Yonkers Arts is pleased to present WORDS, a multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring the works of 65 artists. Words shape our lives connecting us to each other and convey our needs, desires, feelings, and wishes. 'WORDS' exhibition features artist interpretations of words in traditional or non-traditional media forms of paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, video, performance, and installation.
“The work presented in this show represents a wide range of styles and disciplines, all coming together like a collective choir in a show we are proud to present” - head of curation at Yonkers Arts, Adam Shutz
Exhibition runs from February 12 through March 21, 2026
Yonkers Arts Project Space 216 Lake Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10701
Gallery hours are: Wednesdays to Fridays 3pm - 6pm | Saturdays 12pm - 4pm
Interested in purchasing artwork that you viewed at the exhibition? Have a look at the available artwork!
Photo by Greenhouse Photography
Bios for individual artists coming soon…
If you have any questions, please reach out to director@yonkersarts.org.
CHRIS WATTS
Watts, a New York-based artist, delves into the language of the spiritual; exploring the power of and the relationship we have with the unseen.
Having lived in San Francisco for nearly a decade, Watts has carved his own lane, initiating and organizing multi-dimensional experiences outside the confines of traditional galleries. Driven by a desire to enhance our connection to the mystical, he has created an alphabet and number system inspired by hieroglyphs, to cultivate our intuitive awareness. Watts’ work invites viewers on a mystical journey, beyond the spoken word and into the realm of the unseen; using creation and intuition as a vehicle to experience total consciousness.
Meera Agarwal
Meera Agarwal is a Westchester (NY) based visual artist and art instructor who creates vibrant paintings in oil, acrylic, and mixed media. With a keen eye for both representational and abstract forms, her award-winning paintings draw inspiration from nature’s marvels, diverse locales, and human stories. In May 2024 she became the first recipient of The Rye Arts Center’s Visionary Artist Award for her inspirational paintings as well as her commitment to uplifting the arts in the community. Recently, she expanded into public art with Rye Arts Center’s Rye’sAbove butterfly installation and contributed to the Rye Poetry Path. She is also a certified Art-o-Mat artist, contributing to art vending machines nationwide. Dedicated to community service, Meera volunteers with the Rye Arts Center, Jay Heritage Center and the India Cultural Center Greenwich. Meera's art is regularly juried into prominent exhibits across the tri-state area and her art can be found in home collections globally.
Crismeily Alburquerque
Crismeily is an Afro Caribbean artist who believes art can change the world. By using a fluid painting style, she’s able to create multicolored cells in her abstract artwork to bring it to life. She routinely depicts black women, nature and love (in its many iterations.) Art is her medication, her meditation, and sometimes her church.
Khuumba Ama
Khuumba Ama hails from the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor of Savannah, Georgia. She now resides in Harlem, USA. She is a full-time Multi Dimensional Visual Artist, Poet/Storyteller, Photographer, Curator, Filmmaker, Educator and Reiki Inspirational Therapist.
Khuumba has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally. Ms. Ama has left her mark in Africa, throughout the Caribbean, as well as the United States.
Thellenza Arifi Krasniqi a.k.a. EarthWaeve art
Thellenza Arifi Krasniqi is a Human Rights Expert with more than 18 years of experience in the protection and promotion of human rights. She is the Founder of the Caring Human Rights Center, where her work focuses on dignity, equality, and access to justice.
In parallel with her advocacy, she is a poet and visual artist. Her first poetry book, “Vargje me Dhimbje” (“Verses of Pain”), was published in 2000. Her artistic expression began long before her public exhibitions, initially created as personal gifts and reflections for others.
In early 2025, she began presenting her artwork publicly. In December 2025, she participated in a group exhibition at the Bluedoor Center, where her work received strong recognition and positive public response.
Through poetry and mixed-media art, her creative practice explores themes of human dignity, equality, belonging, and peace, reflecting her lifelong commitment to human rights.
Shahaan O. Azeem
My work explores important and relevant issues in our society. These issues predominantly deal with identity, equality, perception and representation, which are central to my work and revolve around questions of human interaction within our society.
Annette Back
Growing up in Frankfurt, Back explored her artistic abilities at an early age and when her family moved to NY, her creative calling led to the School of Visual Arts after which a career in graphic and web design ensued, culminating in Back running her own Design Firm. In a quest to discover her own true artistic voice rather than catering to clients, Back found herself craving the feeling of a paintbrush. Drawing from current events and experiences, Back tells stories through compositions and landscapes that often incorporate text, words and photographs. Back had solo exhibits as well as group exhibits at Aqua Art Miami, The Affordable Art Fair, Red Dot Miami, MvVo AD Art Show, ArtExpo, Clio Art Fair, Market Art+Design and galleries in and around NYC. She has completed two art residencies and her work is in private collections in the US and abroad.
