MEET THE TEAM

THE EMMANUEL ART GALLERY IS A TEAM OF HARD-WORKING STUDENTS AND STAFF.  WE ARE A STRONG AND COMMITTED COMMUNITY STRIVING TO BRING VISUAL ART TO THE AURARIA CAMPUS, DOWNTOWN DENVER, AND COLORADO.

JEFF LAMBSON | DIRECTOR & CURATOR

Jeff Lambson is the Director and Curator of the Emmanuel Art Gallery at the University of Colorado Denver. Prior to his position at CU Denver, Jeff was founding Curator of Contemporary Art at the BYU Museum of Art, the most-attended university art museum in North America. He began his arts career at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, the nation’s museum of modern and contemporary art. Lambson is the recipient of the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Award for Service in the Arts, and was named by Salt Lake Magazine as one of Utah’s most significant people of the past 20 years. His work has received publicity in W magazine, Art Ltd, Artforum, Sunset, PBS, and BBC’s The Culture Show. Jeff is married to Ann Lambson, Senior Interpretive Specialist for Architecture and Design at the Denver Art Museum, and they live in Denver with their precocious daughter.

ANDREW PALAMARA | GALLERY COORDINATOR

Andrew Palamara is the Gallery Coordinator at the Emmanuel Art Gallery. Prior to joining the Emmanuel, he worked in education at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, and MASS MoCA. He holds a BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration from Belmont University and a MA in Art Education from the University of North Texas. When he’s not at the gallery, Andrew is most likely running, reading, or playing music.

ALICIA atkinsoN | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Alicia Atkinson is an undergraduate student at CU Denver, pursuing her BA degree in Psychology while also minoring in Painting and Drawing, Studio Art, and HDFR (Human Development and Family Relations). She hopes to pursue a career working with children, preferably while working with art.

emmi brunner | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Originally from Longmont, Colorado, Emmi Olivo Brunner is a student and artist based in Denver. She grew up in a family full of artists and has been making art ever since she can remember. While life drawing and sketching are her main hobbies, she loves to explore new techniques and has tried almost everything under the sun, from sculpture to oil painting. Two of her sculptures were featured in the Front Range Community College art show, with one winning first place for 3D design. Emmi is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Design at the University of Colorado–Denver. 

ADIRA CASTILLO | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Adira (Addie) Castillo is pursuing an Art History Bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado Denver. Her passion lies in the realm of fashion and fashion history, designing clothes and researching different eras of fashion in her free time. Adira loves to express herself through her style and dabbles in painting and drawing on the side. She developed her love of art and history throughout her childhood and loves to contextualize the world through understanding how people have expressed themselves creatively throughout time. Adira credits the beginning of her passion for fashion through exposure to pop culture such as the Bratz dolls and television series such as America’s Next Top model. Overtime she began to appreciate the art of design, keeping up with new designers and fashion shows. She takes her inspiration from alternative cultures such as goth and punk aesthetics, pop culture, historical artwork, and especially takes pride in representing and understanding her identities as a queer Chicana. Adira hopes to pursue a career as a fashion historian/curator and delve into the fashion world.

JOSIE CLARK | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Josephine (Josie) Clark is a multimedia artist working out of Denver, Colorado. She works with a plethora of mediums to create whimsical and alluring sculptural and painted works. Clark’s work references her own femininity, inner child work, and the complexity of the relationship with Self.

Clark is currently pursuing a BFA at the University of Colorado, Denver with an emphasis in transmedia sculpture, painting, and drawing and a minor in business. When she is not busy creating, Josephine can be found enjoying time outside with her dog, exploring the city with friends, or cooking up a storm.

ERROW COLLINS | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Errow Collins worked as an illustrator for several years and has a deep love for visual storytelling and exploring the approachability of discomfort and unease in their work. Today, their path is driven by putting those hand skills towards a new purpose in cultural preservation as they work through a bachelor's in art history with a chemistry minor at University of Colorado Denver towards a master's in art conservation. 

