Assets for Artists is thrilled to welcome a cohort of Lowell-based artists to the Capacity-Building Program! We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read, meet and follow them as they progress through our program!
Gwendolyn lanier (she/her)
"I render the human figure because it is the vessel that consciousness lives in. The familiarity of the human form enables my audience to connect with the context of each piece. "
Gwendolyn Lanier is a visual artist based in Lowell Massachusetts whose body of work centers ceramic sculpture to explore her personal spirituality and divine feminine energy. Lanier is drawn to the pliability of ceramics, which assists in making her interior world visible. The result is a mystic reality of surreal and visionary imagery. In 2009, Lanier received her BFA from the School of the Museum of the Fine Arts/Tufts University in Boston. Lanier was the recipient of the 2009 Albert Pratt Travelling Grant which enabled her to study Ceramic Figurative Art in Florence, Italy. Subsequently Lanier received her Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Graduate Studies from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Lanier is currently a teaching artist and ceramic studio technician at the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, MA, and an artist member at the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro MA and Brush Art Gallery and Studios in Lowell MA.
Henry Marte is a first-generation American, the proud offspring of Dominican immigrants, who has lived in Lowell for over a decade. Originally from New York City, Marte is an Army veteran with a diverse and accomplished background. Marte holds two professional certificates from Middlesex Community College in Digital Media Marketing and Social Media Management, attended the Documentary Film School at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design through a fellowship program, and is an alumnus of both the EforAll Business Accelerator program and the Team Red, White & Blue Leadership Development Fellowship. Marte recently returned to college part-time, to pursue a degree in communications.
“Storytelling is at the heart of my artistic practice. My passion for storytelling began during my childhood visits to the Dominican Republic, where frequent blackouts led us to gather around fires or candles to share stories. This tradition, combined with the influence of movies and TV shows that introduced me to English, fueled my love for narrative. In my portrait work, I engage with my subjects to reveal their personalities, ensuring that each image reflects their true selves. This approach extends to my commercial and event photography, where I use angles and perspectives to immerse the audience, making them feel as though they are part of the action."
David Wanderi, a Kenyan-American from Lowell, MA, and Bryan Acosta, a Dominican-American from Miami raised in Lawrence, MA, co-founded IMAG9NE after graduating from UMASS Dartmouth. Driven by a shared passion for diverse storytelling, IMAG9NE MEDIA produces original short films and organizes an international short film festival in Lowell, Massachusetts. David and Bryan are dedicated to promoting inclusivity and amplifying underrepresented voices in cinema.
Naomi Torres-Ortiz truly believes that our closest connection is our ability to share and tell stories. She wants us to see our own truths, our own experiences, reflected back the same way flowers reflect stars: surprisingly and obviously. Naomi's passion is to use her curiosity for various mediums and her love for our world to create art that is powerful and calls each of us to connect with our shared, interlaced universe. She hopes for her art to capture the souls of folks walking by and engage the artwork with their own stories and connections. These stories, while different to each person, stem from her art, acting as an anchor to all who engage. In the end, everyone who feels with her work becomes connected to everyone else. She hopes those connections will foster the growth of community bonds.
Kes Maro is a writer and visual artist based at Western Ave Studios in Lowell, MA. Their work lives in spaces in between beautiful and disgusting and has been described as queer terror pop. Kes makes art to prevent his skin from unzipping and unraveling out of existence. Recently, a lot of their work responds to the dissonance of going about the day as normal when it seems like the world is burning down around us. He over-identifies with trapped animals and creatures considered “dangerous.” They received a BFA in Interrelated Media from MassArt in 2022. Kes is also a member of the Mill City Speaks Slam Poetry team. Sport for poets! You can find some of their poetry in Passengers Journal, Beyond Queer Words, and Prometheus Dreaming. This past winter they were the Guest Artist at the Loading Dock Gallery. Currently, their focus is on an in-progress magical realism novel that explores what happens when we run out of time. Kes is incredibly honored to be a part of this year’s A4A Cohort in Lowell.
Kim-Sarah I is a Khmer-American visual artist based in Lowell, MA. She creates a visual language through photography to explore connection, community, and Khmer-American experience and identity. Kim-Sarah currently enjoys documenting joy, her surroundings, and intimacies between people. To her, piecing together those moments is a way to understand and cultivate the themes. Kim-Sarah was a member of the SEA Change Lab Winter 2023 cohort and holds an AA from SNHU and a BS in Communication from Boston University. You can find her creating at Western Avenue Studios, spending time with loved ones, or sipping a Thai iced tea.
lordbooosh actualizes visions full of bold color and texture, through watercolor, pastel, digital, and mixed media.
"In my work, an extremely intuitive regimen guides my hands. i grapple with the absurdity of the human condition- feeling that everything is nothing and nothing is everything. In my attempts to make sense of the fragmented experiences, my work often weaves the seemingly unrelated in many forms of intimacy, relationship, and child-like wonder. My work uses surrealism and abstract form as an expression of the complex experience and emotions we share in this lifetime. i am inspired by intersection of ethereal, organic, macabre, and extra ordinary."
Matthew Wolterding is a multifaceted artist, creative director, and visionary community leader whose work embodies the intersection of creativity, community, and culture. Passionate about harnessing the power of creative potential and wellness to inspire and mobilize, Matthew’s diverse expertise spans from curating immersive community experiences to spearheading innovative design projects that define and push the culture forward. His multidisciplinary approach and holistic perspective enable him to craft works that align artistic vision with impactful, tangible outcomes. Dedicated to pushing boundaries and empowering creative potential, Matthew’s artistic practice not only captivates audiences, but thrives in meaningful impact.
Michelle Mullet is a self-taught artist. She paints Soviet Bus Stops and Brutalist Architecture in an abstract style. She is the winner of the Denis Diderot AIR Award 2023 and started painting this new series of work as an artist-in-residence at one of the 10 Most Beautiful Artist Residencies in the World, Chateau Orqueveaux. Michelle received a Mass Cultural Council Recovery Grant in 2023 and has attended several international artist residencies including Arquetopia in Mexico and Can Serrat in Spain. She is currently working on a new body of work for her first solo show at Boston City Hall in November 2024. Michelle Mullet is a descendant of the Tonkawa and Comanche tribes of South Texas. She grew up in San Antonio, Texas and she currently lives and works in Massachusetts. She is a proud member of Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, one of the largest art collectives in America.
Veronica P Williams Holmes, is a self-taught multi disciplinary visual artist working in acrylic, graphite, pastel, watercolor, oil, pen and ink, and photography. She has been interested in art for as long as she can remember. As a child growing up in Jamaica, rainy days were her favorites because they meant grabbing her pencil and paper to spend the day drawing. Veronica migrated to the USA at age 17 and attended Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport, CT where her art teacher saw her talent, presented her work in several school art shows and encouraged her to attend art school to pursue an art career. Veronica took a different path in life and later attended Northern Essex Community College, in Haverhill, MA to combine her artistic skills to explore and learn graphic design.
Veronica currently resides in Lowell, Massachusetts, which she refers to as a renaissance city because of its diverse immigrant communities and the art and culture they bring to the city. She has participated in a number of local shows and annual art festivals, and partners with local non-profits as a teaching artist. She has a dream of opening a gallery in Lowell.