David Antonio Cruz is a multidisciplinary artist. Cruz fuses painting, video, and performance to explore the visibility and intersectionality of brown, black, and queer bodies. Cruz received a BFA in painting from Pratt Institute and an MFA from Yale University. He attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and completed the AIM Program at the Bronx Museum. Recent residencies include the LMCC Workspace Residency, Project for Empty Space’s Social Impact Residency, and BRICworkspace. Cruz’s work has been included in notable group exhibitions at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, El Museo del Barrio, Performa 13, and the McNay Art Museum. Most recently, at Monique Meloche Gallery. His fellowships and awards include the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Award, the Franklin Furnace Fund Award, the Urban Artist Initiative Award, the Queer Mentorship Fellowship, and the Neubauer Faculty Fellowship at Tufts University. Recent press includes The New York Times, Art In America, ARTnews, Document Journal, Wall Street Journal, WhiteHot Magazine, Vogue Magazine, and El Centro Journal.
Dexter Wimberly is an entrepreneur and independent curator who has organized exhibitions and developed programs with galleries and institutions throughout the world including The Third Line, Dubai; Koki Arts, Tokyo; Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh; and the Museum of Arts and Design, NYC. His exhibitions have been reviewed and featured in publications including The New York Times, Artforum, and Hyperallergic; and have received support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Wimberly has served on the board of the New York-based arts nonprofit, The Laundromat Project and actively supports other arts organizations. Prior to developing his curatorial practice, Wimberly was the founder and CEO of the pioneering marketing and public relations agency, August Bishop. Wimberly has also served as Director of Communications for The Museum for African Art, NY; Director of Strategic Planning at Independent Curators International, NY; and Executive Director of Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, NJ. In 2018, he founded the professional development company, ART WORLD CONFERENCE, and serves as its CEO.