Studios Inc. is excited to announce our incoming artists to the residency program in 2026: Mikey Yates, Emily Blair Quinn, Kim Eichler-Messmer, and Kevin Demery will join the three-year residency program in Kansas City, MO. Launched to serve mid-career artists, Studios Inc. is Kansas City’s only nonprofit arts organization offering pivotal three-year residencies to mid-career artists who are poised to significantly expand their careers. In tandem with the Residency Program is the Studios Patron Program, which connects artists directly with a patron for a heightened level of dialogue between resident artist and patron through studio visits, exhibitions, and funding opportunities. Also layered into the program is an annual group residency exhibition each spring and a solo exhibition towards the end of each artist’s residency.

Mikey Yates

Mikey Yates (b. 1992, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany; lives and works in Kansas City, MO) holds a BFA from Missouri State University and an MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder. In 2023, he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Yates’ recent solo exhibitions include COMA Gallery, Sydney, AUS; Nazarian Curcio, Los Angeles, CA; and Taymour Grahne, London, UK.

His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; WOAW Gallery, Hong Kong; Nazarian Curcio, Los Angeles, CA; The Hole, New York, NY; Taymour Grahne, London, UK; COMA Gallery, Sydney, AUS; the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Marrakech, Morocco; Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA; and 1969 Gallery, New York, NY.

His work has been featured twice in New American Paintings, and also in Forbes, BOOOOOOOM!, Juxtapoz, YNGSPC, The USA Inquirer, and It’s Nice That. He has received two grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and has attended several artist residencies, including the Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency and the Adventure Painting Residency. Yates is represented by COMA Gallery (Sydney, AUS) in the Asia-Pacific region and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

In his artist statement, Yates shares, “I grew up drawing the characters that colored my life: Gary Payton from the Sonics, Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, and Ryu from Street Fighter. I continue this practice today, but instead of strictly rendering fictional characters and sports superstars, I paint family members and friends, vivid memories of my past, and day-to-day experiences - often combining them all as I process my life. Working from memory, family photos, quick snapshots, and direct observation, my paintings deal with the construction of identity, the imprint of place, and hybridity.”

On joining the Studios Inc. residency program, Mikey states:

“I’m looking forward to creating new work in the generous studios at Studios Inc. and grateful for the chance to keep growing as an artist here in Kansas City.”

Emily Blair Quinn

Emily Blair Quinn received her BFA in 2013 from Auburn University in Alabama and her MFA in 2016 from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Quinn has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at MARQUEE PROJECTS in Bellport, NY (2025), the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, NE (2025), and the 21c Museum Hotel in Kansas City, MO (2024). Her work has been included in recent group exhibitions at the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, MO, the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures in Kansas City, the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts in Woodstock, NY, Project for Empty Space in Newark, NJ, Pen + Brush in New York City, and the High Noon Gallery in New York City.

She has attended residencies at Willapa Bay AiR in Oysterville, WA, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, NE, Walkaway House in North Adams, MA, ChaNorth in Pine Plains, NY, Joshua Tree Highlands in Joshua Tree, CA, and the Vermont Studio Center. Her work has been published in New American Paintings, Create! Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, and VoyageKC Magazine.

In her artist statement, Quinn shares “My multidisciplinary practice combines sculpture, photography and painting to explore the relationship between memory, domesticity, and the evocative power of objects. I begin with a treasure hunt for figurines that appear haunted, sad, pensive, sexual, or otherwise easy to anthropomorphize. To elucidate for the viewer what I see in the objects, I arrange them in theatrically lit scenes inside dollhouses, at times transforming them through paint, wax, or resin before photographing them. These photographs become the basis for my paintings, yielding a body of work comprising the resin casts, the photographs, and the paintings.”

On being accepted into the residency program, Emily states:

“A residency at Studios Inc. will allow me to work faster and more efficiently in expanding my studio practice and capitalizing on the momentum that I have. I will invest in new equipment and scale up my painting, sculpture and photography practices. The exhibition opportunities and studio visits at Studios Inc. will offer essential dialogue with artists, scholars, and patrons. I am looking forward to opportunities for public engagement and contributing to my community.”

