Rita Chester

@rdcjla

Rita Chester is a fiber artist based in Surprise, Arizona, working primarily in felting to create textural works that blur the line between painting and sculpture. Guided by process, she builds surfaces with wool and other natural fibers, layering colour and form to evoke landscapes, florals, and abstract art . Her work has been exhibited across Arizona, including as a featured artist in Sustainable, an exhibition at the West Valley Arts Council (April 2025). She has also been a member of On the Edge Gallery in Scottsdale and Fountain Hills Artists Gallery in Fountain Hills. Rita’s practice continues to grow through exhibitions, collaborations, and community engagement, drawing audiences into the tactile love of fiber.

Miki

@miki

Starting as a weaver, I switched to marbling silk and paper for many years. My next chapter included printmaking. After a 4 year hiatus of caring for my mother I am now experimenting in ink, bookbinding and earth pigments.

Erik Jacobson

@ENJ_Artistry

I’ve never been one to talk about myself—friends can attest to that—but my journey as a photographer is a story I’m ready to share. It began in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, where I’d doodle as a quiet Midwestern kid to keep busy for my mom. In high school, my dad handed me his old Minolta SLR camera, and everything shifted the first time I stood in a darkroom, the sharp scent of chemicals in the air, watching an image emerge like smoke on the paper. Photography became my way to blend everything I loved about art—drawing, painting, sculpture—into one medium. After earning my bachelor degree in photography, I moved to the Northwest suburbs of Phoenix, where the desert’s stark beauty inspired me to dig deeper. Working as a bartender for years, I honed my craft on the side, capturing the world’s hidden stories through my lens. My photography centers on three subjects—People, Places, and Things—each a window into what makes us tick. With People, I explore our relationships with ourselves, each other, and our surroundings, capturing the chaotic ballet of modern life—like a fleeting glance in a crowded bar that carries a story of the depth and rhythm of human connection. Places is my visual journey through our habitation of the physical world, where the harmony and conflict between the story of humanity and nature play out—a person walking past a flower growing from the sidewalk under a scorching sun, or a city skyline cooling off during a desert sunset, reflecting the wonder and the beauty I’ve always seen in art. Things uncovers what we leave behind, from objects we create to escape reality to those that silently tell our stories, whispering history’s lessons and showing how we live and interpret our world. I carry forward the methodologies of traditional photography, editing with the same principles I learned early on, while living in a digital age. My approach aims for a raw, natural style that feels like you’re standing there with me, whether in the desert or a studio, always pausing to notice the details others might miss. For me, photography is about finding clarity in chaos, whether I’m capturing a stranger’s shadow on cracked earth or light fracturing through a dusty window. My art is my way to slow down and uncover beauty in the overlooked, a journey that is my own—but for those who choose to come along for the ride… Welcome to my vision: a world of hidden beauty with quiet details and clarity in the chaos, for those who pause to see it too.

Jeanmarie Simpson

@JeanmarieSimpson

Jeanmarie Simpson is an American theatre artist whose work centers women who challenge power structures—political, religious, and psychological. Her solo and ensemble plays often explore grief, justice, memory, and resistance, using theatrical language that blurs the sacred and the personal. She is best known for A Single Woman, a two-hander about Jeannette Rankin that premiered Off-Broadway at The Culture Project, was filmed with Judd Nelson and the voices of Martin Sheen and Patricia Arquette (featuring music by Joni Mitchell), and ultimately toured to 53 countries across five continents. The piece earned “Best Theatrical Surprise” from Sacramento News & Review and was presented at CalArts, where she was a Surdna Distinguished Guest Artist. Other performance highlights include The Road to Mecca, directed by Zakes Mokae, and Shakespeare’s Will by Vern Thiessen, directed by Leonard Nimoy. Her original works include Coming In Hot (in which she portrayed 19 military women), HERETIC – the Mary Dyer Story, and The Jewish Question, which received Honorable Mention from the Jewish Plays Project. Her recent plays deepen her turn toward spiritually-inflected and memory-haunted work: Even Unto Death, a six-character passion drama through the eyes of Joan of Arc’s mother Ghosts of the Gilded Stage, a theatrical meditation on mortality and legacy Lear: A Solo Adaptation, which reimagines the king’s last moments as a hallucinatory unraveling Her work has been supported by six Sierra Arts Foundation, twelve Nevada Arts Council, and multiple National Endowment for the Arts Theatre grants. In 2022, she was awarded a Living History Foundation grant for Bambino Mio – Bright Little Flame, about Maria Montessori. She served as a panelist for the NEA’s 2023 Theatre Grants for Arts Projects. She is Founding Artistic Director of Arizona Theatre Matters, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, and retired from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Actors’ Equity Association, and SAG-AFTRA. Jeanmarie writes from a threshold space—between faith and disillusion, between fire and silence—where the ghosts of history ask to be heard.

