The fifth scholar in the world to earn a Ph.D. in the History of Decorative Arts, Design, and Material Culture, Dr. Stephanie Lake’s opulent jewelry is informed by her work as a curator, archivist, auction specialist and fashion heir as well as in response to the profound impact of living with Type 1 Diabetes. Her favorite word, splendor, and her insistence upon it reflect her deep commitment to living a life anchored in a personal sense of wonder, curiosity, beauty, and purpose.

Lake’s academic focus on decorative arts from the 18th century to the current day centers on personal adornment and aesthetic choices made by elite and intellectual circles. Her curatorial work includes stints in Paris, London, Istanbul, Tokyo, New York, and Los Angeles, working with some of the world’s most extraordinary collections and collectors.

Within Lake’s eponymous jewelry firm, each design is one of a kind and sustainable, featuring centuries of found source materials.

Max is a 23 year old designer and founder of AGE, a clashing of street wear, punk, Hip-Hop, vintage, grunge and art. Max started AGE in 2016 using all lof those influences to design by repurposing army surplus garments and altering their appearance, as well as printing loud and emotional graphics and slogans to communicate his message. Using a variety of new and vintage clothing as his canvas, Max treats every piece as an opportunity to create something that both provokes and excites the wearer.

Keiona is a multi faceted light. She is a couture fashion designer, artist, author, youth instructors, motivational speaker and influencer. She loves to explore the world of fashion and art around community and growth. She shares her vision from the perspective of being an African-American woman who loves connecting with people in the community. Her work is a celebration of uplifting friendships, community and empowering self-care. Welcome to her Dreams turned Reality.

Skilla Osekpo is a muse, stylist, creative and nightlife director, however those are just a few of the many hats he wears.

Inspired by his Nigerian - Italian heritage, as well as starting off as a child model in Napoli Italy, his deep interest and personal involvement in the fashion scene has evolved throughout the years.

This coupled with a multitude of experiences in content creation which opened up opportunities to model for various brands across Europe, the USA and Africa. A few of his works have even been featured in IGNANT, Vogue, Native Youth, Afropunk, MILK amongst other online publications.

This has all led to the creation of his own personal brand, SKILLALEATHERGOODS, and creative studio MOODARCHIVE which was founded in March 2020.

Caitlin Karolczak was born on Minnesota’s Iron Range. She received a BFA in Fine Arts and a BA in Art History with an emphasis in 19th century medical photography from the University of MN Twin Cities. Subsequently she founded her studio in NE Minneapolis where she first began to paint in oils. Through repeated experimentation and personal study she has become self-taught in different classical painting techniques.

In addition to painting Karolczak pursues installation, sculpture, and performance art often incorporating objects of biology and antiquity from her personal collection.

Karolczak has exhibited internationally in Bogotá, Minneapolis, NYC, Vancouver, Miami, Europe and more. Her work is in numerous collections across the US, Australia, South America, UK, Canada, Israel & South Africa. She has been interviewed by art publications in Australia, South America, Croatia, & the USA.

Founded by DJ Taylor, Venci’s is a luxury fashion brand that inspires people to break conformity within themselves, expand their comfort zone through the eyes of luxury fashion. Embracing the elegancy of imperfections within the self, and celebrating them conquering their own shortcomings.

Yuanrong Li is a painter, sculptor, and installation artist based in Minneapolis. Li was born in Hebei, China, and moved to the US to receive her BA from Hartwick College in upstate NY. Her visual work is committed to providing the viewer with a utopian environment free from complex emotions and negative feelings. For Li, creating art is a process of healing herself.

Li is currently an MFA student at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is the graduate assistant at the MCAD Gallery and the Viewpoint Gallery.

Adrian Wilson is a man of many talents - award winning documentary filmmaker, creative director, CEO of Bryston Studios, super dad and all around creative.

As a filmmaker, Adrian has worked with numerous companies and organizations including: Minnesota Twins, Major League Soccer, CBS Sports, Twin Cities Boy and Girls Club, E.A. Sports and many more.

As a producer, Adrian founded the Creative Arts Festival, a vibrant event that provides a platform for local artists to showcase their creative works and talents. Adrian also founded the Twin Cities Toy Drive that provided over 2,000 toys to BIPOC communities across Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Currently, Adrian is working on his 2022 Twin Cities Film Festival award winning film A Letter to Bryson - a visual letter of the historical 2020 civil rights uprising. Follow a black filmmaker from South Minneapolis as he captures never before seen footage inside of the 3rd precinct and the incident on 35W. As the revolutionary civil rights movement unfolds, he documents his personal stories and hopes to one day show his six year old son what being black America really is.

