FIFTY
AN ALUMNI EXHIBITION
MARCH 25, 2022 - FEBRUARY 12, 2023
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of The University of North Florida, and underlining MOCA's special affiliation as a cultural institute of UNF, this exhibition showcases the work of fifty artists, each having graduated from the Department of Art, Art History and Design, and having carved substantial careers as professional, practicing artists. Working across a breadth of media - from photography to painting, film to ceramics, and sculpture to printmaking - the diversity of work on display is reflective of the variety of art disciplines taught at UNF, as well as the wealth of career opportunities that UNF alumni choose to explore. The first exhibition of its kind, FIFTY< demonstrates the strength of art and creativity at UNF, as well as its continued impact and reach in Jacksonville, across the nation, and around the world.
Co-curated by Caitlín Doherty, Executive Director, MOCA Jacksonville and Louise Freshman Brown, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of North Florida.
Presenting Sponsor | Community First Credit Union of Florida
Sponsor | Marilyn and Charles Gilman
Additional support by the City of Jacksonville, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, The Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the University of North Florida.
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE AUDIO GUIDES
MOCA Jacksonville's Voice of the People is an innovative, literacy-based educational arts initiative that hones critical thinking and communication skills as it develops a deeper understanding of contemporary art. Participating students analyze artwork, prepare descriptive narratives, and create recordings that serve as part of the Museum’s audio guide, accessible to all those who visit the galleries and view the chosen works of art.
For FIFTY: An Alumni Exhibition, MOCA worked with UNF English students to create audio guide responses to the featured artwork.
LISTEN NOW
>> Want to learn more about MOCA's partnership with the University of North Florida?
ARTISTS
NICK ABRAMI
Nick Abrami graduated from the University of North Florida in 2015, studying and working in ceramics. He received his MFA in 2020 from University of Georgia, at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. Abrami uses clay in his work to produce larger than life-sized sculptures.
ALLEN THOMAS BALL
Allen Thomas Ball is a New York City-based multidisciplinary artist working in painting, installation, sculpture, and prints. Ball attended the University of North Florida where he double majored in Fine Art and Art History, receiving his Bachelor's in Fine Arts in 2017. He earned his MFA at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 2019, graduating cum laude
JESSIE BARNES
Jessie Barnes is an artist currently living and working in Dallas, Texas. She graduated with a BFA from the University of North Florida in 2013 and holds an MFA from the University of North Texas. Barnes works primarily as a printmaker while also working in painting, drawing, and photography.
SCOTT BELL
Scott Bell is an artist originally from Florida, who currently lives and works in Dallas, TX. In the spring of 2012, Bell received his BFA from the University of North Florida and in spring 2016 he received his MFA at Florida State University. Bell has won several academic awards such as the Mayor Purchase Award, City of Tallahassee, Tallahassee, FL in 2015 and the Honorable Mention, International Art Festival, New York, NY in 2014.
ADAM NOAH BERMAN
Adam Noah Berman is from North Florida and now lives and works in Greenville, North Carolina. Adam attended the University of North Florida and received a BFA in Printmaking with a minor in Photography. He is currently an MFA candidate at East Carolina University with a concentration in printmaking. Berman produces hybrid prints that merge printmaking, photography, and painting.
HEATHER BLUME
Heather Blume is from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Blume graduated from the University of North Florida in 1992 with a BFA, summa cum laude in painting. Afterwards, Blume attended The Graduate School of Figurative Art of the New York Academy of Art, earning an MFA cum laude in Sculpture.
DIMELZA BROCHE
Dimelza Broche is a Cuban artist currently working as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of North Florida teaching Drawing I. She attended the Leopoldo Romanach Academy of Art in Santa Clara, Cuba. She studied for two years at Florida State College of Jacksonville before transferring to the University of North Florida where she graduated with a BFA, focusing her undergraduate studies on painting, drawing, and printmaking.
