Transparency

Theresa Antonellis, Saige Baxter, Bill Brunken, Aimee Bungard, Thomas Callahan, Jacquelyn Cynkar, Norman Ed, Tim Fabian, Peggi Habets, Renee Keil, Kristen Letts Kovak, Craig Marcus, Sarah Simmons, Lucille Sturdevant, Kyle Utter, Zoe Welsh, Jannick Wildberg, Tazio Hilbert

October 1 - November 13, 2026



The quality of being seen through.

In its most literal sense, it is physical: the passage of light through glass, water--materials that allow what lies beyond them to remain visible. To be transparent is to obscure as little as possible, to create a space between what is seen and what is hidden.

Figuratively, transparency speaks to honesty, openness, and trust. It suggests a willingness to reveal rather than conceal; to share rather than withhold; to exist without a hidden agenda. In both personal and professional life, transparency can be an act of communication--a way of breaking down walls and allowing others to see more clearly. 

This work considers transparency as both material and metaphor. 

What does it mean to make oneself visible through creative practice? Art can become a form of self-disclosure: a process through which internal experiences and vulnerabilities are explored through creation. 

There is vulnerability in allowing oneself to be seen. To become transparent is to risk exposure--to let light reach places that might otherwise remain protected. Yet within that vulnerability is the possibility of connection, recognition, and trust. 

In this collection of work, we ask you to view through the lens of transparency--literally, metaphorically--from the artists’ perspective, as well as your own. 

Transparency is presented in partnership with the Associate Artists of Pittsburgh. It is juried by Lacey Murray and Cat Burton and organized by Nina Friedman. 

About the artists:

Theresa Antonellis is an instructor and gallery director at Slippery Rock University. Her work is a combination of her interest in breathwork and yoga along with her practice of observing, referencing, and marking. She holds an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of Massachusetts. She is currently a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh as well as Group A of Pittsburgh. Recent solo exhibitions include 42 Maple Contemporary Art Center (Bethlehem, 2016) and the UUmbaji Art Gallery (Kent, 2015). Her work has also been exhibited at the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (2024), Hunterdon Museum (Clinton, 2021), and Lucid Art Foundation (Inverness, 2019). 

Saige Baxter is a multidisciplinary artist who works in painting, sculpture, and welding to create blended installations. She acquired her Masters of Art in Teaching from MICA in 2022 and often combines her practice with her education career, influenced by play and learning. Named 2019’s “Emerging Artist of Pittsburgh”, Baxter has installed public sculptures in Greensburg, Frick Park, the Museum Lab, and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. She has exhibited work with Every Woman’s Biennial in New York City (2026), the Westmoreland museum of American Art (Greensburg, 2026), Brew House Arts (Pittsburgh, 2022, 2024) and Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (2022). Currently her interactive installation Sweet Treat is on display at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh from her participation in the TOUGH artist residency. 

Bill Brunken is a teacher, art handler, and artist whose work explores the subconscious with poetic introspective art daily. He attended Slippery Rock University, VSVU in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Stephen F. Austin State University of Texas eventaully earning an MFA. His work will be included in the Associated of Artists of Pittsburgh 2026 Annual. 

Aimee Bungard is a multidisciplinary artist working in acrylic, coffee, ink and whatever she can get her hands on. Her works represent self exploration and constant changes through growth and repression with themes about the feminine, the mother, the child, the animal, the diagnosis, the neurosis, the wife, the ego, and the vacuum. Her work is currently on display Pandora 7 Full Circle as well as at Evolve Coaching. 

Thomas Callahan is an artist and educator who works primarily in the realm of photography. His work takes tranditional photographic forms, such as prints and artist books, and experiments in video installation and alternative processes. Callahan earned his BFA in Integrated Lens-Based Media from Montana State University and his MFA in Studio Art from University of Notre Dame. 

Jacquelyn Cynkar is an artist whose work is centered around the intersections of internal and external states, often rooted in the female experience using photography and poetic prose. She received degrees in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh and a degree in Photography from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Previous exhibitions include the Uncommon Companion series hosted in Pittsburgh between 2029-2021, and several group shows including the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh’s Annual. Her work has been published in Seeing 2020: Photography Under Quarantine by MagCloud. 

