paintings on canvas with vibrant colors and textures offer a therapeutic mechanism as she lives with chronic vestibular migraines, functional neurological disorder, cognitive impairment, photophobia, and sound sensitivity. Cooper finds inspiration in the perseverance, strength and vivid artistry of Yayoi Kusama and the colorful, abstract and textured paintings of Jackson Pollock. The award-winning painting entitled Curved Enthusiasm is about how life can be full of promise, destiny, joy, and hopes that can be taken away in a heartbeat. With every mishap, misfortune or mistake, our enthusiasm may change course or destination. Cooper wants to travel abroad and study art in college after a gap year. Her dream is for her paintings to be in museums, galleries and homes all around the world. artlifting.com/collections/mj-cooper
6. MERGE_220630_042.JPG: “Grims Cleansing” by September Neill Sandy, Utah, Age 19 Award of Excellence Paper, pencil, Sharpie markers (19.75” x 16.75” x 0.875”) Having experienced pain and betrayal at a young age, September Neill lived in environments where alcoholism and drug addiction were commonplace. They joined Alcoholics Anonymous at age 15, sobering up and finding belonging and meaning through their teachers and school community. During the COVID shutdown, art served as a lifeline, offering an outlet to channel their loneliness and internal chaos. They says that, while some may see vulgarity, monsters or demons in their art, it reflects their pain, struggles and insecurities, as well as their happiness, victories and power. With art as their outlet, Neill now shares their experiences with others and helps them know they aren’t alone. They aim to show others that art is not just one thing–it is fed by who you are, what you have experienced, and how you get through each day.
7. MERGE_220630_048.JPG: “I Have Always Been With You” by September Neill Sandy, Utah, Age 19 Award of Excellence Paper, pencil, Sharpie markers (19.75” x 16.75” x 0.875”) Having experienced pain and betrayal at a young age, September Neill lived in environments where alcoholism and drug addiction were commonplace. They joined Alcoholics Anonymous at age 15, sobering up and finding belonging and meaning through their teachers and school community. During the COVID shutdown, art served as a lifeline, offering an outlet to channel their loneliness and internal chaos. They says that, while some may see vulgarity, monsters or demons in their art, it reflects their pain, struggles and insecurities, as well as their happiness, victories and power. With art as their outlet, Neill now shares their experiences with others and helps them know they aren’t alone. They aim to show others that art is not just one thing–it is fed by who you are, what you have experienced, and how you get through each day
8. MERGE_220630_057.JPG: “Trepidation” by Maiya Hartman Minneapolis, Minnesota, Age 25 Award of Excellence Trepidation, 2020 Acrylic and mixed media on canvas (36.25” x 36” x 1.75”) Maiya Lea Hartman’s work draws from memories and moments that examine identity, emotional expression and the body through their lens as a queer Black person. Their experience with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder has made communication a challenge, and painting is their non-verbal channel for expressing thoughts, experiences and deep-rooted emotions. Their practice is intimate, touching on personal memories and moments through family portraits and self-portraiture, recontextualized by placing figures in undefined landscapes and allowing body language and facial expressions to communicate messages. Trepidation, a self-portrait that highlights Hartman’s feelings of anticipation and fear that something bad will happen, was completed following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent uprising in Minneapolis. The painting also reflects the active retraumatization of Black people and the constant fear for the safety of one’s family, friends and self. Hartman has found additional expression and healing through public art, creating many murals in collaboration with the collective Creatives After Curfew, where they can reflect the stories of BIPOC communities and envision futures rooted in justice and liberation. They are a current artist-in-residence with the African American Museum and Gallery in North Minneapolis. maiyaleaartist.com
