Back in April of 2023, painter and illustrator Avery Edwards, photographer Ashlyn Rancudo, and I struck up a conversation about how we were all interested in creating a collaborative gallery in a public space and began to dream about what would later become our show Places I’ve Been. We soon decided we wanted to create a multidisciplinary show that focused on feelings of nostalgia and the different stages of life as we were about to go our separate ways and begin a new one. Over the next few months, we worked to find a venue that would be willing to host our show and display our artwork, and the wonderful people at our favorite coffee shop Pour Jons agreed to display our work, and as a staple of the community in Siloam Springs, we were incredibly honored they agreed to do so. We set a date, March 1st, 2024 for our opening night, and began working tirelessly on individual and collaborative paintings, illustrations, and photographs the entire year leading up to it.

The night was a huge success, more than we ever could have hoped for, and it was such a pleasure to work with other artists whose vision and skills I completely trusted, and who were committed and self-motivated enough that we could achieve something like this on our own (and with the help and support of our incredible family, friends, and the staff at Pour Jons). Read our artist statement below, and. check out some of our work from the show that we are so proud of.