Meet the Artists
Kristen Letts Kovak received a B.A. in Studio Art from Mercyhurst University in 2022 before going on to earn her M.F.A. in Studio Art from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2010. Kovak is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor and Senior Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. Kovak’s artwork investigates connections between visual, perceptual, and cognitive patterning. Kovak’s exhibition titled Out of Order will be on display in the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery at Coker University from August 21 through September 12, 2023.
Eric Reinemann studied art at SUNY Plattsburgh before going on to earn an M.F.A. from the University of Oregon in 2003. Reinemann is currently an independent contractor in the art industry, based out of Massachusetts. Intrigued by the complexities of the mind and inspired by the richness of the visual world, Reinemann approaches pictorial space as a fragmented and multilayered experience. Reinemann’s exhibition titled Lifeworld will be displayed at the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery at Coker University from September 18 through October 13, 2023.
Michaela Pilar Brown is an image and object maker who studied sculpture and art history at Howard University. Along with being a professional artist, Brown owns and directs Mike Brown Contemporary Art Gallery. Brown’s practice explores the body through the prisms of age, gender, race, sexuality, and history. Brown’s exhibition titled Materteral will be on display at the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery at Coker University from October 16 through November 10, 2023.
Brown’s residency is supported in part by the National Endowment of the Arts.
Laura De Valencia-Kirk earned her B.F.A. in advertising design from Savannah College of Art and Design before going on to earn an M.F.A. in studio art from Florida State University. Valencia-Kirk is the creative director of NY-based apparel brand Commune and Memoir. Valencia-Kirk’s exhibition titled Unravel will be on display at the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery at Coker University from January 29 through February 23, 2024.
Gwenyth Chao received a B.A. from the University of Guelph, Ontario, before going on to earn her M.F.A. from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver. Her research praxis asks: how can art be a portal to potential futures that offer alternate ways of knowing through material engagements? Chao’s plastic: five orbits around the sun exhibition will be on display at the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery at Coker University from February 26 through March 22, 2024.