Exhibition Opening | Gathered Perspectives: Resident Artist Exhibition

On View: JAN 31 – MAR 8, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, February 7, 2025, 6-9 PM

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See what the resident artists have been working on over the last year in a celebration of artistic practice. The exhibition “Gathered Perspectives” is a salon-style presentation of work from Ajee Hassan, Anna Divinagracia, Bria Sterling-Wilson, Candice Tavares, kolpeace, Hope and Faith McCorkle, and Huynh Trang.

Artist Bios

Anna Divinagracia

Anna Divinagracia is lens based interdisciplinary artist, whose work is inspired by her shared experiences growing up in the Philippines and coming of age in Baltimore. Born in 1997 in Davao City, Philippines, Divinagracia’s artistic journey began at a young age when she discovered her passion for viewing and capturing the world around her through her camera. With a particular curiosity towards the intricacies and nuances of Filipino and American culture, Divinagracia uses her art to explore themes of love, destiny, home, identity, and acculturation as an immigrant.

Divinagracia holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the illustrious Morgan State University and is currently in residency at Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD. She currently works as a Digital Marketing Coordinator at Chesapeake Arts Center. Divinagracia has been recognized by Suboart Magazine, Bmore Art, Womanly Magazine, and Subvrt Magazine. Divinagracia’s artwork has been exhibited in various galleries across Baltimore, at Towson University, and at the Umbrella Art Fair in Washington, DC.

Ajee Hassan

Ajee Hassan is a multi-hyphenate beauty artisan with a keen eye for cultivating both beauty and wellness. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, she uses hair as her medium to amplify creative expression through the transformative power of beautification, with healing at the core of her art. Ajee’s approach blends unconventional styling techniques and unique materials, creating a narrative that reflects her personal perspective while celebrating the diverse range of beauty through artistic expression.

Trang Huynh

Thương is a powerful word in Vietnamese. Thương means unconditional love, a love that exceeds one’s personal selfishness. Paradoxically, when you add the adverb “bị” in, bị thương means to be hurt. Trang’s work as an artist explores the contradictory meanings of this word, illustrating the intertwined relationship between love, pain and forgiveness, particularly through the lens of a Vietnamese Post-War generation. Drawing from historical narratives and personal experiences, where her family members found themselves on opposing sides during the war, her art offers a reflection on the inherited scars left by colonial oppression, and a desire to heal and love.

Through a combination of colorful oil painting, linoleum printing, collage, and laser-cut elements, she creates densely layered compositions that merge figurative imagery with settings drawn from memories, inviting viewers into deeply emotive and thought-provoking spaces. Trang earned her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she received several awards, including the Creative Vision Award, Starr Foundation Scholarship, and Distinguished International. Her work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions, including Artscape B24 in Baltimore, MD, and Asia in Maryland in Towson, MD.

FAITH McCorkle

FAITH McCorkle is an award-winning visionary transdisciplinary artist and cultural producer, channeling resilience and reconstruction through storytelling and collage. FAITH’s work spans papermaking, printmaking, immersive soundscapes, and curatorial projects, serving as vessels for the deep interconnectedness of divine guidance, transformative healing, and powerfull resilience. Through offerings of immersive programming, activations, and culinary experiences, FAITH also fosters Black restoration and community that guide personal and collective growth. FAITH is half of the artist collective Hope and Faith ♡, formed with twin sister HOPE. Their collective work uses collage elements and Black ritual as tools to reconstruct the Black narrative, creating stories that honor the Black mother, spirit, soul food, and childlike wonder. FAITH holds a BFA in Studio Art from New York University and has received numerous accolades, including a prestigious Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship and a 2024 Andy Warhol Foundation’s GritFund Grant, and is currently an artist-in-residence at Creative Alliance. 

 HOPE McCorkle

HOPE (Tonisha Hope McCorkle) is an award-winning transdisciplinary artist, performer, and educator whose canvas is not just a surface, but a portal for healing. She creates transformative and emotionally sensual works of art through painting, collage, movement, and sculpture. Weaving together motifs of memories, mental health, and shadow work, HOPE communicates the intricacies of divine femininity through the lens of self-portraiture, sacred feminine symbolism, and the female gaze. Her creations provide a space for introspection, inviting viewers to explore the profound processes of transformation, intimacy, healing, self-discovery, and hope.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Prince George’s County, MD, HOPE holds a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Psychology from New York University. HOPE has received various awards and recognitions, including MSAC Creativity Grants, a DC CAH Art Bank Grant, a 2024 Andy Warhol Foundation’s GritFund Grant, and a feature in BmoreArt Magazine. Her work has been exhibited in renowned institutions and includes permanent installations at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., as well as a mural at the Baltimore Convention Center. HOPE makes up half of the artist collective Hope and Faith ♡, an interdisciplinary art collaborative formed with twin sibling, FAITH (Eleisha Faith McCorkle). Their work serves as testaments to healing by example, honoring the Black mother, spirit, food, and childlike wonder in the stories told through their scrolls, films, installations, and other creations. Currently living and working in Baltimore, Maryland, HOPE serves as an Educator at the American Visionary Art Museum and as an Artist-in-Residence with Creative Alliance. Her vision extends beyond herself, embracing a higher purpose that dives deep into the soul and invites others to join her on a journey of hope, healing, and self-exploration.

kolpeace

Columbia, South Carolina artist Christopher “kolpeace” Johnson, born in ’94, passionately explores his Black Southern culture and ancestral characters through liberating portraits, rapidly creating art in both studio and performance settings, all infused with a contemporary graffiti voice. Now residing in the South, after earning his MFA, his work embodies the impactful & harsh realities he experienced growing up black in the woods of South Carolina.

Bria Sterling-Wilson

Bria Sterling-Wilson is a Baltimore-based photographer and collage artist. In 2021, she earned her B.F.A. in Photography and Digital Arts from Towson University in Towson, Maryland. Sterling-Wilson’s work utilizes found imagery, magazines, newspapers, and fabrics to create captivating scenes, portraits, and interiors that explore the Black experience.

Sterling-Wilson’s work has been exhibited internationally and across the U.S., including Sanquhar, Scotland; Brooklyn, New York; Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, D.C.; and Baltimore, Maryland. She has been featured in publications such as BmoreArt Magazine, Contemporary Collage Magazine, EBONY Magazine, and Black Collagists: The Book. Sterling-Wilson is currently an artist-in-residence at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore.

Candice Tavares

Candice Tavares is a self taught illustrator and wood artist born and raised just outside of Philadelphia, PA. Her art is a celebration of Black beauty, love and culture that highlights the rich history and diversity of black hair and skin complexion. She was encouraged to experiment with different mediums during Saturday morning art classes and introduced to woodworking while helping her dad build and fix furniture in his woodshop. Years later she was able to combine that knowledge and experience to develop a style of art that felt uniquely hers.

Candice was inspired to create positive, emotionally captivating images of black women, men and families as a therapeutic outlet for the emotionally charged work she does as a palliative care pharmacist. She sees her art as an opportunity to challenge the negative narratives about blackness that are so prevalent within the healthcare system and media at large. Her art is intended to remind Black people of their inherent beauty and value and remind non-black viewers of their shared humanity with black and brown people through the common bonds of love, joy and longing.

Description of Resident Artist Program
Creative Alliance’s Artist Residency Program provides a highly visible, intense, and creative environment for the production of artwork in all media. Attracting artists from around Baltimore and the nation, the program is located in The Patterson, a historic former movie theater converted into a vibrant, community-based art center.