Firelei Báez
MFA, Hunter College

Firelei Báez was born in the Dominican Republic with a Dominican and Haitian heritage. Her paintings, drawings and collages are personal narratives drawing on themes of gender, popular culture and Afro-Caribbean folklore. Following her BFA from the Cooper Union, she continued her education at the Instituto Universario Di Arte in Cortona, Italy, and the Skowhegan School of painting. She received her MFA at Hunter College in 2010 and lives and works in New York. (Images and artist's resume.)

Right: Not Even Unalterable Limitations, 2010. Ink, gouache and graphite on paper, 34 x 42 in. (detail)

Claire Callagy
BA, Georgetown University

Claire Callagy studied photography and literature at Georgetown University and is continuing to develop abstract narrative imagery and portraits. She is now working as a professional photographer and lives in Boston, MA. (Images and artist's resume.)

Right: Untitled, 2009. C-print, 24 x 24 in. (detail)

Steven M. Cummings
MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art

Steven M. Cummings has been a documentary photographer for many years, and his work has been exhibited in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He received an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2010, and lives and works in Washington, DC.
(Images and artist's resume.)

Right: Ghost, 2010. Silver gelatin print, 24 x 24 in. (detail).

Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi
MFA, American University

Hedieh Ilchi was born in Iran and has lived and studied art in the US. She has a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art + Design and is in her final year in the MFA program at American University. Her mixed media works on mylar present complex images of her ways to create new identities as a woman embracing Iranian, Persian, American, and Western cultures today. (Images and artist's resume.)

Right: Thrusting Trust, 2010. Acrylic and collage on Mylar. 42 X 30 in. (detail)

Brendan Loper
MFA, American University

Brendan Loper received a BFA in 2006 from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MFA from American University 2010. His current work focuses on codes of narrative in film and in black and white painting. He lives and works in Queens, NY.
(Images and artist's resume.)

Right: A Bird In the Hand is the Stuff Dreams are Made Of, 2010. Gouache on paper. 22 X 30 in.

Wafaa Yasin
MFA, California College of the Arts

Wafaa Yasin was born in Tamra, Galilee, Palestine. She has a BFA from the Bezalel Academy for Art and Design, Jerusalem, and an MFA from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Wafaa Yasin works in performance and video, and has explored the complex issues of multiple cultural identities and questions of history and memory. She lives and works in San Francisco. (Images and artist's resume.)

Right: The Imaginary Houses of Palestine, 2009/2010. Performance and video. Video still.