Curator's Talk: Studios Inc 2025

Join Hannah Finnan and Alex Coffey, co-curators of Studios Inc | 2025 and RA 2023-2024, for a Curator’s Talk on April 12th, 2025 from 12-1pm. The curators will discuss their process of designing cohesive exhibition spaces using works provided by Studios Inc Resident Artists. The talk will be moderated by KCAI student and Studios Inc Assistant Gallery Manager, Jaede Bayala.

Hannah Finnan, Exhibitions Coordinator

Hannah Finnan (b. 2002, St.Louis, Missouri) is a Kansas City based painter, American-West enthusiast, goth-metal lover and recent graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and works as the Exhibitions Coordinator at Studios Inc and is a resident at Englewood Arts Center in Independence, MO. During her study at KCAI, her work focused on a combination of painting, glass and the occasional sculpture to relate the experience of enculturation to a larger audience. Her work stems from her upbringing as a first-generation child of immigrant parents and she obscures the personal in order to present the universal. Hannah wants her audience to consider the bizarreness of the American West as a metaphor for navigating America as an outsider. She is the recipient of the St.Louis Artist’s Guild Frani Weinstock Scholarship, the Lead Bank Emerging Artist Prize and the KCAI Painting Department’s Thomas Hart Benton Award and has exhibited in both Kansas City and St. Louis.

Alex Coffey, Exhibitions Intern 

Alex Coffey (she/her) was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. She attends the Kansas City Art Institute and will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 2025. Her work combines fiber handicrafts (specifically weaving) and painting with an interest in analog and digital processes. Growing up in Greenville, a rich arts and crafts scene surrounded her, and this exposure emphasized the importance of the hand in her creative practice. She has worked as the Gallery and Social Media Supervisor for the Lester Goldman Gallery at the Kansas City Art Institute, and she is now in her second semester of interning at Studios Inc.

Jaede Bayala, Assistant Gallery Manager

Jaede Bayala is a non-binary Puerto Rican artist based in Kansas City. The artist works interdisciplinarily, and uses a broad range of materials to serve as a bridge to engage a diverse audience. The core of their work revolves around themes of identity, the natural world, and Puerto Rican culture. For Bayala, art is a catalyst for connection and inspiration. They have worked with local galleries such as Studios Inc. and Habitat Contemporary. Several of their writing pieces have also been published through the Studios Inc. blog. Bayala aspires to not only encapsulate their own experiences and observations but also to ignite a creative spark in others. Through their practice, they invite us into a world where every moment holds the potential for creation, encouraging us to see the beauty in our surroundings and manifest our interpretations of the world through art.

Studios Inc | 2025: A Group Exhibition is on view now through May 10, 2025 in the Studios Inc Exhibition Hall. RA 2023-2024: Celebrating Recent Acquisitions to the Studios Inc Collection is on view through April 26th, 2025 in Studios.gallery. All works in the gallery and our salon halls are for sale with proceeds supporting the mission of Studios Inc. 

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