The First Year Core Studio Program presents an evening of conversation between Visiting Artist and First Year faculty Bri Williams and artist and former First Year faculty Sandra Ono. The two met while Williams was in graduate school at Mills College in Oakland, where Ono was teaching in the Department of Art. For this event the two artists will be in dialogue exploring the connections between narrative, materiality, and studio practice through their most recent exhibitions.

Bri Williams received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015 and their MFA from Mills College in 2017. Their work often includes found objects and materials that are repurposed and reworked. Williams’ work addresses collective memories, identity structures, and power roles. Recent solo exhibitions include Out at Progetto in Lecce, Italy and a two person exhibition at Simian, Copenhagen, Denmark. Recent group exhibitions include Essex Street Gallery, New York, NY; Art Forum Baloise Park, Basel, Switzerland; Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA; CCS Bard Hessel Museum, New York. They are currently Visiting Faculty teaching 3D Studio in the First Year Core Studio Program at California College of the Arts.

Sandra Ono is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Berkeley, California. She received her MFA from Mills College, following her undergraduate studies at University of California, Davis and Imperial College, London. Ono has exhibited in Texas, New York, and throughout California. She has completed residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Exposure, Vermont Studio Center, Mascot Studio, Minnesota Street Project as a recipient of the TOSA Studio Award, and Kala Art Institute as a recipient of the Kala Fellowship Award. Ono has taught at UC Davis, California College of the Arts, and Mills College.