Tralona Boisne
Tralona Boisne is an endless creative and dogged supporter of all things expressive. Yonkers NY resident and active community member, Tralona spends most of her time imagining more ways to connect with the world around her; whether through nature photography or encouraging fellow artists to engage with their own power.
Olivia Brucker
Olivia Brucker is a junior at Scarsdale High School. During the summer of 2025, her aquatic-themed photographs were displayed at the Neutral Zone’s Aquarium Exhibit at the Ann Arbor Art Center. Her goal is to attend a large university where she can challenge herself creatively through art.
Nordia Byfield
Watts, a New York-based artist, delves into the language of the spiritual; exploring the power of and the relationship we have with the unseen.
Having lived in San Francisco for nearly a decade, Watts has carved his own lane, initiating and organizing multi-dimensional experiences outside the confines of traditional galleries. Driven by a desire to enhance our connection to the mystical, he has created an alphabet and number system inspired by hieroglyphs, to cultivate our intuitive awareness. Watts’ work invites viewers on a mystical journey, beyond the spoken word and into the realm of the unseen; using creation and intuition as a vehicle to experience total consciousness.
Ed Castaneda
A Fine Art and Street Photographer based in Yonkers, New York working in the photographic medium since 2017. With a background in Design, Painting, Drawing and Art History, and graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design in 1981 from Parsons School of Design, and post graduate study/work at The Art Students League of New York. Ed has participated in various solo and group art exhibitions throughout the years. His photographs are not only snapshots of objects and daily life, but reflect the acute sensitivity of a draftsman and painter. The artist states; “The subject of my photographs is not the immediate image that you see. The deeper subject matter is the relationships in the composition between dark and light, thick and thin, straights and curves, large and small, and the shapes and movement that they create.”
Richard Castillo
Watts, a New York-based artist, delves into the language of the spiritual; exploring the power of and the relationship we have with the unseen.
Having lived in San Francisco for nearly a decade, Watts has carved his own lane, initiating and organizing multi-dimensional experiences outside the confines of traditional galleries. Driven by a desire to enhance our connection to the mystical, he has created an alphabet and number system inspired by hieroglyphs, to cultivate our intuitive awareness. Watts’ work invites viewers on a mystical journey, beyond the spoken word and into the realm of the unseen; using creation and intuition as a vehicle to experience total consciousness.
SantanaCopeland
SantanaCopeland is fascinated with visual storytelling. He studied filmmaking at Bard College where he received a BA. He transitioned from the moving image to the still image and attended photography courses at Otis College, Santa Monica Community College, and ultimately earned a MFA from LIU Post. He currently works in museum education and has a Masters in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
He has shown work in numerous group exhibitions and participated in art talks/presentations in New York and Beijing, China. SantanaCopeland was an En Foco Photography Fellow (Bronx, NY) in 2017 with work published in the accompanying Nueva Luz Photographic Journal (Vol 21.1). Select photos from BlackWhiteColor, Wait, and Paper Waves were shown at the 2019 Tianjin-Philadelphia Sister-City Photography & Poetry Exhibition (Tianjin, China). In 2024, he was the guest curator for the En Foco Photography Fellowship (Translucent Tethers).
Over the past few years, his photographic practice shifted from street/documentary/portrait photography to conceptual photography. His current project Black Work was conceived in 2016 with production starting in 2019 and ending in 2025. It grew from one photograph to a series of 18 images and during that time, he found his artistic voice, vision, and direction. In 2025, the photo Black Tax (from Black Work) was shown at Islip Art Council’s African Americans & Labor exhibition and Black Magic (from Black Work) at Farmingdale State College Memorial Gallery for the Double Exposure showcase.
Jocelyn Covarrubias
Joce Cova is a Mexican-American artist from New York who explores diverse mediums concentrating on digital art, acrylic paints, and ceramics. She draws a lot of inspiration from women and their everyday interactions in minimalistic styles. With playful imagery, she tries to capture small moments visually.