SETH CHARLES
Seth Charles is a studio artist and Director of Ceramics at Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Charles holds a BFA from the University of North Florida (2012) and an MFA degree from Central Washington University.
TERESA COOK
Teresa Cook was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She obtained a bachelor's in fine arts from the University of North Florida in 2012. Over the last ten years, she has been traveling to different countries as well as around her home city.
SARAH CROOKS
Certified as a Florida Master Naturalist in 2014 and trained as a Botanical Illustrator at the New York Botanic Gardens (1997-99), Crooks graduated from the University of North Florida in 1989.
Photo by Natalie McCray.
JOY POULARD CRUZ
Joy Poulard Cruz is an interdisciplinary artist from Washington, D.C. working in performance, video, and dance. Cruz graduated from the University of North Florida in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and earned an MFA in 2019 from Carnegie Mellon University School of Art.
DEREK DES ISLETS
Derek Des Islets lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, NY. Des Islets graduated from the University of North Florida in 2010.His work is collected worldwide and his art has been exhibited nationally and internationally including Paris, Hong Kong, Miami, and New York.
KEITH DOLES
Keith Doles is from Jacksonville, Florida and graduated from the University of North Florida in 2001 with a BFA in Graphic Design. Doles works in a range of mediums including graphic design, painting, and wood sculpture. In 2005, Doles earned his master's degree from Webster University.
HOLLY DRAPER
Holly Draper is from Jacksonville, Florida and currently works in Washington DC. In 2012, Draper graduated from the University of North Florida with a BFA in Painting and Drawing and a minor in Advertising. She received her MFA from Burren College of Art in Ireland in 2015.
DEJA ECHOLS
Deja Echols graduated from the University of North Florida in 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking and a minor in psychology. Echols has exhibited across the country, from Athens, Georgia to New York City. Her work was featured in 2020 at the International Print Center New York.
PHILLIP FINDER
Phillip Finder is a ceramic artist working in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied industrial design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, before earning a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the University of North Florida under the guidance of ceramic artist Stephen Heywood in 2009.
ALLISON GILLIES
Allison Gillies graduated from the University of North Florida in 2001. She has 18 years of experience in arts education at the faculty and administrative level. She teaches all levels of drawing, figure drawing, figure painting at the graduate level, artistic anatomy, color theory, painting, art appreciation, art history, and design courses. In addition, Gillies teaches community workshops and exhibits her work.
BRITTANY GRAVELY
Brittany Gravely is a publicist and designer at Harvard Film Archive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a founding member of the artist-run film lab AgX. Gravely graduated from the University of North Florida in 1995. She is an experimental 16mm filmmaker and visual artist.
CHRIS GULLIAN
Chris Gullian works out of London, United Kingdom and graduated from the University of North Florida in 2001 with a concentration in sculpture. Gullian has over two decades worth of experience designing and managing projects for his own work and for other artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Paul McCarthy, and others.
THOMAS HAGER
Thomas Hager is an artist living and working in Jacksonville. He graduated from the University of North Florida in 1994 with a concentration in photography. Hager employs various media using historic photographic processes, painting techniques, and contemporary photographic technology. He pays homage to art history while creating original photographic techniques.
GILLIAN HARPER
Gillian Harper is a sculptor currently working in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she is studying for her Master of Fine Arts at Louisiana State University. Harper graduated from the University of North Florida in 2017, concentrating in sculpture.
LAUREN ANAÏS HUSSEY
Lauren Anaïs Hussey lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Born in 1990, Hussey is Cuban-American and from Jacksonville, Florida. She attended University of North Florida for her BFA in Painting/Drawing/Printmaking in 2014.
ANDREA JAKES
Andrea Jakes graduated from the University of North Florida in 1991 with a Bachelor of Fine Art, concentrating in painting and printmaking. Jakes' early interest in color and design is still the foundation for her artwork. Her diverse subjects are inspired by nature, travel, and an inner and emotional response to life experience, as well as her interest in energy and healing.
