My painting experience was guided by my middle school art teacher Shirley Brannock. Mrs. Brannock helped me get involved with the Dorchester Center for the Arts when it first opened. I was one of the youngest oil painters who learned to love the magic of a paint brush. Thanks to her, I received a high school scholarship and met other artists, their mediums and it allowed me to expand my horizons. Sculpture, carving, silversmithing, and glass work. I have recently taken up watercolors and enjoy the challenge of painting with less paint and the movement of the water.
Lesley Estrada is a Chicana artist, born in Washington DC and raised between Mexico City, Mexico and the DC area. She is the owner of a small business, “Piper’s Pintadas”, an online art shop soon to include party and workshop bookings. Born into a family that was surrounded by art and living in an epicenter of such diverse cultures and artists in the DC area, she was exposed to art at an early age. Her mother operated one of the first Female Latina owned International PR firms, A.B.L. Associates, in the late 70’s in Washington, DC.
Visual artist with a focus in fusing wearable art concepts with luxury streetwear.
Gayane Minasyan is a painter and collage artist whose prolific work focuses on showing the beauty of women and portraiture. She first turned to art to help relieve the stress and loneliness of disconnecting from social life, losing a dear friend and watching her native country of Armenia enter into a war, all during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and has quickly turned her work into a statement about the power of art to share messages of hope, faith and beauty.
Denise was born in Washington, DC and raised in Prince George's County Maryland. A Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and Management graduate from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) with 20 years’ experience in the field of Early Childhood Education. During the latter portion of Denise's high school career, she awakened her interior and fashion design skills and later served as Assistant to her crafts teacher in 12th grade after enjoying the course the prior year.