Stephon Dalencourt
I'm Steph Dalencourt, and I use cheap stuff to talk about expensive problems. My work is Americana through the lens of a black eye. I classify myself as a “trash-core absurdist” who tends to use, well, trash, to create poignant stories. I explore almost any medium, but my niche lives in the realm of sculptural painting and installation. Layering with impasto, vintage artifacts, and unlearned techniques is how I bridge the gap from my mind to the viewer's eyes and press the question, "How 3D can I make 2D?"
Ken Davis
Watts, a New York-based artist, delves into the language of the spiritual; exploring the power of and the relationship we have with the unseen.
Having lived in San Francisco for nearly a decade, Watts has carved his own lane, initiating and organizing multi-dimensional experiences outside the confines of traditional galleries. Driven by a desire to enhance our connection to the mystical, he has created an alphabet and number system inspired by hieroglyphs, to cultivate our intuitive awareness. Watts’ work invites viewers on a mystical journey, beyond the spoken word and into the realm of the unseen; using creation and intuition as a vehicle to experience total consciousness.
Sharde Dennis
Hi! My name is Shar and I am a multidisciplinary artist, specializing in abstract paintings and film with a practice grounded in community listening. My work explores the emotional and social landscapes we move through, transforming shared stories and energy into layered visual experiences
D.I.A.L.E.K.T.O
No Bio Submitted
Jason-Earl Jackson
Having predominantly practiced relief printmaking for ten years, I’ve developed an unorthodox method of implementing its key tenets; carving but not printing. I fancy the permanence felt through the weight and volume of a mounted linoleum block, I consider it the final artwork. It allows me to experiment with color more freely without destroying the block itself while also providing a more tangible sense of confidence as the block communicates assurance with every cut, scrape, or break.
I am largely inspired by musicians and athletes. Moments of spontaneity in the development of melodies and the unpredictable nature of sport capture my attention. I employ this spontaneity in my artistic process by using creative energy to execute each piece directly, forgoing a sketch/proof of concept stage. I find the initial excitement felt at the inception of an idea wasted on any structured plan.
A common throughline in most if not all my work is spectacle. I want to create an immense amount of movement and detail in each piece, dragging the viewer’s eyes across every inch of linoleum. I endeavor to do this by flooding each piece with striking colors or dynamic cuts. I also try to tell jokes with my pieces. I believe the fine art realm is often too self-serious and runs the risk of falling into pretentiousness. My artistic philosophy is amusement before statement; or amusement through statement. I fear a viewer’s scowl or indifference.
I attempt to pursue this viewer amusement in the simple beauty of a piece. I see nothing wrong with engaging with art–regardless of its deeper meaning–on a casual level. I want viewers to be able to engage with my work on a purely superficial level and still leave room for deeper analysis. It should be pretty and/or entertaining before it has anything to say. What’s the point of talking if you’re too repulsive for anyone to listen. Of course there is value in engaging with something repulsive, but I do not believe every barrier should be that high.
I absolutely love the tedium of my medium and the unorthodox way I express myself within its confines. Though my method of practicing printmaking is laborious I love the feeling of a hard day's work, from the research and conceptualization phase to their completion, each piece feels like an odyssey. Each piece feels earned.
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Enrico Giordano
Enrico Giordano is a mixed media artist and Associate Professor Emeritus at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. As a widely traveled artist, Giordano had a sabbatical in Turkey, presented at conferences in Cusco Peru, London, and Sienna, Italy. He also created participatory installations in Denmark and Holland. Closer to home, his work has been exhibited in galleries in NYC, Westchester, and Vermont. He currently exhibits regularly at Upstream Gallery in Hastings, NY and Blue Door in Yonkers, NY
Geraldo Gonzalez
Geraldo Gonzalez is a Puerto Rican American artist born in 1988 and based in Wilmington, Delaware. He is first and foremost a transit artist, known colloquially as “The King of Transit.” He sources material for his artwork from his trips on local transportation systems in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Geraldo is a prolific multimedia artist, working in colored pencil, acrylic paint, watercolor, digital photography and video. He has been a member of the Creative Vision Factory in Wilmington, Delaware since its opening in 2011, fostering a mutually beneficial, long lasting relationship with the organization. Geraldo has exhibited widely throughout Delaware, in solo shows at the Creative Vision Factory and MarketPlace Gallery, and group exhibitions at the Delaware Art Museum, the Delaware Contemporary, Chris White Gallery, the Biggs Museum of American Art, Johns Williams Gallery and the Fleisher/Ollman Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has four artworks in the University of Delaware’s permanent collection and is represented by the Koelsch Gallery in Houston, Texas. Through his frequently updated social media (@thekingoftransit), we are invited to follow the artist’s process and ever-colorful evolution.
