Epic Uno
This session features artist Epic Uno. In 1996, Epic Uno moved to New York to attend Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute to further his creative practice in graffiti. As he maintained a strong focus in the design field mastering his craft, Street art and lettering continued to have a strong influence in his design and typographic approach. Today, Epic has worked professionally as a successful package designer, corporate identity specialist and illustrator. He has worked and collaborated with many companies including, Cannondale, Nickelodeon, Coach and Nike. With roots in the graffiti world and a background in design, Epic strikes a fine balance in creating clean yet memorable characters and art pieces with an urban edge. Above all, his greatest motivation is to continue to push himself, have fun and explore the boundaries of his creativity with every new piece.
Joe Fucigna
Fucigna has exhibited nationally including shows at the Fitchburg Art Museum in Massachusetts, Real Art Ways in Connecticut, National Weather Center Biennale in Oklahoma, the United Nations, Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in Connecticut, the New York State Museum in Albany, NY and the Burchfield Art Center in Buffalo NY. He has had one-person exhibitions at the Fred Giampietro Gallery, Sculpture Barn, Norwalk Community College Art Gallery, Artist Space New Haven and the Bannister Gallery at Rhode Island College. Fucigna was also a recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.
Fucigna is a full-time Professor of Art at Norwalk Community College and is the Chair of the Studio Arts Program. Fucigna has also taught in the Art Department at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Presently, he resides and works in Weston, CT.
Kenny Hess aka Yedi Fresh
A self-taught artist. From day one, Kenny Hess aka Yedi Fresh, has been creating. Whether it is illustration, painting, digital art, or mural work, he has allowed his creative nature to explode across canvases, notebooks, and even some walls around y'alls. To him, it is a nonstop vision. From an oversized yeti to some cool color therapy, there are always works in progress. Not a day goes by that Yedi can't be found with pencil, brush or can in hand. Always working, always improving. It is this very persistence, the one that keeps him up long hours into the night, that springs his creative worlds into reality.
Tyler Green
Tyler is a Connecticut based artist and the owner of Creative Genius LLC. He is an inventor of consumer gadgets and accessories. With an intuitive and innovative approach to the creative process, he uses his artistic ability and skills to work within a variety of industries requiring his expertise in SFX Makeup and Education. Tyler’s incredible and unique talents and achievements have been featured over the years in newspapers, magazines, and on radio and television.
Tyler was a finalist on SyFy's season six of Face Off, which is a competition/elimination series, where special effects make-up artists participate in elaborate challenges for a grand prize and the honor of being Hollywood's next great effects artist. He was also casted back to the show for season eleven's All Star series.
COA/NEA grant
The Developing Artist team will be conducting interviews with CT based artists in order to give young artists an understanding of different art practices and careers they might want to pursue. Accompanying art lessons will be provided in order to help aspiring artists improve on their art making and art thinking. Through our initiative, The Developing Artist Program has brought over 15 Connecticut based artists into CT public schools and afterschool programs to directly work with young aspiring artists. However, recent circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused us to teach remotely from home. In response, the COA/NEA grant has allowed us the opportunity to enhance our program by providing our learners with virtual artist interviews and workshops that they can do from home. We have also created a website that serves as a database for sharing, organizing and collaborating with the arts and educational community.
