Bianca Selket was born in Sarasota, Florida. She is a fine artist of watercolor, pencil, and charcoal. Bianca currently works from her art studio in downtown Sarasota producing works of art comprising realism, surrealism, and social justice elements. Her work also includes the role of a teaching artist and developing artistic and literature-based programs as a part of the Ringling Museums Outreach program. She is part of a small team designed to bring art to underserved & trauma-affected children. Of all the work she has created, her greatest masterpiece is her daughter, Sloane. 

Clifford McDonald was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. He is a painter and the founder of the nonprofit Art 4 change. McDonald began drawing at a young age but didn’t realize he had a gift until, one day, his mother found a drawing he had made in school. After seeing the look on his mom’s face, Clifford knew his artistic ability was something special.

Once he got to middle school, he started taking art seriously and later joined Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts program, where he also played basketball. He fell in love with the sport, and it eventually became his number one priority. After playing college basketball, he was focused on playing professionally and played one season in South America.  

Clifford started teaching art in Bradenton, Florida. He became inspired by his students and the idea of making art to create positive change. His paintings today focus on culture and other topics that address equity, education, and diversity.

Keenan Perren, originally from South Jersey, has lived in Bradenton, Florida, for ten years. Skateboarding has been his life since the age of twelve. The freedom, friends, and experiences he’s had because of skateboarding is something he really cherishes. He says It forced him and his friends to look at the world differently. Where someone might see a set of stairs or a curb, they see a world of opportunity. Keenen started cutting up skateboards out of boredom to make little collages. But over time, he fell in love with the art of recycling these old and broken skateboards and creating something new. 

He now focuses on recreating pictures and scenes of friends and family. None of the skateboards he uses in his work are painted. He feels like the marks left on the boards represent the very real scars we carry on ourselves.

Javier Suarez, Jr. was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico on August 1, 1972.  The diversity of his family’s background has inspired a variety of interests and ideas within him, including his pursuit of Fine Art. The son of an architect, Javi has been creating architecture alongside his father for nearly 20 years.  

Javi’s formal education taught him to question everything and to rely on his own ideas to produce quality work.  What has made him a successful artist, though, is his innate passion for all of the arts and his persistence.  His interest in improvisation inspired him to look beyond the historical precedents within architecture, and under the teachings of the world-famous jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, Javi focused his thesis work on jazz as a model for architecture.  The ideas behind this thesis have influenced the process and concepts of his art.

Javi has shown his artwork for over 20 years throughout Southern California, Puerto Rico, and Florida.  It is also displayed in several private and public collections.

(javi@suarezarchitecture.com)