9. MERGE_220630_063.JPG: “Pandemic Blue 1” by James de Guzman Lee Hillsborough, California, Age 18 Award of Excellence Pandemic Blue 1, 2020 Acrylic on canvas with markers (36” x 48” x 0.875”) James de Guzman Lee expresses himself primarily through painting, drawing, and creating miniature furniture. When COVID-19 shut down his school and forced everyone to shelter in place, de Guzman Lee turned to art, painting for hours every day. Pandemic 1 is the first in a series of more than 30 paintings executed over the first few months of the pandemic. It was selected by the de Young Museum’s curatorial board in its prestigious Open Call and was exhibited at the de Young Open in 2020. The rest of the Pandemic series was auctioned in support of the Oak Hill School for children with autism. de Guzman Lee’s work reflects his mastery of color and his fascination with swimming pools and the ocean. After painting many layers of overlapping acrylic color, he will finish off his paintings with marker drawings of swimming pool lanes and circles representing boats and lifesavers. This is his personal iconography and his main channel for sharing his unique view of the world. jameseyart.com
10. MERGE_220630_072.JPG: “Welcome Back” by May Ling Kopecky Plymouth, Minnesota, Age 27 Second Prize Welcome Back, 2019 Acrylic and ink on panel (8” x 10” x 0.75”) May Ling Kopecky’s work is influenced by her experiences with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS). She experienced her first clear MS symptoms when she was 13 and was diagnosed at 15. Due to her young age and the “invisible” nature of MS, Kopecky was often met with skepticism while talking about her illness, prompting her to begin creating artwork about MS. Paintings like Welcome Back document her personal relationship with medical spaces and share how places once perceived as frightening can grow to feel familiar. Her goal is to spread MS awareness through her work and advocate for those with invisible illnesses. Kopecky received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. maylingkopecky.com
11. MERGE_220630_079.JPG: “Double Vision” by May Ling Kopecky Plymouth, Minnesota, Age 27 Second Prize Double Vision, 2021 Acrylic on canvas (14” x 11” x 1.5”) May Ling Kopecky’s work is influenced by her experiences with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS). She experienced her first clear MS symptoms when she was 13 and was diagnosed at 15. Due to her young age and the “invisible” nature of MS, Kopecky was often met with skepticism while talking about her illness, prompting her to begin creating artwork about MS. Double Vision is part of a series of paintings that visualize how she sees the world while suffering from various MS symptoms. Her goal is to spread MS awareness through her work and advocate for those with invisible illnesses. Kopecky received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. maylingkopecky.com
12. MERGE_220630_083.JPG: Purple Lights of the City” by Dominic Killany Watertown, Massachusetts, Age 24 Award of Excellence Purple Lights of the City Acrylic on canvas (36” x 12” x 0.75”) Dominic Killiany’s work reflects his view of and means of connecting with the world as a person with autism. While structured schedules create definition and security for Killiany, sketching and painting provide an outlet for relaxation and creativity, particularly in applying paint to a canvas. He describes his sketches as puzzle pieces, unique in shape, pattern and color that create a complete, beautiful whole when assembled. Color reflects emotion, and Killiany’s bold, bright, colorful work reflects his happiest state–when he is painting. Killiany had his first exhibition in 2014 at the Watertown Public Library. In 2017, he had a solo exhibition at the Landau Gallery in Belmont, Massachusetts, was invited to exhibit at the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum in 2018, and has been published in Studio Visit Magazine. In 2019, his art was selected for a new, state-of-the-art playground in Cambridge. He is a graduate of Boston Higashi, a private learning center in Randolph, Massachusetts, for young adults with autism. dominicreations.com
13. MERGE_220630_090.JPG: “The Light Within” by Maya Milton Seattle, Washington, Age 27 Award of Excellence The Light Within Mixed media (24” x 19”) Maya Milton creates art that largely focuses on self-love after feeling like an outsider for most of her life. Her disability motivates her to create artwork that focuses on building bridges between different kinds of people. She is currently a multimedia artist who focuses on empowering women of color, especially Black women, to be comfortable and confident in their own skin. The Light Within speaks directly to connections to self and to self-love. The woman in the piece holds her own light as she recognizes and realizes her own power. She draws energy from herself and holds her inner light in her hand. Milton’s artwork helps her feel connected to people who are like and unlike her. Her artwork has been exhibited at the M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery, Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery, Center on Contemporary Art, and others. Her work is on display at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center, and she was nominated by the Foundation as a “Changemaker.” She is a grantee of the Jordan Schnitzer Black Lives Matter Artist Grant and is a Neddy at Cornish Finalist. 21entities.com
