Envision 2025 Conversations: A Roundtable with Artists, Curators, and Art Leaders

Join us for an insightful discussion on the ideas and themes that guide the practices of the Envision: The 2025 Michigan Artist Initiative finalists, Conor Fagan, Katie Mongoven, and Sara Nickleson, who will be in conversation with Stamps Gallery Director & Curator Srimoyee Mitra; art leader Cindy Meyers Foley, Director and CEO of the Grand Rapids Art Museum; and Katie McGowan, Deputy Director of Kresge Arts in Detroit.

Envi­sion: The 2025 Michi­gan Artist Initiative is on view at Stamps Gallery from June 26 through August 2, 2025.

Free and open to the public.
Limited space available, registration recommended. RSVP Here.

About the guest curators:

Cindy Meyers Foley (she/​her) has worked for 30 years helping museums become welcoming spaces that cultivate curiosity and social engagement. She is the Director and CEO of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, an institution committed to being people centered by strategically placing people at the center of all decision making. 

Foley curated a number of exhibitions including Playground, 2002 which launched a groundbreaking project, Learning to Love you More. Foley is committed to the role museums play in developing creative thinkers. She has been on the faculty of the Maine College of Art and Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom Summer Institute, and regularly keynotes a variety of Museum, Art, and Education Conferences. Foley has given two TEDX Talks including Teaching Art or Teaching to Think like an Artist. Foley received the 2018 Ohio Distinguished Educator for Art Education award. She was appointed to the Michigan Arts and Culture Council in 2023. 

Katie Grace McGowan (she/​they) is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural producer, and committed advocate for creative workers. Her art practice straddles performance art and literary art – autofiction and experimental poetry, in particular. She has spent her professional career teaching art at the university level; advocating for the rights of artists and cultural workers; and curating exhibitions, screenings, literary events, and performances independently and while employed at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Katie has served on the board of directors of Detroit Puppet Company since 2016. She currently works as director of Kresge Arts in Detroit.