Amir Berenjian is a creative technologist exploring at the leading edge of spatial computing and human-computer interaction. He is the CEO of REM5 Studios, a MN-based agency focused on empowering its partners with emerging technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, WEB3, and the metaverse. Having worked with a broad range of partners from schools to fortune 500 companies and brands, Amir is a global thought leader in designing, creating, and implementing immersive technology at scale.

Joe Dammel is a fashion photographer based out of Minneapolis. After photographing everything under the sun---landscapes, cityscapes, families, weddings, engagements, headshots---he realized that photographing fashion was the perfect fit for his style and eye and he's been doing it ever since. Joe has been the lead photographer for Fashion Week Minnesota for the past three seasons and his work has been featured in many local print and digital outlets.

Selena is a Minneapolis Creative with a background in fashion, design and styling. She enjoys all things collaborative and creative and it’s very likely you’ll find her spinning an idea for a photoshoot, event, or campaign. Selena believes that creativity is not a one size fits all and is constantly inspired by the people, places and local community around her. She is heavily influenced by music; the emotions and power that it has to not only inspire but resonate with people in so many different ways and you'll often see that come to life in the work she does.

This is the first time Selena is showcasing original art, on purpose as she would say, and she's thrilled to be partnering with furniture designer Andy Fox to make their unique design concept come to life for Sonder. She says you can expect lots of color, unexpected mediums and more hidden messages (eggs as she calls them) than a Taylor Swift music video.

I grew up in NYC and have always been interested in art and art museums. An older brother is an accomplished painter and I was greatly influenced by him. I came to MN for graduate school in psychology.

Before retiring, I worked with a prominent sculptor for several years. I’ve been on the boards of The Weisman Art Museum and Mill City Summer Opera.

A few years ago I helped start a small opera company called Out of the Box Opera and I continue to make sculptures. I love to travel and never miss a chance to visit a local art museum. I am married, have 2 kids, 5 grandkids and a dog named Henri…

My artistic passion revolves around Opera and Sculpture. I am drawn to shapes and 3 dimensional aspects. As of late my focus has been the human body and specifically the torso. I’ve apprenticed with an accomplished sculptor (bronze) for several years.

An enigmatic bi-racial Minneapolis artist and father of five. He spends most of his time wandering the wooded areas of the world listening with keen ears for interesting fauna and spontaneous prose to fill his head. While at home he enjoys experimenting with photographic arts, obsessing over color theory, raising monarch butterflies and fighting to make the world a more lush and loving landscape for all.

Apricot Floral is a design studio full of top tier creatives, collecting whatever is most local, in season, and inspiring to create vibrantly natural floral arrangements. Apricot Floral reflects the belief that design is best served to enhance a moment’s natural beauty, rather than distract from it. Apricot Floral designs out of their studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Also, in our Minneapolis partnership studio at the Four Seasons Minneapolis.

David Sherman is an accomplished photographer best known for his portrait, professional sports, and editorial photography and his ability to convey emotion through imagery. He bought his first real camera at a pawn shop at age 16. Inspired by his early love of pictures, especially World War II and 1960’s era visuals, his work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and published across the U.S. and internationally.

He’s covered professional assignments worldwide, from China to Turkey. Respected for his personable approach and art of drawing out the true personality of those in front of his lens, his greatest joy is making genuine connections with people and their stories through his work.

A careerlong NBA and WNBA photographer for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx, David serves as the house photographer for U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center, and Treasure Island Resort & Casino. His photography portfolio spans multiple industries, with a special focus on fashion related projects. He co-founded Transfer of Memory in 2010, a touring portrait exhibition featuring Minnesota Holocaust survivors and their stories, which is being published as a hard copy book in 2023.

Based in Minneapolis and a father to four grown children, David received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics/Finance from Purdue University. Early in his professional life, he worked in marketing and sales before pursuing his photography passion full time.

Andy Fox is a furniture artist based in Long Lake, MN. Andy specializes not only in restoring vintage furniture pieces, but breathing new life into each piece with creative color combinations, finishes and hardware. Andy is a visionary as he can see the beauty in every piece even if they need a little or a lot of TLC. The pieces Andy works on are not only unique in design, they are built to use and restored to the highest possible quality. Another unique feature of Andy's process is the initial naming of each piece. Just like people, furniture has personality and the names he chooses represent and highlight just that.