14. MERGE_220630_097.JPG: “Tough Love” by Moriah Faith Black Forest, Colorado, Age 23 Grand Prize Tough Love, 2020 Oil on canvas (30” x 24” x 1.5”) Moriah Faith’s painting process is deeply intertwined with her life experience as a young disabled woman. She found relief and solace in painting as a child when she began experiencing chronic pancreatitis and chronic pain syndrome. The solitude of chronic illness led to severe mental health issues and feelings of defectiveness and worthlessness. Following physical deterioration and numerous operations, Faith recalls no longer recognizing the person looking back at her in the mirror. That mirror became the inspiration for Tough Love. Reducing her form to nothing but color and value forced Faith to stop criticizing her body for the things that it wasn’t while coming to terms with its strength. By shifting her energy from destruction to creation, she fell in love with life again. Faith is currently working on a series of large-scale paintings depicting figures in interior spaces and works as an art facilitator for fellow disabled artist Jessica Vohs, with whom she led a community-based mural project aiming to reconnect people with disabilities after the COVID-19 pandemic. Faith plans to pursue solo exhibitions and graduate school in the future. moriahfaith.com
15. MERGE_220630_108.JPG: “Dysfunctional Family Portrait” by Sky Dai Nomadic, but currently in Columbus, Ohio and Asheville, North Carolina, Age 25 Award of Excellence Dysfunctional Family Portrait, 2018 Oil and pastel on canvas (41” x 69” x 1.5”) Inspired by how traumatic stress causes the brain to collage fragments of memory, Sky Dai distorts perspectives and figures in their paintings to process and rewrite their past in a whimsical world where harsh memories become less distressing. Their multi-figurative, surreal oil paintings document journeys through the astral plane, traumatic memories, queer relationships and living as a dissociative identity system. Having multiple consciousnesses (or personalities) allows Dai to observe from multiple perspectives at once and create art as a team of identities with varying degrees of artistic skill, styles and ideas. In Dysfunctional Family Portrait, Dai painted themself leaning over their family of origin’s kitchen table, pointing to an escape route map. The piece was painted a year after fleeing their family after a series of altercations and abuse left them homeless. Dai received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fine arts and creative writing at Columbus College of Art and Design and has attended and taught at School of the Alternative in Black Mountain, North Carolina. skydai.squarespace.com
16. MERGE_220630_116.JPG: “Untitled Sculpture” by Mike Cannata Geneva, Illinois, Age 25 Award of Excellence Untitled, 2019 Ceramics, glaze, steel, enamel paint, metal hose clamps (47” x 42” x 45”) Mike Cannata’s art explores what it is like to be a physically and mentally hyperactive individual by investigating movement and stillness. Studying sensations and emotions through making, meditating, skateboarding and dancing, he experiences a sense of reprieve from the busyness of an overactive mind with attention deficit disorder. Adrenaline-inducing activities slow time and focus him, telling mind and body that what is happening in the moment is important and that he is alive. Moments of stillness in meditation supply a similar awareness of the sensations and emotions o body and mind. Cannata further explores these observations through his sculptural installations, which embody the duality of activity and quiet that inhabit the same space. The toggling between stillness and stir activates attentional awareness, creating a serene state in which to process and think. A multimedia artist working in metal, glass, paint, ceramics and found materials, Cannata received a Ba helor of Fine Arts from the New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred University. He is currently a long-term resident at the Morean Center for Clayin St. Petersburg, Florida. mikecannata.com
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].