THE SHOP

Denise Weaver Ross is a multi-disciplinary artist, illustrator, muralist, and poet whose work draws on mythology, nature, history, and cultural symbolism. Through intricate layering, she transforms diverse imagery into unified visual narratives. Her major series—House of Cards, Legendary Creatures, Art of the I Ching, and Postcards to America—reimagine familiar forms to uncover hidden stories and illuminate contemporary issues. Based in Albuquerque since 1996, Denise has created eight murals across the city, with a ninth currently in progress, and worked recently with middle school students in Harwood Art Center’s Youth Mural Program. Her work has appeared in national juried exhibitions, and she was selected to help design a sculpture for Albuquerque’s International District Park as part of the 2026 Route 66 Centennial. She holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is the author of five books combining her art and poetry.

Gael Luna (they/them) is a transgender immigrant artist and community organizer in New Mexico. Originally from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, they migrated to the U.S. at seven. For over a decade, Luna has worked with communities across New Mexico to expand education and healthcare access for immigrant families. Their activism fuels art that centers community stories, culture, and intersectional identities. Luna earned a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts from New Mexico Highlands University in 2014. As a Seabury Fellow, they developed Joteria Undocumented, a community-based art project exhibited in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. They have collaborated with community organizations locally and nationally. Through the UETF Artist Resiliency Residency and the Residency for Art & Social Justice at Harwood Art Center, Luna created Lucha Libre Trans Queer Art Espectacular, an immersive installation featuring custom luchador masks and capes that amplify the stories of trans and queer athletes.

Working as a traditional artist with watercolor and ink, Zahra creates work that reflects her cultural roots in Kuwait as well as her life now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She loves poetry and independent cinema and how quiet and mysterious the night is. She is deeply fond of the sea.

Her debut picture book, Where Butterflies Fill the Sky, was published by Bloomsbury Books and named one of the New York Times / New York Public Library’s 10 Best Illustrated Books as well as NPR’s Best Books of 2022. The week before receiving the Dilys Evans Founders Award from the Society of Illustrators, she was honored with an award by the UN Human Rights Commission for creating art that brings visibility to statelessness, indigenous groups, and minority rights.

Caitlin Carcerano (she/her) is a figurative, illustrative oil painter. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, she graduated from the University of New Mexico summa cum laude in 2017 wit a BFA in Art Studio, Painting and Drawing. Caitlin continues to live and work in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she maintains a studio at the Harwood Art Center. Her work has been show at 516 Arts, the Harwood Art Center, and AC2 Gallery in Albuquerque and published in Southwest Contemporary.