Norman Ed is an artist, builder, and teacher. He has continued to practice art while teaching, mainly focuding on mixed media sculpture. He holds a BFA from Temple University. Ed has exhibited his work at Allied Artists of Johnstown, Millersville University, Pennsylvania State Museum, and the Pittsburgh International Airport. 

Tim Fabian is a photographer whose photographs center around the idea that photos are constructed rather than captured. Build from sequential exposures, each image he takes accumulates times, movement, and viewpoint into a desnse visual field in which stillness and motion collapse into continuity. He received an AST in Photography from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1980. His photography has been used to photo-illustrate several books, including: The Steps of Pittsburgh, Portrait of a City, The Bridges of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Prays - 36 Houses of Worship. 

Peggi Habets is a painter, teacher, and writer. She has devoted her practice to the study of connection between humans and the natural world, exploring the interdependence of plants and people and the emotional terrain that links them. Her paintings have been recognized by the National Watercolor Society and the American Watercolor Society. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Artist’s Magazine, Watercolor Artist, the Art of Watercolor, l’Art de l’Aquarelle, Women United Art Magazine, and Pratique des Arts, as well as Splash: Best of Watercolor series, and Artist, Mother, Proud & Series, Vol. 2. 

Tazio Hilbert is an oil painter based in Pittsburgh. She from the Rhode Island School of Design. 

Renee Keil is an artist, actress, director and choreographer living between Pittsburgh and Stuart, Florida. Keil works mainly in watercolor, pastels, and oils. She received a BS and MA from University of Pittsburgh, and did graduate work in movement at the University of Oslo, Norway. She is a member of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Society of Artists, the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, the Pittsburgh Pastel Artist League, the Garrett Country Arts Council, the Martin County Arts Council and the Martin Artisan Guild. 

Kristen Letts Kovak is a Pittsburgh-based artist and instructor who explores how visual perception informs the act of representation and defines our understanding of abstraction. In her practice she reflects on uncertainties of chronic illness and disability, reframing divergence and disruption as catylists for possibility. Kovak earned her MFA in Studio Arts from MICA in 2010. Her work has been shown in over a hundred exhibitions including at the University of Central Florida, SPACE Gallery, the Center for Contemporary Art, and Dairy Arts Center. Recent solo exhibitions include Marshall University (2024), York College (2019), Rosewood Art Center (2024), and 707 and 709 Galleries in Pittsburgh (2017 and 2018). 

Sarah Simmons is a fiber and text based conceptual artist. She releases the untapped potential of objects, materials, and people by challenging their traditionally assigned purposes and roles. She holds a BFA with a concentration in metalsmithing and art education from University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro and an AA from Montgomery College in Maryland. She is a member of Society of Sculptors and Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. Simmons’ work has been included in exhibitions at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Brew House Arts, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Museum Lab, Annemarie Sculpture Center, as well as at the Anthropology of Motherhood. 

Lucille Sturdevant is a ceramic artist making both sculptures and pottery. Her work mostly focuses on the human figure and relationships among people, often inspired by the ancient belief in the spiritual power of icons. Sturdevant holds a Masters in Arts Education from University of Pittsburgh. her work has been featured in the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Art, as well as Contemporary Craft. She has also exhibited internationally in Shanghai, China at the International Teapot Invitational exhibition. 

Kyle Utter is a painter whose work explores how naturalistic rendering and gestural abstraction can coexist on the same painting’s surface. He holds a BFA in painting from the Pratt Institute and an MFA in Studio Arts from Hunter College. His work has been exhibited at Weyers-Sampson Gallery, the Bronx Museum, Spring/Break Art Fair, SoMad NYC, and GTK.FYI. 

Zoë Welsh is a practicing artist and clinical art therapist. She creates mixed media paintings oriented in the tradition of landscape iconography. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Her work has been exhibited at the Kipp Gallery (IUP, 2022), Strohl Art Center (Chatauqua, 2021) and Concept Gallery (Pittsburgh, 2021).

Jannick Wildberg is a French-American artist who has exhibited in the New York and Pittsburgh areas for the past 25 years. Her art includes various styles from large-scale realistic oil portraits to still lives and abstracts. She is a member of The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and The Pittsburgh Society of Artists.