ZOE GARCIA | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Zoe Garcia is an undergraduate at CU Denver pursuing her BFA in 3D animation and a minor in illustration. Inspired by cartoons around the globe, she aims to make emotional pieces that resonate deeply with viewers through a combination of technical skill and visual storytelling.

evan kosakowski | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Evan Kosakowski is a freelance designer, interdisciplinary fine artist, and digital design major at UCD. He has enjoyed working with a range of clients from educational institutions, to apparel brands, to real estate companies. His fine art has been presented or exhibited by Emmanuel Art Gallery, Diverse Talent, Pirate Contemporary Art, Denver Digerati, Dateline Gallery, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. His art includes thematic elements of flora, technology, magic, glass, space, and mythical creatures. 

VIVIAN SPRAGUE | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Vivian Sprague is a Colorado based Illustrator from Lafayette, Colorado. With a passion for art and drawing, encouraged since her preschool days, Vivian is pursuing a BFA in Illustration at the University of Colorado Denver. Through digital art and other physical mediums, Vivian experiments with new styles and techniques, pushing herself to find new ways of creating every day. When she’s not in the gallery, Vivian can be found drawing in her sketchbook, writing, or watching a western.

Lillie wesley | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Lillie is an undergraduate Illustration major at CU Denver. She loves and is inspired by all forms of art and by whimsical and unique stories and outlooks on life.  She hopes to incorporate these elements into her work while pursuing a career in children's illustration. 

Mikayla RondÓn | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Mikayla Rondón is an undergraduate Illustration major, minoring in 2D Animation at CU Denver and is the number one goofy critter enjoyer. She hopes to pursue a career related to visual storytelling, and loves any medium that allows her to help craft odd or offputting atmospheric stories about her experiences or just her favorite jarred little guys.

ETHAN SULLIVAN | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Ethan Sullivan is a recording arts major at CU Denver, who hopes to pursue a future in the field of music, no matter what that may be. He has been a lover of arts since childhood, having spent countless hours on pointless debates with friends as nerdy as he is. He has been working at Emmanuel Gallery since January. He hopes to either annex a country or write a screenplay by the end of the year.

shiloh terra schwartz | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Shiloh Terra Schwartz is a sophomore studying 3D Animation with a minor in Computer Science. In her free time she self publishes videogames and animations. Her favorite games are Super Smash Bros, Street Fighter, The Binding of Isaac, and Deltarune. 

maya rae taylor | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Maya Rae Taylor is an undergraduate student currently majoring in both Illustration and Creative Writing at the University of Colorado Denver. Her work is heavily inspired by her Japanese heritage, the artwork that surrounded her growing up, and her fascination with human facial expression. She can often be found drawing fanart for her favorite manga and video games. She loves that art can spark empathy and new ways of thinking, hoping that her work challenges the viewer to find some aspect of themselves within someone else's story.

KELSEY SELDIN | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Kelsey Seldin is an artist based in Loveland, Colorado. She is currently perusing a bachelor's degree in Illustration at the University of Colorado Denver. Kelsey likes to explore all sorts of different art mediums and styles including traditional, digital, painting, drawing, sculpting, and many others. Most of her current works focus more on character designs for her own concepts of characters for films, books, or TV shows. 

Outside of school, Kelsey is a figure skater who has been pursuing the sport for almost 18 years. She has participated in many competitions around the state along with shows and exhibitions. She had just recently passed her Pre-Gold Skating Skills test this past summer and is working on attempting to pass her Pre-Silver Free Skate test in the near future. 

EMMA TIMBAL | STUDENT STAFF MEMBER

Emma is currently living in Denver studying digital design, painting, and drawing. One of her passions outside of school is photography, which she learned a lot about in her early life at Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi. She doesn’t know where these things will take her in life, but that’s part of the fun, right?