Jurors

Lydia Matthews is a Brooklyn and Athens-based educator, curator, and writer with expertise in contemporary art and cultural activism. She is a Professor of Visual Culture at Parsons School of Design and served as Founding Director of the Curatorial Design Research Lab at The New School. Her work explores the connection between current art practices, local cultures, and global economies. Lydia has curated exhibitions and socially-engaged projects in various international locations and has a background in contemporary art history from prestigious institutions. She has a strong track record in education, having chaired graduate programs and restructured curricula to promote interdisciplinary learning. She is also an accomplished author, with texts focusing on art’s role in democratic debates and community interactions. Additionally, she has a keen interest in craft and its contemporary significance, alongside a history of grants, fellowships, and collaborations with institutions worldwide.

Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Downtown LA. She is the Arts Editor for the L.A. Weekly, and a contributor to Flaunt, Artillery, and other culture publications. She studied Art History at Vassar College, curates and juries exhibitions, writes prolifically for exhibition catalogs and monographic publications, and speaks at galleries, schools, and cultural institutions nationally. She is the recipient of the 2022 Mozaik Future Art Writers Prize, the 2022 Rabkin Prize for Art Criticism, and the LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Critic of the Year award for 2022. She is a member of ArtTable and the LA Press Club, the Advisory Council of Building Bridges Art Exchange, and the Brain Trust of Some Serious Business.