Kirk Maynard // Alexandra Thomas // Addressing Institutionalized Discrimination Through Art Practice

Kirk Maynard is a mixed media artist born in Brooklyn, New York in 1993. He received his BS in Visual Arts Education from Andrews University in 2014 and is currently an MFA student at New Jersey City University. A second generation Guyanese-American, Maynard's work focuses on the political undercurrents of culture and identity in America. Alexandra M. Thomas is a PhD student at Yale for History of Art and African American Studies with a certificate in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Her current research interests include global modern and contemporary art, Black atlantic visual culture, African art, queer theory, performance studies, and Black feminist thought.