Denver, CO – April 1, 2025 – A committee selected six Fellows from different study areas to engage with the Museum and its collections from July 1 to 31, 2025, during the second annual Clyfford Still Museum Institute Residential Fellowship Program in Denver, CO. The program focuses on three pillars of study: art, education, and social enterprise.
“As stewards of a collection that belongs to our community, we asked ourselves how we might model the richly varied approaches we might take to understanding the impacts of Still’s gift,” said Joyce Tsai, Museum director. “The fellowship program allows for an interdisciplinary focus on one body of work from various perspectives. We received numerous applications from all over the country, and our team of staff and advisors selected a talented group of individuals to draw strength from our collections and resources at the Still this summer.”
The Museum closed applications on January 31. The second group of fellows selected to participate include Geovanni “Geo” Barrios in Studio Art; Kealey Boyd and Michael Holloman in Art History/Criticism; Dr. Kyong-Ah Kwon in Early Childhood Education; and Marie Edland and Riley Jones, IV in Social Enterprise.
“Each fellow shares a desire to transform our present and future by engaging deeply with the Museum and its collection,” said Tsai. “This group of fellows will build upon the foundation set by the first Institute program in 2024.”
Each Fellow will receive an honorarium, round-trip economy class travel to and from Denver, housing in Denver during the program, and workspace appropriate to the proposed project. The Fellows will also participate in a public program on July 28. For more information, visit clyffordstillmuseum.org/institute.
About the Fellows
Geovanni “Geo” Barrios (b. 1999) is a musician and visual artist whose work explores the evolution of American masculinity. Originally trained as an orchestral tubist, he transitioned into performance art, developing a multidisciplinary practice that examines identity, power, and social structures through music, drawing, sculpture, and archival research. Barrios holds a BA in Art History from Yale University and has worked in arts conservation at the Yale University Art Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His experiences with historical objects and preservation techniques inform his artistic practice. As a musician, he has performed across the United States at venues such as the Ely Center for Contemporary Art, Yale Center for British Art, and Yale University Art Gallery, as well as internationally in Mexico, Brazil, and Germany.
Kealey Boyd is a writer and art critic. She is a regular contributor to Hyperallergic and The Art Newspaper and her work is featured in the Los Angeles Times, Colorado Public Radio, Frieze, Art Papers, The Belladonna Comedy, College Art Association, Artillery Magazine, and several art catalogs and books, including this year’s Artists as Writers, published by Intellect Books as part of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series. She is a member of the Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art (AICA) and she served as an Executive Board Member for Redline Contemporary Art Center from 2018 to 2024. She earned her BA in Economics and MA in Art History from the University of Chicago. Her research interests include methodologies for interpreting painting and other visual forms as an integral element of political and cultural discourses.
Marie Edland joined the Barnes Foundation in 2022 as its first Strategic Research Analyst within the inaugural Evaluation & Impact Department. She holds an MA from Bryn Mawr College in French and Francophone Studies. Prior to transitioning to the arts non-profit sector, she spent five years working in brand strategy and market research agencies. Marie supports all ongoing institutional research projects at the Barnes Foundation, including program evaluation, visitor experience surveying, and external collaborative projects. She is passionate about promoting evaluation practices, frameworks, and approaches that uplift audience perspectives and deepen connections to arts organizations.
Michael Holloman, parent, artist, curator, and fine arts professor, is an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Native American art history and the studio arts at Washington State University while maintaining duties as the college’s coordinator for Native Arts, Outreach and Education. His scholarship addresses the historic issues and visual record of Plateau settler colonialism and Native adaptation and self-assertion—regarding Clyfford Still, Holloman stresses the aesthetic dimension of his work as being infused with a spiritual power that sustains familial and communal memory while offering inspiration for a new generation.
Riley Jones, IV, is Executive Director for the Paul Robeson House and Museum and a leading voice in advocating for progressive social change. Before becoming Executive Director, Riley served on the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Board for three years, leading development efforts that resulted in, among other things, a $1 million philanthropic gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Jones is a graduate of Columbia University (BA) and holds a MS in Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from New York University. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education Leadership at Harvard University.
Kyong-Ah Kwon, PhD, is the Drusa B. Cable Endowed Chair and Professor at the University of Oklahoma. She is passionate about supporting young children’s learning and development in various contexts, including art museums. Her research examines how home and school environments influence early development. Dr. Kwon has secured over $6.3 million in grants, including for her nationally recognized Happy Teacher Project, which focuses on improving early childhood educators’ well-being and working conditions. She also leads the Happy Teacher Global Project in collaboration with scholars across five countries. She co-leads a national interdisciplinary group on ECE workforce well-being, serves on the steering committee for the Network for Infant Toddler Researchers, and is a guest editor for several leading journals in the field.
About the Advisory Board
The Institute Advisory Board includes experts in art, education, and enterprise. The members include Harry Cooper, Bunny Mellon Curator of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art; Dr. Bridget Cooks, Professor of African American Studies and Art History, UC Irvine; Odili Odita, Artist; Cristina Gillanders, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado, Denver; Sharon Shaffer, Founding Director, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, Routledge series editor, Global Perspectives on Children in Museums; Aaron Duke, Product Leader & Advisor; Claude Grunitzky, CEO and Managing Partner, Equity Alliance; and Dan Wang, Lambert Family Professor of Social Enterprise and Sociology at Columbia Business School and Co-Director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change.
About the Clyfford Still Museum
Designed specifically to display Clyfford Still’s art, the award-winning Clyfford Still Museum is home to nearly everything he created, approximately 3,125 pieces representing 93% of his lifetime of work. The Museum supports new artistic endeavors, inviting visitors to draw strength from Still’s art and life. At the Still, visitors will find a world-class collection gifted to the City and County of Denver, award-winning architecture, cross-disciplinary programs for all ages, and opportunities to explore their own creativity. Exhibitions stimulate curiosity, arouse emotions, and explore multiple perspectives. The Still invites visitors to refresh, recharge, and reconnect with joy. Connect with the Clyfford Still Museum on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or at clyffordstillmuseum.org.
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