Erin Curry is an award winning, mixed media artist working in Dallas for over 12 years. While starting her career as a biologist and working for the Dallas Zoo, she knew she could use her Bachelor of Science degree to her advantage in other areas. Erin combines her extensive understanding of the natural world with her true passion for drawing. She has shown extensively across the U.S. in fine art fairs, galleries, and private collections while also focusing on helping younger artists in Emerging Artist Programs. Her body of work evokes feelings of whimsy and dark surrealism while focusing on the realities of anatomy and physiology. Ink, colored pencil, needles, graphite, and collage are some of the many elements she uses to create her intricate shadowboxes and wood pieces. Erin’s inspirations include music, movies, and traveling.

Amy has been an artist since she first picked up a crayon in her chubby little fist—and her mother, were she still with us, would happily inform you that she always stayed within the lines. She received a BS in illustration from San Jose State in 1982, convinced that she would be a Caldecott Award-winning illustrator. Instead, she went to work for Hallmark, Current, American Greetings, and several children’s book publishers and gift manufacturers. But she always felt happiest working with her hands, trying a dizzying variety of art and craft mediums until she either mastered them or grew bored.

Rich and his wife, Kathy, have lived in the St. Louis area for over 40 years, the last 20 as residents of Clayton. Deeply engaged in civic and non-profit service, Rich served three terms as a Clayton Councilman, continues to serve on the Clayton Citizen Finance Committee, has been the sole trustee of his private subdivision for 15 years, and has a long volunteer history on a variety of committees for the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Now retired, he has work experience across corporate, professional services, and family office environments with a career including executive and operational roles at Matter Family Office, Ernst & Young, and Anheuser-Busch Companies.

Akwi Nji is a Cameroonian-American artist creating in words, voice, and visual art. Drawing inspiration from nature, personal narrative, and ancestral memory, her paintings explore themes of communication, connection, and belonging. She was an Iowa Arts Council Fellow in 2016, her manuscript was selected for the Iowa Book Prize in 2024, she was named Iowa Poet of the Year in 2024, and received an Iowa Governor’s Arts Leader Award in 2025. She believes in the power of art to heal, connect, and uplift.

Mick Whitcomb is an award winning artist, restorationist, and antiquarian book dealer living and working in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri. He holds a bachelor's degree from Missouri State University. Mick creates utilitarian sculptures by combining mechanical and scientific innovations of the 19th century with lighting technologies introduced in the same time period. Fixated on the American Machine Age and the advent of electric lighting, Mick’s work seeks to illuminate the origin of modern industry.