My work addresses how material culture and visual art serve to teach, enthrall, and inspire across space and time. Second, I am interested in how taking the “road less traveled” leads to contemplation of alternate meanings, and interpretations of the past, challenging who we think we are, and what we think we know about ourselves and others. My aesthetic is one where “art” is aesthetically pleasing, functional, and experiential. Vernacular art and material culture can be interpreted and experienced in countless, and often contradictory ways, depending upon the viewer. Thought-provoking and emotionally charged issues can reflect agreed upon socially determined views of the past, or challenges, assumptions and perceptions only discovered with a willingness to take a “road less traveled".

Anne Bouie is a mixed media artist and historian whose work addresses the universality of spiritual and social traditions that serve to mold, define and explain their relationship to the Earth and one another. She explores how art is not set apart, how it is deployed, experienced and encountered depending upon the viewer. Material culture creates, reflects, and maintains an alternate frame of reference meanings, and aesthetics. She asserts that the continuity of cultures and beliefs draw from a universal well that affirms the transcendence of spirit across peoples, cultures, time, and space, along with the ability and willingness of the discerning spirit to look where others may not, or will not. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, her perspectives and spirituality are rooted in the spiritual teachings of the AME church, Jackson County, Florida and study and participation in alternative spiritual paths. She holds a PhD. In Educational Policy and administration, an MA in secondary education, and an MA in History, from Stanford University. She resides and works in the District of Columbia.

Early on in my development as an artist, I decided to break down the human form into basic geometric shapes and lean on expressing my characters’ emotions through abstracted exaggerated placements of their facial features and body parts. My signature gray Frocasian characters were inspired by my interracial marriage. My husband was born to a Swedish mother and an African American father in Lund, Sweden, and while we both grew up in the same town and went to the same school, our life experience has been very different due to the color of our skin. Society has a long way to go to become inclusive, equal, and to appreciate our diversity and recognize our joint humanity and this is why I have spent most of my career creating work investigating social justice issues, focusing primarily on gender relations. My first artist love was the fearless Frida Kahlo and her unapologetic storytelling and how she challenged social norms. I fell in love with the bold black outlines of Keith Haring’s work, the striking collages by Romare Bearden and the organic structures of Antoni Gaudí. All of these artists have served as an inspiration for the development of my own artistic style in which I combine multiple mediums onto canvas, including acrylic paint, hand cut paper collage, ink drawing, pumice and appliqué textiles.

Anna U Davis (b. Lund, Sweden) is known for her bold, colorful mixed-media paintings, where she explores social inequalities. Davis began expanding her artistic practice and developing her signature “Frocasian” characters after moving to Washington, D.C. in the 1990s. Frocasians appear in her art as abstracted grey-toned figures, inspired by her interracial marriage and her strongly held belief in social justice. Davis is a two-time recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and has received multiple fellowships from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In 2020, Davis was featured on the cover of the scholarly journal Feminist Studies. Recent solo shows include the Swedish American Museum (Chicago), Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore), the Embassy of Sweden (Washington, D.C.), and Davis Gallery (Copenhagen). Her work has been shown in additional solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Europe, Cuba (13th Havana Biennial) and Qatar and is held in public and private collections.

A strong influence in my work comes from the early Venetian, Baroque, and Renaissance periods due to my time spent studying art history and art theory while in Verona, Italy. My focus is to combine the classical compositions and techniques from these eras with modern day figures, styles, and symbolism from contemporary Black culture.

Conversations of intimacy, spirituality, psychology, and my curiosity of the afterlife have become significant areas of interest for my work. These subjects tend to be where I find myself asking the most questions, and it is my hope that my art process will lead me toward new answers. To those who view my collection, I hope that there is a spark somewhere between my inner voice and yours. These pieces serve as short glimpses into my consciousness during my most honest moments.

G.Pack (formerly known as Gentry Pack) (b. 1995, Howard County, Maryland) is a fine portrait painter based in Baltimore, MD. He specializes in acrylic paintings and places a strong emphasis on emotion, movement, and realism. He received his first gallery representation in New York 2020 and has since produced two successful solo exhibits and participated in a collection of group showcases. His subjects are often culturally diverse, and he has recently invited the viewer to consider the relatability between humans and animals, commonly Doberman dogs.

With modern breeding, Dobermanns have gained a growing positive stereotype, however, at times are still tied to outdated and negative viewpoints due to their original breeding. GPack often connects the breed’s symbolism with inner challenges experienced within his own culture and identity. He's intentional with connecting to his consciousness, with hopes that audiences are inspired to connect with one’s own introspection.