Christi Graff
Because I feel that's a plight we all have to come to face with,
Giovanni Green
No Bio Submitted
Paul Greco
No Bio Submitted
Stefano Guida
Stefano Luigi Guida is a multimedia artist and musician based in the Hudson Valley. With over a decade of experience, he has exhibited throughout New York City, Westchester, and Putnam counties.
His work is a vivid fusion of contemporary surrealism, pop culture, and personal narrative, often incorporating vibrant imagery and playful compositions that challenge perceptions and evoke emotional responses.
As a first-generation Italian-American, Stefano infuses his cultural heritage into his art, blending historical influences with modern themes. His paintings, rooted in an intuitive and stream-of-consciousness process, explore the complexities of human emotion, memory, and identity. Drawing from art history, cartoons of the 90s, and the natural world, his work captures the unpredictable and whimsical aspects of life, offering viewers a lens into the intersection of nostalgia and self-discovery.
Beyond his artistic practice, Stefano works as a high school art teacher in Westchester, where he fosters creativity and expression in students with special needs. Through his art, he seeks to create spaces for reflection, connection, and exploration, inviting audiences to find their own narratives within his surreal and thought-provoking pieces.
George M Gutierrez
GEORGE M. GUTIÉRREZ was a New York artist, photojournalist, and curator. Mr. Gutierrez won over a hundred awards including the Pulitzer Prize in 2002. In addition to painting, and photography, his work includes OpEd Art, illustration, album cover art, drawing, collage, and assemblage. He’s been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair and other periodicals and publications. Mr. Gutiérrez was the curator for Gallery18 at The Riverdale Y from April 2022 until he passed away in March 2024. His studio is in Yonkers, in the YoHo Artists' Lofts in the historic Carpet Mills Art District. He lived in Riverdale with his wife, Dr. Romina Carrillo Gutiérrez.
Noel Hefele
Noel Hefele is a landscape painter working in the eco-art tradition. He received his BFA from Carnegie Mellon and MA in Arts and Ecology from Dartington College of Arts. A 2021 City Artist Corps grantee, he is currently documenting the Tibbetts Brook daylighting project and Van Cortlandt Park's ecology. He co-taught 'Human Tracks in the Urban Landscape' at Brooklyn College and now is the volunteer coordinator at Van Cortlandt Park.
Mackenzie Heslin-Scott
Mackenzie “Mac” Heslin-Scott is a contemporary artist based in Lower New York. Holding a B.A. in Visual Arts and an M.A. in Public Marketing from Fordham University, she integrates photography, graphic design, and fine arts into her work, drawing inspiration from her British-Jamaican and Bronx Irish heritage.
Initially self-taught in realistic graphite drawing and painting, Mac refined her skills through formal training in photography before expanding into digital art and acrylic painting. Her work explores the interplay of light and composition, celebrating the strength and resilience of the human experience.
Today, Mac continues to evolve as an artist, using painting and illustration to express her shifting perspectives on life.
Shawn Hull
Shawn is a graduate of University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth’s Post Baccalaureate Artisanry Program, with a concentration in ceramics. Shawn’s sculptural work has been included in galleries and exhibitions including Mix Art Gallery, NY, -Corner’s Art Gallery, NY, -Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, NY, -University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art, MS, -Old Courthouse Arts Center- IL, and -Gallerium- Canada. Shawn ‘s functional ceramics have been featured in the New York Times, Grey Likes Weddings, and a collaboration with the Terrain Brand/stores- subsidiary of Anthropologie/URBN. Prior to working in clay and fine arts, Shawn Hull worked in theater as a director, actress, and educator. Shawn holds a MFA in Dramatic Art from UC Davis and has been the Artist in Residence at Delaware Theater Company, and an adjunct theater Professor at Cecil College, MD and Wesley College, DE.
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart
No Bio Submitted
CHRIS WATTS
Watts, a New York-based artist, delves into the language of the spiritual; exploring the power of and the relationship we have with the unseen.
Having lived in San Francisco for nearly a decade, Watts has carved his own lane, initiating and organizing multi-dimensional experiences outside the confines of traditional galleries. Driven by a desire to enhance our connection to the mystical, he has created an alphabet and number system inspired by hieroglyphs, to cultivate our intuitive awareness. Watts’ work invites viewers on a mystical journey, beyond the spoken word and into the realm of the unseen; using creation and intuition as a vehicle to experience total consciousness.