Nikki Pike is an Artist and Activist committed to serving the community through her art practice and role as an educator. Through the use of universally positive human experiences such as curiosity, music, surprise, and gifting along with the influence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, she spreads values of empowerment, vulnerability and connection in the form of experience as opposed to product. Nikki sees herself as a Cultural Agent working together with local communities promoting activity and creativity. With her expansive practice, Nikki straddles Public Arts, Social Sculpture, Service Art and is exploring ideas of Relief Art intended to aide communities responding to disaster. Her methods start from the ideals of democracy and her work has been featured at the Denver Art Museum, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and Art Basel Miami to name a few. Currently Nikki resides in Denver, Colorado and holds a professorship at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

During her residency, Nikki Pike will create an outdoor sculptural work utilizing bark-skinned forms, adding to Green Box’s public collection.  Additionally, Nikki will develop a series of drawings related to the work and embark on community engagement workshops throughout her residency.

Edwin Ushiro is an artist from Hawaii who currently resides in Southern California.  After earning a BFA with Honors in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design, he has been working in the entertainment industry as a Concept Designer, Storyboard Artist and Illustrator for clients including: Sony, 20^th Century Fox, Fox Animation, Jim Henson, Warner Brothers and Lady Gaga.  In addition, he has been exhibited at venues worldwide including the Villa Bottini in Italy, the Museum of Kyoto, and the Honolulu Museum of Art.

During his residency, Edwin will create paintings which explore the oral traditions, focusing on ghosts and legends, of the Pikes Peak region.  The final result will be displayed on Lake Street through the winter.  Edwin will interview residents of the community in service of the art, by collecting local folklore and ghost stories and will provide various workshops inclusive of Plein Air sketching, composition, drawing and painting.

Carole d’Inverno is an abstract artist who grew up in Italy & Belgium, moved to the United States in 1979 and now lives in Brooklyn.  d’Inverno has had numerous solo and group shows in the United States. Solo shows include Transumanza: Duluth and Minnesota, at the Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN (Winter 2020); Transumanza: Massillon and Ohio, at the Massillon Museum of Art and History, Massillon, Ohio; Appalachia: an Abstraction, at the Western Carolina University Art Center; A Way of Saying, at SUNY Rochester Monroe College, Rochester, NY.  d’Inverno is the recipient of The Art of Ivy Side, National Competition Winner, PENN State Altoona, PA; she has been accepted into the historical Artist Lab at Rokeby Museum,VT, and has been awarded Fellowships and Residencies at the Art and History Museums, Maitland, Florida, the Studios at Key West, La Playa, Summer Lake (OR,) Willapa Bay AIR, Willapa (WA), the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson (VT), the BAU Institute, Otranto (Italy,) Starry Night, Truth or Consequences (NM,) and the Wassard Elia Center, Ascea, (Italy.)  Her work is in the public collections of the Microsoft Art Collection, Kirkland, WA; Group Health Headquarters, Seattle; Swedish Hospital, Seattle; Seattle University, Seattle; The Maitland Art and History Museum and in private collections across the US and Europe.

Bill Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings, whose catalog has been cited by Downbeat as “the best recorded output of the decade.”  Recognized as one of America’s 21 most vital and productive performing artists, Frisell was named an inaugural Doris Duke Artist in 2012.  He is also a recipient of grants from United States Artists, Meet the Composer among others.  In 2016, he was a beneficiary of the first FreshGrass Composition commission to preserve and support innovative grassroots music.  Upon San Francisco Jazz opening their doors in 2013, he served as one of their Resident Artistic Directors.  Bill is also the subject of a new documentary film by director Emma Franz, entitled Bill Frisell: A Portrait, which examines his creative process in depth.  He has six Grammy nominations, and one win.

A Colorado Springs native, Jessica is a playwright, librettist, screenwriter, performer and researcher/dramaturg for theatre and TV.  She is most interested in work driven by interdisciplinary research, true stories, and community collaboration.  Her work as a writer has been commissioned by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Cooper Union, NY Stage and Film, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, and Roundabout Theatre Company, amongst others.  Jessica will write, develop and perform a history & art audio tour for Green Box and Green Mountain Falls which will launch at the summer Festival in 2022.