Kim

@KimWalkerArt

Kim Walker is an internationally recognized artist, mother of four, grandmother of nine, and loving wife. Kim's son Robby began attending community college in 1992 at age 9. While transporting him to and from college, Kim decided to attend classes herself. She became the first person in her family to receive a degree - a B.F.A. in Painting from Arizona State University - and had the unique experience of taking some classes with her son. Robby completed a PhD in Computer Science. With great pride and joy she refers to this experience as a magical part of her journey. Since then, Kim has developed a unique style of painting that incorporates pressed flowers and natural elements. During her degree program she absorbed the many offerings of her instructors and is very grateful for that experience. Kim always knew, however, that she wanted to find her own voice in her art. Beginning in December of 1999, in an attempt to assuage her grief over the untimely death of her mother, Kim took almost daily walks. “One day while resting on a mountain trail a breeze wrapped around me and it felt like a hug. I looked up and all around and it became crystal clear that nature reflects not just beauty but also hope and inspiration and healing as well as many metaphoric lessons that can touch all of our lives in profound and limitless ways. We are all warmed by the same sun and held by the same gravity. I knew I wanted to share these feelings as well as the actual botanicals with the world. I stopped many times on my walk home that day and picked up random botanic elements not knowing how, but still knowing these elements would become part of my art.” Kim continues to evolve her processes of the inclusion of actual botanicals in her art, each day making new discoveries in her studio. She also writes an original poem for each painting to further express her reverent gratitude for the gifts of nature. Kim's art is represented in galleries and juried and invitational exhibits nationwide and is included in private, corporate, and municipal collections all over the world.

Tiffany Heath

@surREALart

I am an Artist and a high school Art teacher. I received my degree in Art Education and a minor in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005. I completed my masters in Education from Walden University in 2026. I teach all media in visual arts and encourage students to make their artwork meaningful to them by fostering connections in the art community and advocating for the arts.

Linda Cummings

@Linleeart

I began painting 3 years ago. Watercolor was my first indeavor, but soon branched out into acrylics, resin, mixed media and encaustics. I do a wide variety of genre including greeting cards, jewelry, encaustic paints and clay bowls. I have so much fun creating different items and experimenting with mediums. Hope you enjoy.

Daisy Brady

@DaisyBrady

Daisy is a trained fine artist and designer with over 35 years in the retail and design industry. A graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Marketing and a minor in Art, she designed merchandise displays for Hallmark and sold her handmade jewelry in boutiques across the Chicagoland area. At the age of 22, she was a Public Relations Account Executive and Special Event Coordinator in Chicago, representing major retail magnates, and working with national and international media. After relocating to Arizona in 2001, Daisy raised a family and worked as a Kitchen Designer for Home Depot (10 years) as an Interior Designer and CAD designer of kitchens, offices, bathrooms, and laundry rooms; Jewelry Design Instructor and Crochet Instructor for Michaels (10 years) specializing in wire wrapping, bead weaving, crimping, et al; Feature Writer for West Valley Real Producers Realtor Trade Magazine (2 years); and a guest teacher with the Arts Academy at West Point Elementary (12 Years). As an active arts advocate with students, she created the costumes, props, and scenery for their school musicals, promotional signage, special event decorations, and was a multi-disciplined Boy Scout merit badge counselor and Marketing Coordinator. Since 2021, Daisy has been the Gallery Manager and Curator for the West Valley Arts Council's Arts HQ Gallery in Surprise, Arizona. Using her retail, woodworking, merchandising, and marketing skills, she also helps emerging artists market themselves and creates custom merchandise displays as needed. She is an accomplished sustainable artist in her own right, and has had her Etsy shop, Distinctly Daisy, since 2009 specializing in wire-wrapped jewelry and crochet. Daisy is a multi-faceted artist preferring to work in wood, watercolor, acrylic, wire, and sculpture.

Geoff Culbertson

@Culbertson_Art

I am a visual artist based in Surprise, Arizona with a passion for creating Impressionist-inspired landscapes that evoke emotion and atmosphere. My work often draws inspiration from the natural world, especially desert vistas and serene outdoor environments, blending vibrant colors with expressive brushwork to capture the interplay of light and texture. Art has always been my way of telling stories—each piece reflects a moment, a feeling, or a perspective that I want to share. I enjoy experimenting with color and movement to create compositions that feel alive and invite viewers to experience the scene as if they were there. Over time, I’ve worked on custom banners and commissioned projects, which has allowed me to explore different scales and styles while staying true to my love for expressive, nature-inspired art. My goal is simple: to create work that resonates emotionally and visually, leaving a lasting impression.

Jimmy Davis

@itsjimmydavis

Performer. Educator. Advocate. Community Builder. Jimmy Davis is a dynamic force in the performing arts, education, and community leadership. A gifted vocalist, pianist, and stage performer, he harnesses the transformative power of the arts to educate, uplift, and inspire. As a seasoned music educator and theater director, Jimmy teaches voice, piano, choir, general music, and musical theater—creating spaces where every student feels seen, celebrated, and empowered. A third-generation Tolleson resident and small business owner, Jimmy is deeply rooted in the West Valley. First appointed to the Tolleson City Council in 2020 and elected in 2022, he now serves as Vice Mayor. His leadership has advanced inclusive policies, youth programs, and arts initiatives such as the Tolleson Initiative for the Arts (TIA). Beyond City Hall, Jimmy serves as Director of Programs and Administration at the West Valley Arts Council, a Board Member for Valley Metro, Commissioner for AZGV, and a board member for the Tolleson Trust Coalition. Through his company, Jimmy Davis Music, LLC, he provides private lessons, community arts programs, and live entertainment—transforming lives through creativity. With a heart for service and a bold vision for the future, Jimmy Davis is shaping a more inclusive, expressive, and empowered Arizona—one note, one student, and one community at a time.

Lanelle

@Livani

Lanelle is a multi-media visual artist, pianist, writer and poet, photographer, and loves to travel and explore new places for inspiration