ERIN LEE JONES
Erin Lee Jones lives and works in New York, NY. She holds a BFA from the University of North Florida (2001) and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She most recently had a solo show at Fahrenheit Madrid, Spain
Photo by Daniel Greer.
HANNAH KEATS
Hannah Keats is based in St. Augustine, Florida, where she focuses on creating surreal and abstract paintings inspired by nature and her environmental activism. Keats graduated from the University of North Florida in 2020. In conjunction with her love for surrealism, she also makes prints that delve into the current political atmosphere.
DANIELLE KLEBES
Danielle Klebes graduated from the University of North Florida in 2012 with a BFA cum laude, concentrating in painting and drawing and with a minor in English. In 2017, Klebes earned her MFA in Visual Arts from Lesley University College of Art and Design in Cambridge, MA. Klebes has exhibited across North America, as well as internationally.
MARK LESTER
Lester began pursuing a degree in Fine Arts from UNF in 2016 and was selected as MOCA's Student Artist-in-Residence in 2018. Growing up in Northeast Florida, Mark Lester drew inspiration at an early age from local natural environments... >> Read More
SUZANNE MAGEE
Suzanne W. Magee is an artist living and working in North Florida and was raised in eastern Pennsylvania. After a previous degree and career in nursing, Magee moved to Florida and earned a BFA in painting and drawing from the University of North Florida in 1991.
ANNA MEMBRINO
Anna Membrino was born in Maryland in 1986 and lives in as well as works in Dallas, Texas. She holds an MFA from Southern Methodist University and a BA and BFA from The University of North Florida, which she earned in 2009.
AISLING MILLAR-MCDONALD
Aisling Millar-McDonald was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1982 and immigrated to Vero Beach, Florida in August 1994. She moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2000 to attend the University of North Florida. In 2005 she graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Education and in 2011 she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Sculpture.
MORGAN MOTES
Morgan Motes is from northern Florida and graduated from the University of North Florida in 2021, with a BFA concentrating in painting and a minor in creative writing. He is currently a preparator and art-handler at The Baker Museum at Artis-Naples. In addition to painting, he writes poetry and has released 13 albums.
AUSTIN MOULE
Austin Moule was born in Charleston, South Carolina. At the age of four, his family moved to Fernandina Beach, Florida. Now, he currently lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated with his BFA from the University of North Florida in 2012 with a concentration in painting, drawing, and printmaking.
DAVID NACKASHI
David Nackashi is an artist and muralist from Jacksonville, Florida. Nackashi graduated from the University of North Florida in 2009. He primarily works with oil on canvas, but also uses other mediums for larger or outdoor pieces. His work in FIFTY features images of his latest mural located under the Acosta Bridge in Jacksonville.
SUSAN DAVENPORT OBER
Susan Ober was born and raised in Virginia. Before moving to North Florida in 1987, she had earned a bachelor's degree in art education from Longwood College.
WYATT PARLETTE
Wyatt Parlette is an abstract expressionist painter and installation artist currently working in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2011 he received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts with a focus on Drawing and Painting from The University of North Florida. Parlette has exhibited in his solo exhibition Collective Unconscious at The University of North Florida, Art and Design Gallery.
JOHANNA PORTER
Johanna Porter was born and raised in Miami, FL. She started college as a fine art major and graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from University of North Florida in 1985. She is a self-taught digital artist. Her first Macintosh computer, purchased in 1984, was what she calls her first “laptop.” Porter would carry it into ad agencies and work on-site. Seeing that this gave her enormous freedom, she became a freelance artist in 1993 and never looked back.
MARY RATCLIFF
Mary Ratcliff graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts concentrating in sculpture and a minor in professional education in 2017 and was MOCA's 2016 Artist-in-Residence. Her artwork primarily focuses on... >> Read More
FRANKLIN RATLIFF
Franklin Ratliff is based in Jacksonville, Florida, and was born in 1990 in Ashland, Kentucky. Ratliff graduated from the University of North Florida in 2014 with a BFA in Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, and a Minor in Art History. In 2020, Ratliff completed an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Florida. Ratliff's work deals with family, home, and ritual.
