José Faus
Kansas City, MO
José Faus, a native of Bogota, Colombia, is a visual artist, performer, writer, and independent teacher/mentor with an interest in the role of artists as creative catalysts for community building. He received degrees from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in painting and creative writing. He is a founder of the Latino Writers Collective and sits on the boards of The Latino Writers Collective, The Full Frame Initiative, Board of Governors Alumni Association of UMKC and is Board Chair of Charlotte Street Foundation. His chapbook This Town Like That was released by Spartan Press. His book of poetry The Life and Times of Jose Calderon was published by West 39 Press. Jose is a muralist with a long history of community engagement. He has painted murals in the Kansas City Metropolitan area and has co-led mural projects in Michoacan, Mexico and was a US cultural ambassador for a mural project in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Fred Hagstrom
Albuquerque, NM
Fred Hagstrum has an undergraduate degree from Hamline University 77, and a graduate degree from the University of Nebraska 82. He has worked at Atelier 17 in Paris, and taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art. His art is displayed in a number of public collections, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Minnesota Museum of Art and the Weismann Museum at the University of Minnesota and his artist’s books are in over 50 public collections. Fred taught at Carleton College from 1984 to 2022, where he held the title of Rae Schupack Nathan Professor of Art Emeritus. From 1996 to 2019 he taught every second year on a 10-week off campus program to New Zealand and Australia. In 2014, Fred received the Minnesota book award for a book artist and also received the teaching excellence in printmaking award from SGCI. In 2021, Hagstrom’s art book, January 6, was published and a copy has been placed in the Smithsonian’s American Art and Portrait Gallery Library in Washington, D.C. In 2022, he received the Distinguished Teaching of Art Award from the College Art Association.
Eva Kwong
Kent, Ohio
Eva Kwong has been an artist and educator for over 4 decades and is based in Kent, Ohio. Her work is inspired by her lifelong interests in organic form, from microbes to flora, fauna, the human body and landscape. Eva is interested in the interconnections between the parts within our bodies and our complex relationship to our world. She makes ceramic vessels and sculptures, installations, prints and photography. Eva earned a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from Tyler School of Art. She has an active exhibition, lecture and workshop schedule, and has presented over 200 workshops and lectures in China, Japan, Korea, Italy, Australia and throughout the US. Her installation Bacteria, Diatoms and Cells has been displayed numerous times in many different venues and grows and evolves each time. Her close study of diverse biological entities has impressed the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and they have collected several hundred of her pieces. Eva has juried many shows, fairs and grants.