Anna Katherine Brodbeck is a museum professional and art historian with close to twenty years of experience in the field of modern and contemporary art. She is the deputy director for curatorial affairs at the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA), where she the leads the curatorial team on the exhibition, collection, and programming strategy for the museum. Prior to joining the CMA, she served as the Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). In that role, Brodbeck curated numerous exhibitions including Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations (2024-25); When you see me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History (2024-25); He Said/She Said: Contemporary Women Interject (2023-24); as well as focus exhibitions of the work of Ja’Tovia Gary, Bosco Sodi, Wanda Koop, Minerva Cuevas, Rashid Johnson, Yayoi Kusama, Alex Katz, and Ragnar Kjartansson. Before moving to Dallas, she was associate curator at the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, where she co-curated Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium (2016-17), co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She holds a PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
John Byrd was born and raised in the southern mountains of North Carolina. He received his BFA in Ceramics from Louisiana State University in 1997 and his MFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington in 2000. In 2006, he joined the faculty at the University of South Florida, where he currently serves as an Associate Professor. In addition to his teaching, as an artist working primarily with clay, his studio practice focuses on sculpture with an emphasis on creating objects that blur the boundaries between aesthetics and function. Recently, his work has included oversized ceramic vessels and other objects. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and internationally.
Michael Loren Diaz, a native of Tampa, received an MFA in Drawing & Painting from Arizona State University in 2019 and a BFA in Drawing & Printmaking from the University of Central Florida in 2016. Diaz’s artwork is shown nationally, notably being included several times in the annual Drawn exhibition at Manifest Gallery. He has won several awards such as the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and the American Austrian Foundation Seebacher Prize, as well as being a finalist for the 2019 AXA Art Prize. Specializing in drawing, Diaz recently returned to Tampa to teach as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tampa.
Danny Olda is a curator, art critic, and art publication editor with many years of experience in each discipline. He has curated exhibitions, lectured, and served on grant panels for private galleries, nonprofit spaces, museums, and colleges and universities. More recently, Danny has served as the curator for the Gallery at Creative Pinellas and the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, and is currently the chief curator at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. His writing has been featured in several national and international art publications such as Hyperallergic, Art Papers, Artillery Magazine, Momus, Temporary Art Review, Burn Away, Daily Serving, Hi-
Fructose Magazine, Beautiful/Decay, Eutopia, Art Radar, and Sarasota Visual Art. He has also written art criticism for local publication Creative Loafing.
Noel Marie Smith is a visual arts curator and arts administrator with over three decades of experience working with artists, curators, and arts institutions locally, nationally and internationally. Since 2023 she has served as curator of the Wild Space Gallery at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation in St. Petersburg. She retired after 27 years at the USF Institute for Research in Art: Graphicstudio/
Contemporary Art Museum, where she worked in a number of capacities, including as Deputy Director of the Contemporary Art Museum, where she curated numerous exhibitions, specializing in contemporary Cuban and Latin American Art. Smith has experience with artist collaborations, educational programming, and grant writing, and is a published translator of literary and critical texts
from Spanish to English.
Ry McCullough is an artist, educator and Associate Professor of Art and Design at the University of Tampa, currently serving as Chair of the Department of Art and Design. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio where he concentrated in the areas of printmaking and sculpture. Upon completion of his undergraduate work, he served as the director of sculptural studies and taught printmaking at the Stivers School for the Arts. McCullough received his MFA in Printmaking and Book Arts from the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia. McCullough has exhibited nationally and internationally and founded the Standard Action Press Collaborative Zine Project. He has been privileged to participate in residencies at the Grafikwerkstatt in Dresden, Germany, Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium, and the P+D Throne in Athens, Georgia. In addition to his independent practice, McCullough collaborates on a long-distance unique conceptual print/performance/publishing project called small_bars.
Blanket Approval is a 4-piece indie rock band from New York City. They formed in 2021 when lead singer Jack Matteucci took a collection of demos recorded in the basement of his physics lab, moved to Brooklyn, and met drummer/singer Joey Hadden. The two were later joined by bassist Max Mena and keyboardist/guitarist/singer Rahul Chakraborty. The group has played dozens of shows around New York City and the Northeast, from Burlington to Baltimore. They’ve released 10 singles to date, blending hard rock with tight melodies and groovy bass lines; drawing from influences like Portugal. The Man and Franz Ferdinand.
The Savants are a nine piece southern soul group from Gainesville, FL. They perform original soul music inspired by the Muscle Shoals Sound as well as the iconic and legendary music that came out of labels like Stax Records and Atlantic Records during the 1960s & 1970s.
Formed in 2011 in Gainesville, FL, the group has undergone several personal changes over the years but settled into its current lineup around 2020.
The band has made its presence felt around the southeast, notably playing Red Gorilla at SXSW in 2017, Suwannee Hulaween in 2016 and Changeville in its hometown in 2018 and 2016. Along the way they have been featured alongside groups such as; Gary Clark Jr., Durand Jones and the Indications, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Kendra Morris, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinares, George Porter Jr of the Meters, The Original Wailers, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Postmodern Jukebox and more.