Andy's talent, diverse skill set and craftsmanship in combination with his creative process make his pieces truly one of a kind and stand out. Looking forward, Andy hopes to grow his business as he continues salvaging history, one piece at a time.

Michael F. Byers was born and raised in Gadsden, Alabama and moved to Minnesota in 2019. Ever since, he has began a lifestyle brand known as Energy Gear, with a mission of empowering the generation of today and the generations of the future through the power of positive and negative Engery.

Peter Phung is an adaptable visual artist who works in various mediums to create impactful visual narratives. He holds experience in cross functional fields, aiming to develop concepts influenced by nature, beauty & art. Through the use of photography, design, hair and makeup, and art installations, he curates work that celebrates a unique flare into the digital and physical realm.

Find more information and stay connected with his work at:

www.instagram.com/peterphungus

www.peterphung.com

Envy and Fancy are the award-winning, chart-topping, hip-hop husband and wife duo, “iLLism”.

Married nearly 14 years, they’ve toured across the country for the past seven.

iLLism's repertoire incorporates live instrumentation while the production crosses several genres, including Hip hop, R&B, Jazz, and Minneapolis Funk. Both of their upbringings were concentrated on black culture and its influence, which spurred their passion for hip-hop music and the revolutionary genres that influenced it.

Envy and Fancy are prominent black creatives who are active and devoted members of their communities. In June, 2022, iLLism unveiled The Legacy Building in South Minneapolis. A creative haven for artists to experiment, collaborate, and create compelling content and experiences. Born out of love and necessity, The Legacy Building is equipped with: a rehearsal room, photo/video studios, a recording studio, a gallery, and a pop-up storefront.

Culture moves through The Legacy Building. Supporting Black creatives is at the core of their events and programming.

iLLism’s mission is to motivate and inspire their community, through collective creative Purpose.

eNDiO (aka DiO) is a 23 year old emerging multi-hyphenate artist and curator. He’s currently based in the Twin Cities and, as an artist of many disciplines, he creates with the synergy of music, painting, and theatre. His practice is centered around storytelling, connection through honest emotion, and free expression. His work revolves around amplifying his experience as a multi dimensional “black body in white space” as well as uplifting the voices and stories of fellow black creatives around the Twin Cities community. Influences from visual art, hip hop, and theatre form stories that are immersive, art that is dynamic and serves as a reflection of an alternative black experience; persevering through trials and tribulations, uncovering the higher purpose of the lives we lead, and understanding how we carry on in a world designed to hold us back.

DiO debuted on the scene Summer 2020, by creating hand painted T-shirts, giving them out to protestors and allies with the aim of “providing visual symbols of love, hope, resistance and revolution” to those active in the community fighting for change. Taking his first steps in the field of curation, he hosted his first solo exhibition in his own backyard later that September.

February 2021 marked the release of his debut musical EP titled eNDiO: Black Romantic; the rollout of which involved a digital interactive exhibition and culminated May 2021 into Grad Fest, a two-weekend art/music/fashion festival hosted again in his own backyard.

In July 2021, DiO connected with iLLism for collaboration on The Legacy Building’s first art show: UnSeen Voices. Pulling together several up and coming Twin Cites artists, the art/music/fashion celebration paved the foundation for future Legacy Building art events, including the upcoming Unseen Voices: 4DaLuv. A celebration of Black Love in it’s many forms throughout the ages, 4DaLuv will provide visitors with a multi-sensory journey guided by the work and experiences of undiscovered Black artists.

My name is Zachina, the Owner and Founder of Aura’s Journey to Self Healing. I'm also a mother of 2 beautiful children and the oldest of 5 amazing siblings. When I was 16 years old my mother passed away from a critical illness. Since her passing I’ve spent my life searching for the purpose behind everything I do and devoted to expressing my growth and healing through my beautiful Aura’s.

When we are faced with trauma no matter the reason it’s easy to fall into negativity and make poor life choices, but we all have the ability and power to take our pain and transform it into something beautiful.

MUZE is a conceptual art space created in 2021 by two Hmong women. Together, they curate unique & ever-changing art installations open to artists and the general public. Their concepts are devoted through their experience in creative direction, photography, and set design.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muzemn/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muzemn