Douglas Degges (b. Shreveport, LA) is an artist and educator currently based in Utica, NY and Mansfield Center, CT where he is an Assistant Professor of Art in Painting and Drawing at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. Douglas received his MFA from the University of Iowa and a BA in Studio Art from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Most recently his work was exhibited at Proyecto T in Mexico City, Side Room Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, the Pratt Munson Gallery at the Munson Museum of Art in Utica, New York, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Cleaner Gallery + Projects in Chicago, Illinois, Whitespec in Atlanta, Georgia, Stove Works in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. His work has been supported by several artist residencies including the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, Stove Works, the Vermont Studio Center, Casa Lü, the Millay Colony, and Alfred University’s Düsseldorf Summer Artist Residency Program in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Since Fall 2019, Douglas has been painting and drawing from cell phone photos supplied to him by his immediate family in an ongoing group text. His mom, dad, and brother, in keeping him up to date with what is going on in their lives, share the things they do and see near his childhood home in Louisiana. These images serve as an image bank from which he abstracts elements for a squirrel from memory, a visually and materially wide-ranging body of work. This project explores digital experiences, the pressure to possess a singular voice or vision, and the concept of home as something immaterial and held within the body.

Jessica Somers is a photographer and educator who specializes in historic photographic techniques and self-portraiture.

Jessica has been in love with photography for most of her life. She was exposed to the act of picture making through her grandfather, an avid amateur photographer, and in the family bathroom-turned-darkroom after sunset. Here, she witnessed actual magic standing over the chemical trays watching an image appear where only a simple white sheet of paper was before. As a kid, she received a Kodak disc camera and fell in love with the act of expressing her individual view of the world from the 4 foot high perspective of a seven year old. Her height has since increased but her love affair with photography continues.

Jessica’s work has been exhibited nationally and has been published in various periodicals. Her research on alternative processes and select photographs are published in the 3rd edition of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes by Christopher James. Jessica is a 2022 Denis Roussel Award, Work of Merit recipient. She currently teaches photography at colleges, universities, and art centers throughout Connecticut.