2025 IMAGES Judges
Nicole M. Crawford
Director & Chief Curator
University of Wyoming Art Museum
Nicole M. Crawford joined the University of Wyoming Art Museum in 2009 as the new Curator of Collections and is currently Director and Chief Curator. Formerly the Vice President of Gallery Operations and Director at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, she conducted research and worked with numerous collectors during her eight years with the gallery.
Previously she was the curatorial assistant at the Sheldon Museum of Art on the University of Nebraska campus and completed the academic internship program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her international projects include extensive work with cultural reconciliation through the display of objects and contemporary art in post-colonial/post-conflict societies. Crawford has a dual MA in Art History and Museum Studies and a BA in Art History from the University of Nebraska, a certificate in Arts Management from the UCI Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California-Irving, and a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion in Leadership from Cornell University.
She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Art. Her current research is focused on the indispensable role cultural objects play in shaping the interconnectedness and shared existence of individuals, underscoring the communal nature of human beings and the profound influence of others on one’s experiences. She is co-director of the Stealing Culture Project, which delves into the criminal, ethical, and cultural implications associated with the acquisition, possession, return, and display of ethnographic objects.
Dan Gunderson
Retired Professor of Art
Stetson University
A biography from Dan Gunderson’s website.
“I’ve always been a collector of well-designed unique objects: old toys, American Indian crafts, ceramics, and in recent years pop culture images such as cartoon characters and super heroes. The later objects have led me to understand our present civilization, and even past history, through products made in a particular era. All of us have a mental warehouse of memories. My desire is to trigger memories from that warehouse upon seeing an object or character remembered from one’s past (Sponge Bob, Shrek, Superman, for instance, icons representative of eras either recent or long ago).
I’m an obsessive visual learner. I love to collect that which appeals to me and then use those objects to construct symbols. When making choices about pieces to incorporate in my work, I’m particular about color, scale, subject matter, and condition.
I am always experimenting. My most recent materials challenge me in learning to use new tools and processes of working with mediums I have not previously explored. In the past, clay was a predominant medium for me, but over the years I have incorporated metal, wood, granite, and plastic. Lately, I’ve used toys as “building blocks,” assembling them into simple recognizable symbols. An example is the piece “Electric” from my Toys Are Us series.
Threads that reoccur consistently throughout my work are symmetry, humor, optical kinetics, and simplicity of form and color. A viewer traveling around the pieces will see something different from every angle.
The ultimate goal of my art, as a visual performance, is to share my celebration of life with others.”
To learn more about Dan Gunderson, view his resume online.
