A Creative Excuse

Sydney Cooper

Sydney Cooper was born in the 60's in Los Angeles, California - the child of a Japanese and Jewish family. In one neighborhood she lived in as a teen there were families newly arrived from Vietnam, Marines from a nearby military base, long time Mexican Californians, newly arrived Mexican and central American immigrants, Low-riders, Surfers, Military families of Vietnam veterans, Bike gang members, Mormons, Samoans, and that was just on one street!
This lineage and the question of how cultures, time and place intersect has influenced her longtime interest in ideas of the hybrid, cross-disciplinary practices, and the way our cultural and historical origins create distinctive ways of being. Sydney studied on the east coast further broadening her influences and received a degree in liberal arts at Bennington College in Vermont. Since then Sydney has lived in San Francisco, Paris, New York, Woodstock, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Chimayo and Santa Fe New Mexico.
www.sydneycooper.com

Daniel McCoy

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and surrounded with the arts from an early age, Daniel McCoy (Muscogee Creek/Potawatomi) was welcomed into a household of Artisans, Farmers, Music and Subculture. McCoy began entering Native Art Competitions at age fifteen under the direction of Cherokee Artist, Mary Adair while attending boarding school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He received his formal Art Training at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the Institute, Daniel McCoy jr. was able to study and work with some of the best Native Artists in the field.
https://hechoamano.org/artist/daniel-mccoy

Leia Zumbro

Leia Zumbro is a jewelry artist living in St. Louis, MO. In addition to showing at Hecho a Mano, her handcrafted jewelry is available widely across the US.
https://leiazumbro.com/

Les Lepere

Les LePere is an artist from Harrington, WA. His work is on the covers of Tom Robbins books and in the collections of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Boston Art Museum, LA County Art Museum, and others.
https://www.pencilfarmstudio.com/

Becca Grady

Becca Grady (she/they) is a queer writer, photographer and artist. She is currently working on an environmental memoir about running and hiking through climate change in the Southwest, an excerpt of which was recently chosen in the Open Mountain Competition at the Kendal Mountain Literary Festival. Becca’s writing has also been published in Perverse, Ecology and Action Magazine, and Composite Arts Magazine. Her photography has been commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity and featured in Grist.org. They have exhibited artwork across the US and internationally in Sweden, France, and Norway. 
https://www.beccagrady.com

Jason Garcia

Jason Garcia is a contemporary Native American artist in the United States, who was born in Santa Clara, New Mexico. His work has been exhibited the Smithsonian in Washington D.C, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the Palm Springs Art Museum, and many more.
https://okuupin.com/

Matt King

Matt King (1984 – 2022) was an American artist and co-founder of Meow Wolf, where he worked as senior vice president of creative direction until his death in July 2022. A native of Arlington, Texas, King was based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Ben Muñoz

Benjamin Muñoz is a Dallas-based multi-disciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, installation, and monumental printmaking. Muñoz grew up in the vibrant Chicano culture of Corpus Christi, Texas, which boasts the country's largest Day of the Dead celebration, lowriders shows, and unique food culture. The middle child of artist brothers, Muñoz found his voice by reflecting on his heritage, upbringing, and current surroundings.
https://www.benjaminmunoz.com/

Paula Wilson, Mike Lagg & Kara Duval

Paula Wilson is an African American "mixed media" artist creating works examining women's identities through a lens of cultural history. She uses sculpture, collage, painting, installation, and printmaking methods such as silkscreen, lithography, and woodblock.
https://paulajwilson.com/
Mike Lagg is a self-taught woodworker whose furniture, buildings, sculptures, and kinetic pieces are engineered to move with the wind, body, sun, and hand. He works with hardwoods and recycled material to make pieces with refined craft and inventive recreation.
https://carrizozoarts.com/mike-lagg
Kara Duval is a massage therapist and dancer in Santa Fe, NM.
http://www.wisehandsbodywork.com/

Tricia English

Tricia English is a designer based in Santa Fe, NM. With a background in product development and business from the Melbourne School of Fashion, she has spent most of her life working in different areas of visual design as well as managed and operated businesses from start-ups to well-established entities.