Through 2024-26, I co-managed and coordinated INFUSE; an interdisciplinary collaborate Graduate student art exhibition which turned into an annual event in the School of Art at the University of Arizona.
INFUSE asks participants to reflect on a theme for the year, typically about their relationship to home, communal bonds, traditions, and the way that those traditions become shaped by their changing environment or circumstances. Students across disciplines pair up and create multimedia artworks that are exhibited at the Lionel-Rombach Gallery each Spring. It is a community building exercise, and an opportunity to de-silo the various graduate programs across campus by providing a space for grad students to talk about their work and collaborate. I was very honored to have been a part of this ongoing project as an organizer, designing exhibitions, coordinating installations, managing teams and participating as an artist with students across disciplines for 3 years.
Art museums across Tucson and in Mexico have shown artworks created through INFUSE, recognizing pieces to foster regional discussions about borderlands, tradition, and migration. Vanessa Saavedra and Andres Caballero’s 2025 Infuse piece, “siempre estuve aqui,” was shown in The Tucson Museum of Art. The duo’s 2024 piece made with writer Yvette Saenz, “Triptych III: Apoplectic Banditos,” was shown at the Nogales Museum of Art (Mexico) and also the Tucson Desert Art Museum.
2026: Light Signals
To foster a creative new year, Light Signals showcased collaborative, multidisciplinary works from graduate students. Our 2026 theme asked artists to reflect on the ways we keep hope through community. What light signals do we use to communicate with one another, to remember our home spaces, and to find new ways of being? While there is room for interpretation, we are thinking a lot about insects and the ways that fireflies, ants, and butterflies use their webs and networks to sustain themselves. We hope that artists also think about the home communities that nourish them. We come from many webs indeed.
Light Signals was co-organized by Athena Solan Apodaca, Aubrey Behrens, Clare Boyle and Bea Troxel. Eighteen students participated in 2026, featuring 8 unique works of art. This showcase saw our largest reception yet, with an estimated 100 attendees, and a visit from AZPM. The exhibit ran from March 17th-25th.
INFUSE’s 2026 exhibition was juried by former INFUSE organizers Astrid Liu and Hanan Khatoun, and Tucson artist Benjamin Brockman. This year, Nova Nazari and Dylan Hawkinson won first place for their incredible piece “Tough Skin”, seen below.
Second place was awarded to 3rd year MFA Photo students Andres Caballero and Alexis Joy Hagestad with “27 miles”. Sheldon Patten and Chloe Henderson were awarded third place for “UNESCO: United Nations”.
All exhibition images of Infuse: Light Signals are courtesy of Beihua Guo
2025: Steeped in Tradition
Our 2025 theme asked artists to reflect on their relationship to home, communal nourishment, ancestral lineages, making new traditions, and infusing themselves wherever they migrate. This Spring offers a nourishing opportunity to pause and embrace the ingredients that comprise culture, and to mix together through collaboration to create surprising fusions of flavor.
Steeped In Tradition was co-curated by Astrid Liu, Aubrey Behrens, and Bea Troxel. Our 2025 exhibit was juried by a collection of Fine Art and Creative Writing alumni: Emanuel Arnautovic, Claire Hong, Emiland Kray, and Hea-Ream Lee. Our 2025 exhibit, cash prizes and juror stipends were made possible thanks to funds from the GPSC, Department of Creative Writing, and School of Art.
Vanessa Saavedra and Andres Caballero’s 2025 Infuse piece, “siempre estuve aqui,” won first prize and went on to be shown at the Tucson Museum of Art.
Molly Etchberger and Matthew Kennedy’s “Childhood Home” was awarded second place (left) and Jenna S. Green and Sydney Streightiff’s “Brewing Connection: Art, Ritual, and Community Nourishment” was awarded third (right).
Images Courtesy of Bea Troxel
2024: Beneath the Surface
Infuse’s 2024 exhibition Beneath the Surface was co-curated by graduate students Aubrey Behrens, Hanan Khatoun, Astrid Liu. Infuse held a reception event with more than forty attendees on May 2 at the School of Fine Arts’ Lionel-Rombach Gallery. The exhibit ran from May 1 to May 10, fully open to the public.
Image courtesy of Hanan Khatoun.
Beneath the Surface showcased 6 collaborative, multidisciplinary works from 14 graduate students that reflect a theme of unseen connections, resistance, and survival. Infuse’s 2024 theme asked artists to reflect on their relationship to love, community care, ancestral lineages, mutual aid webs, and endurance in the face of hardship. Beneath the Surface demonstrated evidence of beautiful, provocative, imaginative work put forth by our graduate body.
Image courtesy of Astrid Liu.
Infuse’s 2024 exhibition was juried by a collection of Fine Art and Creative Writing alumni: Olivia Richardson, Kenni Dankert, Geramee Hensley, Dure Ahmed, Fatema Abizar, and Kayla Ballesteros. Each juror provided feedback for artists on how to expand their conceptualized pieces, brainstormed galleries to send their final products to, and judged first, second, and third place awards.
We’re happy to announce that Yvette Saenz, Andres Caballero, and Vanessa Saavedra won first place for their beautiful piece, “Triptych III: Apoplectic Banditos,” shown below.
Image courtesy of Andres Caballero
Second and third place, respectively, were awarded to graduate students Susan Barnett and Hanan Khatoun for their piece “Rolling out in Resistance”, and Karina Buzzi, Alexis Joy Hagestad for their piece “Tune to the call, reflect within, a longing, in/visible kin.”
Image (left) courtesy of Alexis Joy Hagestad, Image (right) courtesy of Hanan Khatoun
Special thanks to funds from the Department of English, the Department of Creative Writing, the School of Art, and GPSC. With their generous support, Infuse was able to disburse $400 in cash prizes and stipends for participating artists, $300 in stipends for participating jurors. With their support, Infuse was even able to provide delicious food from Caravan for the reception, attended by more than forty members of the community.
Image courtesy of Hanan Khatoun