Kim Eichler-Messmer

Kim Eichler-Messmer is an Associate Professor of Fiber at the Kansas City Art Institute, where she has taught surface design, quilting, and natural dye since 2008. She grew up in Iowa as an only child to two creative, nature-loving parents. She received a BFA in studio art from Iowa State University where she studied engineering, Spanish, Portuguese, drawing, and printmaking before finally realizing her love of textiles in a yardage screen printing class. She went on to receive an MFA in Textiles from the University of Kansas. She teaches workshops on dyeing and quilting regularly around the United States and her hand-dyed, one-of-a-kind quilts have been exhibited nationally and internationally in numerous solo and juried shows. Kim is the author of “Modern Color: An Illustrated Guide to Dyeing Fabric for Modern Quilts” and her work has been included in “Quilting with a Modern Slant” by Rachel May, and “The Uppercase Compendium of Craft and Creativity” by Janine Vangool, among others.

In her artist statement, Messmer shares “In my work I explore the tension between order and disruption, the rigid and the organic, the grid and the gesture. As quilts, these works hold the softness and familiarity of textiles while asserting their presence as considered visual objects. Quilts carry associations of comfort, protection, and intimacy, yet here they also serve as arenas where structure is questioned and reshaped.”

“My relationship to structure runs deep. My father was a carpenter, and I grew up surrounded by the habits of careful craft, where “measure twice, cut once” is a way of life. I began college as an engineering major, drawn to problem-solving, systems, and the elegance of order. These influences continue to shape how I think about form, composition, and construction. Equally important to me are mystery, chance, and play. Seeking poetry over perfection, I sew fabric improvisationally, embracing the unexpected that emerges when my brain quiets and my hands take over… The quilt format, combined with my visual vocabulary, becomes a self-portrait. Each piece reflects a balance of opposites: hard and soft, serious and playful, rigid and open, capturing the dualities that shape how I see and engage with the world. Through this interplay of structure, color, and texture, the quilts reveal both the discipline I carry from a life shaped by careful craft and structure, and the improvisation, mystery, and whimsy that allow the work, and myself, to breathe.

On being accepted into the residency program, Kim states:

“A residency at Studios Inc. will allow me to work faster and more efficiently in expanding my studio practice and capitalizing on the momentum that I have. I will invest in new equipment and scale up my painting, sculpture and photography practices. The exhibition opportunities and studio visits at Studios Inc. will offer essential dialogue with artists, scholars, and patrons. I am looking forward to opportunities for public engagement and contributing to my community.”

Kevin Demery

Demery received his BFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA, in 2014 and his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, IL, in 2018. He is a full-time professor at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, MO. He is one of three recipients of the 2024 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards, and his work is currently on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City as part of the award exhibition. He also participated in the Delta Triennial at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art in Little Rock, AR, and Art Cologne in Cologne, Germany with Sakhile&Me Gallery in 2024.

In his artist statement, Demery shares, “I've always found poetry in objects that convey multiple histories, objects that, through context and placement, drastically change meaning. For this reason, I employ a diverse range of media rooted in traditions of assemblage. My practice triangulates intimate examinations of childhood, racial subjugation, and autobiography. Large-scale mobiles, anagram puzzles, and printmaking are some of the common vehicles I use to convey my areas of interest.

I use a kitsch-like aesthetic that momentarily veils the weight of the subject matter, traversing historical images, childlike objects, and sculptural conventions to draw the viewer into an environment with each piece. This is done as a means to demonstrate the power of the materials used and to pique curiosity in the narratives that lie within them.”

On being accepted into the residency program, Kevin states:

“I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to have a Studios Inc. residency. As a sculptor that is invested in creating work that is challenging both in concept and scale, having this large space to call home will help propel my creative endeavors to new heights. I intend to make significant life-size works with my new studio.”

Studios Inc. looks forward to welcoming these artists into the space in early 2026. For more information, please visit www.studiosinc.org or contact Aurora Cotrell at marketing@thestudiosinc.org

Introducing the Studios Inc. 2026-2028 Incoming Artists In Residence: Mikey Yates, Emily Quinn, Kim Eichler-Messmer, and Kevin Demery

Mikey Yates

Emily Blair Quinn

Kim Eichler-Messmer

Kevin Demery

Review: Haw Contemporary Upstairs Gallery