Born and raised in the Funeral Industry, Elise learned at a young age the value of life and the preciousness of time. After leaving her small hometown in Illinois, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, concentrated in ceramics, from the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. Elise considers her work a direct reflection of her emotional state. Not limiting herself to material bounds, she describes her artistic process as therapeutic and uses art to process hardships and celebrate her life experience. Elise studied oil painting under the guidance of David Anderson and Pat Bereskin at Bereskin Gallery and Art Academy in Bettendorf, Iowa. Through spending her spare time outside, Elise uses nature to inspire, whether making landscapes by squishing clay under her feet in the rain or volunteering to assist in the Glass Lab at Englewood Arts in Independence, Missouri. She continues her practice by collaborating with other creatives and investigates forms and surfaces by manipulating material in ways she would approach different mediums. Through capturing light and little moments in time, Elise hopes to leave a glimmer of empathy in the world.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently interviewed Clark as part of our series highlighting Artists-in-Residence and their artistic process.

Keeper of Memories: A Celebration of Works by Gerry Trilling is an exhibition working in collaboration with her husband, Howard Trilling, to remember and celebrate Gerry Trilling’s life throughout her career and work as an artist. Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently sat down with Howard Trilling for a warm conversation about Gerry’s art and the cherished memories he holds of her.

May 30th, the last day of the exhibition, I visited the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center to view "The Essence of Joy: Celebrating the Art and Legacy of Lester Goldman." Lester Goldman’s work spans mediums, including but not limited to realism, abstract expressionism, sculpture, installation, and performance art. The show was curated with help from the artist’s family and honors the impact he had on students and the art world at large. Thanks to the help of Lester Goldman and patrons Linda and Brad Nicholson, Studios Inc.'s mission of supporting mid-career artists was born. Ever since hosting Goldman as their first artist in residence, Studios Inc. continues to foster relationships between artists and patrons. 

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently visited Goldman’s Show “The Essence of Joy: Celebrating the Art and Legacy of Lester Goldman" at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center.

Former artist-in-residence Patty Carroll is known for her highly saturated narrative photographs, created from studio installations depicting women camouflaged in various domestic settings. Her work is represented by Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Catherine Couturier in Houston, TX, Weston Gallery in Carmel, CA, PDNB Gallery in Dallas, TX, and Martine Chaisson Gallery in New Orleans, and has been collected nationally and internationally.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently visited Carroll’s Show “Perfectly Consumed” at the Crossroads Hotel. will be on view at the Crossroads Hotel from May 30th, 2025, to July 19th, 2025. 

Debra Smith, an artist born in Kansas City in 1971, is a contemporary textile artist known for her abstract fabric collages that blur the boundaries between fiber art, painting, and drawing. Smith studied at the Italian Academy of Fashion & Design and Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, Italy, before earning a BFA in Fiber from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1993. She later received an Associate Degree in Applied Science from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in 2002. She was a resident artist at Studios Inc. from 2015 to 2019.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently visited Debra’s Show “Walking in Traffic” at Haw Contemporary. The show will be on view at Haw Contemporary from May 30th until July 16th, 2025.

Hadley Clark gives presence to absence; gives new purpose to old discards; gives form to thought. With an education in Painting (BFA, University of Kansas 2001) as well as in Garment Design and Construction (BFA Fashion Design with Honors, The New School | Parsons Paris 2010), Clark’s work exists in the middle distance between art and fashion.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently interviewed Clark as part of our series highlighting Artists-in-Residence and their artistic process.

Garry Noland, a native of South Dakota, earned a BA (Art History) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1978). Recognitions include a NEA/Mid-America Arts Alliance Fellowship (Works on Paper/Painting, 1994); a Studios Inc. Residency Fellowship (2012), and a Charlotte Street Visual Artists Fellowship (2013). Selected solo exhibits have been at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE); Cleve Carney Museum of Art (DuPage, IL), and Kiosk Gallery (Kansas City). Selected group exhibits have been at John Michael Kohler Art Center, California State University- Dominguez Hills, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and National Building Arts Center, East St. Louis, IL. Selected solo exhibits are at Fine Art and Design Center, Overland Park, KS; Material Exhibitions, Chicago, IL, and Nick Ryan Gallery, Boulder, CO. His work has been featured in Temporary Art Review, Riverfront Times, Chicago Tribune, Omaha Reader, Kansas City Star, Georgia Review, Denver Art Review, among others. Noland’s work is represented by Nick Ryan Gallery in Boulder, CO., and is included in White Columns’ Artist Registry, New York, NY. Since 2020, Noland has curated/operated Holsum Gallery, an artist-run space, in Kansas City.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently interviewed Noland as part of our series highlighting Artists-in-Residence and their artistic process.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently published their own magazine highlighting emerging artists in Kansas City through interviews and studio visits.

Caleb Taylor is a Kansas City-based artist whose practice freely navigates the disciplines of painting, collage, photography, and sculpture. Taylor was awarded a Studios Inc. Residency in 2024, and has work on display in the group exhibition “Studios Inc | 2025” through May 10th.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala recently interviewed Taylor as part of our series highlighting Artists-in-Residence and their artistic process.

Misha Kligman was born in Kazan, Soviet Union in 1978, and immigrated to US with his family as a refugee in 1995. He received his BA in Art from Cleveland State University (Cleveland, OH) in 2001 and MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Kansas in 2009. Kligman is a recipient of the 2015 Charlotte Street Visual Art Fellowship and completed a three-year residency at Studios INC (2017-2019), Kansas City. Kligman is a founding member of Plug Projects, where he served as a co-director from 2011 to 2016. Kligman lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri.

Studios Inc. Assistant Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala interviewed Kligman about his upcoming alumni exhibition at Studios Inc.

JT Daniels is an artist and muralist in Kansas City and a 2023 recepient of the Studios Inc Residency. JT’s work weaves together various elements, such as characters and phrases, into streamlined designs that represent the heartbeat of the urban community.

Daniels invited Studios Inc. Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala to visit his studio this January as part of our new series highlighting A.I.R.’s and their works. Images and works-in-progress were documented by Terri Pollack.