Tv Breakup Scene is an indie pop punk band from Tampa, FL inspired by Paramore with a gaze-y twist. After a year of writing they finally made their debut with their new release Troubled Mind!
Music’s ability to release energy within us is overwhelming. Capturing moments of emotion and expression to elicit that reaction is such a joyful honor. It’s allowed me to connect, create, and cultivate so many beautiful experiences. Let this be with you… Cheers!
Danish-American, California-born, and Florida-raised multi-instrumentalist Mia Marlene offers a vibrant sonic world through her indie pop music, which is infused with hues of 1980’s synth pop and lush, captivating melodies. Her self-produced debut album, “good for my art,” features songs about living abroad, creative aspirations, and terrible exes (because, well, you know).
Mia Marlene’s music is anchored in her many experiences living in London, Copenhagen, Colorado, and Washington D.C.; places that shaped her sonic vision and imprinted onto her the wealth of the human experience, and how all of these experiences can serve as creative fuel for songwriting and music-making.
PRIZILLA is a pop-soul whirlwind, where horns wail, melodies sparkle, and every beat feels like an invitation. With a microphone in one hand and a saxophone in the other, she leads her band through a kaleidoscope of pop, funk, and soul, crafting music that’s as bold as it is unforgettable. It’s a sound that dances between the playful and the profound, wrapping stories in irresistible rhythms that refuse to stand still.
Since releasing PEOPLE PERSON, their debut EP, the band has been turning heads and moving feet. With over 50,000 fans following along online, PRIZILLA has earned a reputation for live shows that are part concert, part catharsis, and entirely unmissable.
The band has shared stages with Nick Hakim and Madison McFerrin, lit up NYC with Couch and The Retrograde, and shaken the rafters with St. Paul & the Broken Bones and Flipturn at FL Fin Fest. PRIZILLA shows no signs of stopping, proving that music isn’t just something you hear—it’s something you feel. And they feel it. This is music for anyone who craves the unexpected, the unforgettable, and the kind of energy that makes you lose track of time. Come for the sax solos; stay for the magic.
The Bronx New York-based singer-producer Pusha Preme has been making waves with his delicate blend of heartfelt melodies; Goal-oriented lyrics, and harmonies that reel you in like a fish on a hook. Above all, Pusha’s music is often praised for its high intimacy and familiar themes that find their way to a special place in the listener’s heart.
Mk Blessed was born in Congo Kinshasa in Sep 18th He is a singer/songwriter and a speaker who started writing songs at the age of 7 and taught them to His Church worship team, which enjoyed singing His songs.
He formed His first Music group at the Age of 10 and was doing secular music.
When He was 13 he fled his home country and went to a Refugee camp due to war, He lived there for 10 years and then immigrated to the USA in 2016, though He has been writing for a while Mk Blessed released His first single on Dec, 4 2021 entitled Faithful God.
MK blessed is a husband of one wife and a father of two girls, He went to Kampala High School and later attended Bible college in Uganda East Africa, He is a founder of a non profit organization named Fociom that shares love with the underprivileged of the world like himself, Mk Blessed passion is to help others.
Singer, songwriter, guitarist. I aim to write emotional music that addresses the world we live in and how it makes us all feel.
This unique & unscripted collection of Sideshow characters are of various talents and backgrounds to make for a spectacle of amazing musical entertainment. Experience the anecdotal mishaps from the wild to the fantastical. Boho Sideshow comes from parts unknown, but are known for performing an exhibition of Eclectic Americana Music.
FABIOLA MÉNDEZ is a Puerto Rican cuatrista, singer, educator, and Emmy-nominated composer. Her artistic vision and original music focus on the exploration of her culture, her ancestry, and her identities.
Native to Caguas, PR, Fabiola began playing the cuatro, Puerto Rico’s national instrument, at the age of six. She got her early music trainings at the Antonio Paoli School of Music in Caguas and her Bachelor’s in Music from Berklee College of Music, where in 2018 she made history as the first graduate to play the Puerto Rican cuatro as principal instrument.
Fabiola’s mission has always been to share and celebrate the cuatro, folk music, and collective story-telling. In doing so, she’s had the honor of performing at venues such as the NPR Tiny Desk, Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, Celebrity Series of Boston, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Fred Rogers Productions, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, among many others. She has also collaborated with many local and international artists, including the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Totó La Momposina, Pedro Capó, Andy Montañez, Danny Rivera, Chicago Philharmonic, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.
Her list of recordings include: Herencia Criolla (2009), Al Otro Lado Del Charco (2019), Afrorriqueña (2021), and Flora Campesina (2024). In 2022, she produced her first
documentary “Negrura”, showcasing Afro-Latinx stories in topics around colorism and discrimination within our own communities.
In recent years, she’s had the honor of receiving recognitions such as the Quincy Jones Award, ambassador for the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC, the Brother Thomas Fellowship, the Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship, and the ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award 2022. She was also nominated for a Children’s and Family Emmy in the category of Outstanding Interactive Media and won the “Latin Artist of the Year 2023” by the Boston Music Awards. Her music is featured on the film Beautiful, FL (Disney+), on the tv shows Alma’s Way, Work It Out Wombats (PBS Kids), and Mecha Builders (HBO Max), as well as indie films, jingles, and TV commercials.