ANNA MORGAN REYNOLDS
Anna Morgan Reynolds lives in Jacksonville, Florida and is an artist and art teacher. She holds a BFA from the University of North Florida and MFA from Florida State University. Anna Morgan Reynolds graduated from the University of North Florida in 2001. Reynolds career as an art teacher has spanned almost two decades.
RICDER RICARDO
Ricder Ricardo graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, concentrating in painting, drawing, and printmaking and a minor in photography in 2019. Art has always been part of Ricder Ricardo's life since his childhood living in Cuba, especially during his transition from life in Cuba to the United States.
LIZZY TABER
Lizzy Taber is from southern Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2014 with a concentration in painting, drawing, printmaking, and an art history minor. She holds an MFA in printmaking from Arizona State University.
ERIK TANNER
Erik Tanner graduated from the University of North Florida in 2011 with a Bachelor of Fine Art in photography. Tanner lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He is from Little Rock, AK and was raised in Orlando, FL.
CHAMPNEYS TAYLOR
Champneys Taylor was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1970. His formal art education began at the University of North Florida (BFA Painting, 1996). Since 1998, he has lived in Washington, DC, where independent venues such as Decatur Blue (2000-2005), District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), and Pleasant Plains Workshop were helpful, orientational ventures for him. Decatur Blue (formed by a grouping of artists that included Taylor) put together exhibitions by local, national, and international artists. DCAC was the site of Taylor's first solo painting exhibition (2011). In 2013, he was an artist in residence at Pleasant Plains Workshop.
MIMI TRAN
Mimi Tran is a first generation Vietnamese American. Her family immigrated from Vietnam to Jacksonville in 1991. She received her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, Painting, Drawing and Printmaking in 2019 from the University of North Florida. Tran is currently attending Florida State University pursuing her Master of Fine Arts. She has exhibited work in Rome, Italy, Scranton, PA, and throughout Northeast Florida, most recently at Florida Mining and Florida State College of Jacksonville galleries.
ALEXA VELEZ
Alexa Velez is from Florida and lives in North Carolina. In 2017, she graduated from University of North Florida with dual degrees, a Bachelor of Fine Art in photography and a Bachelor of Art in English with a minor in film studies. In 2021, Velez graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Master of Fine Art in visual art. As a graduate student, she received the Chancellor's Fellowship and won best in show for her thesis work. Her short films have screened nationally and internationally.
HOLLY WACH
Holly Wach lives and creates in Providence, Rhode Island. She graduated from the University of North Florida in 1996 with a Bachelor of Fine Art. In 2001, she received her Master of Fine Art from the New York Academy of Art.
Photo by Molly Lo.
LOGAN WALL
Logan Wall graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, concentrating in ceramics in 2015. After graduating, she accepted a position as an artist in residence at Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY. While at CAC, Logan developed her body of work and discovered that she had a knack for teaching. After her two-year residency, Logan continued to teach at Clay Art Center. She became a teacher at Peekskill Clay Studios in 2018 and taught seasonally at Rockland Center for the Arts.
MEGAN WELCH
Megan Welch is a painter and UNF adjunct instructor. She is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design, Megan holds an M.F.A. in Painting. She completed her B.F.A. in Fine Art with a concentration in Painting and Drawing at the University of North Florida, graduating in 2006.
Photo by Justin Cooler.
KIRSTEN WILLIAMS
Kirsten Williams is an artist from Jacksonville, FL, best known for her unique, contoured portraits and figurative oil paintings. Williams received her Bachelor's in Fine Art at the University of North Florida in 2018.
KENNY WILSON
Kenny Wilson graduated from the University of North Florida in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Art, concentrating in painting, drawing, and printmaking. She is an MFA candidate at the University of Florida. Her work focuses on the expression of the sitter and uses words as well as symbols to conjure up subject/viewer experience.