Current Porter Scholarship Recipients

Sarah Bouma

I’d like to create a series of oil paintings using my analog collages as reference images.

My goal is to create 3 paintings between 16×20” and 36×42” over the next 6 months. Composed of clothing sourced from fashion magazines, these collages will transform the familiar into the surreal, turning garments into gateways to something larger—evoking transcendence and collective consciousness.The textures and folds will mimic natural elements—clouds, waves, even fragments of architecture—suggesting that adornment is more than self-expression; it is a ritual, a bridge to the unseen.

Beauty, in this context, feels sacred, as if dressing the body is akin to dressing the soul.

Betsy Brandt

“My artistic practice is built upon my fascination with the natural world; specifically the cycles of death, decay, and predation. Vultures, fungi, and carrion are consistent subjects in my work. I find solace in the existence of organisms that are sustained from decay, as they give meaning to death. Art making helps me process this inevitability, and through this I have begun to perceive the cycle of life and death as a sort of reincarnation. Illustrating scenes revolving around the more brutal aspects of nature helps me comprehend the daunting fate that awaits all living things. I find it both poetic and bittersweet that death is necessary in order for life to grow. As for the mediums I work with, I have always loved drawing, and recently I have discovered a passion for printmaking. More specifically, Intaglio and relief, as I find the processes of etching and carving deeply satisfying. I am excited to continue exploring the world of printmaking, and grateful to be a part of the wonderful community at Art Gym.”

Lauren Geisler

I graduated from the University of Utah Design and Book Arts program in May and moved to Denver in June. Since moving, I have felt quite isolated and have found it difficult to motivate myself to do creative work inside my apartment. I miss working in the studio so much, as the environment and the people there are a huge activator in my practice.

My current design practice goals are developing my portfolio to apply to graduate school in January and working on freelance design projects to pay the bills. I am very invested in having a place where I can continue my design work as well as meet other artists in Denver. I believe Art Gym would help me immensely in pursuing these goals and giving me my first real anchor place in Denver. Having this studio resource would assist greatly in giving me a space to work on my design & art projects outside of my apartment. I am dedicated to my art and design practice, regardless of my job, but losing the studio space I had in college has been harder on me than I thought.

Kylee McKinney

Kylee McKinney is a multidisciplinary artist and current Porter Scholarship Resident at ArtGym Denver. Her work explores visual storytelling through layered materials and thoughtful design. Working across painting, textiles, mixed media, and printmaking, she creates compositions that translate narrative into form, color, and texture. Her current body of work, Told in Color and Form, reimagines cultural Salish and personal stories as visual experiences, focusing on how art can communicate across generations and perspectives.

With an emphasis on storytelling, symbolism, and materiality, McKinney’s work seeks to spark reflection and connection. She sees each piece as a space for interpretation, where visual elements act as prompts for memory, imagination, and dialogue.

Chester Rhodes

My work is very much inspired by my time studying art therapy. I focus on the process of creating and the emotions and sensations that come up as I explore.I have found that the intersection of performance and art making is one that deeply inspires me. I believe that documenting the creation of each piece adds a lot of gravity to the finished product. Over the last year, I’ve started making timelapse process videos of my paintings, which has been such a joy. Most of my work is large scale (4-7ft generally) I plan to continue documenting the process of my larger pieces while I am still physically able to do so, before my condition progresses further. Having access to the larger painting areas in Art Gym would help greatly in this endeavor.
Lately, I have been exploring smaller works as this gives me the ability to finish the pieces much faster and helps minimize the chronic pain that comes from making larger pieces. Since making this shift, I have been inspired to create hand painted, stop motion films to accompany my music. This project is one that I’ve already begun at home, but I have recently rented out the room in my home that was my studio, and am still figuring out a new place to do this work. I believe the Art Gym would be a perfect place to complete this project.

Sarah Sophia

Sarah Sophia is a visionary queer Indigenous artist whose vibrant creations breathe life into canvases, textiles, and sculptures. With a keen focus on vivid color and texture, she invites viewers into a realm where imagination and storytelling reign supreme. Sarah’s art serves as a celebration of creativity and a kaleidoscope of identity and self-expression that captures the essence of her own journey to reconnect with her Indigenous heritage and explore her queer identity. Sarah Sophia strives for her art to be a beacon of representation and empowerment, resonating with individuals who find solace and celebration in the vibrant tapestry of their own identities.

Amelia Wiygul

I intend to use the space to finish 2 large scale commission pieces (>5ft), make one large-scale personal project (>6ft), and create a series of affordable prints to sell at markets and shows. In these works, I plan to continue exploring themes of mental health, womanhood, queerness, and the beauty of the natural world, resulting in a body of work that will link these themes via a well-developed visual language.

The commission pieces will be a diptych of two works, roughly 2.5’x5’ in size. They will serve as a background for telehealth appointments for the client, a therapist who works primarily with the unhoused community. They will be fantasy-inspired depictions of “parts work,” a type of therapy that acknowledges different “parts” of a person’s psyche, with each part having their own needs and agendas.

The personal project will be a large-scale painting (~6’x4’) depicting a scene from the Greek myth of Leda. The goal of this project is to process themes of sexual violence and womanhood by focusing on telling the story of Leda’s life after her encounter with a rapacious Zeus in the form of a swan, rather than the encounter itself, which is the scene most famously depicted in art history. I also plan to create some smaller drawings and prints working with the same theme to accompany the large work.

I also plan to use the 6 months of studio time to create a series of affordable prints on paper via linocut, woodcut, and screenprinting. Part of my ethos as an artist is that everyone should be able to afford art, and by creating prints on paper, I can keep the cost of production down so that I can offer art to everyone.