On 6/12/26, I had the privilege of presenting opening remarks for the launch of the Welcome Home artist platform.
Below are those words:
Welcome Home Artists Platform
Created by Chris Agnese of Inhapi Studio and Ozlem Yeni of the Main Gallery
A bridge between continents, countries, counties, and communities
The feeling of displacement can happen at the macro or micro level, and these amazing artists have crafted this moment in time and space to create an environment not just of welcome but of true belonging!
I do not take lightly the honor and responsibility to introduce another artist’s vision. I hope to do justice to the vision that Chris and Ozlem have brought into this room.
Welcome Home began with a simple question:
How do we create spaces for artists and communities to feel more connected in a time when so many people feel isolated?
At its heart, Welcome Home is an international artists platform about memory, migration, belonging, transformation, and cultural identity.
But it is not only about where we come from. It is about what it means to change, to lose, to begin again, and again, and again, and sometimes (for some of us) even again, and to search for connection.
Welcome Home creates spaces where artists and audiences can meet in a more human way. Where art is not only observed, but experienced together.
Tonight is the first step in a larger vision.
And by being here, each of you has become part of the work itself.
So how did I get to this house party?
I founded The Funding Studio to support the work of regional artists so that the stories, experiences, and visions that shape our communities do not go untold.
The first spark of The Funding Studio started during my final year of art school at Central Saint Martins in London. During that time, I attended an optional lecture, one rainy Saturday afternoon, called Life in a Garret.
The one takeaway from that class was that I understood grants existed and I should apply for them.
Well then, life happened, I graduated, got married, moved back to America, was widowed at 29, found fundraising, which saved my life, and then went to business school ( you know, so I could buy food and things).
That lecture always suck with me because a single class on living as an artist was not nearly enough information.
I understand in a very real way that artists are not given the business training they need to survive as working artists, and because of that, we are losing our artists and our regional stories.
I founded The Funding Studio so that the stories, craft, and artistry of regional artists do not go untold due to a lack of access to funding and business infrastructure.
I often talk about cultivating philanthropy as making patrons feel seen, invited in, and truly welcome.
It is taking care of people and helping them feel at ease.
Which is why I think this platform resonates so deeply with me.
In this time and place of digital disconnectedness. Tonight, we have this amazing opportunity to be at the beginning of a movement that asks us to pause and simply appreciate the art of how all of our lives touch one another.
This exhibition and platform asks us to consider: what if “home” isn’t a place, but a feeling of connection shaped through memory, story, and a true feeling of belonging.
Belonging to me is the rare experience of being able to let your guard down.
It is the feeling of removing our armor and finding ourselves at ease, safe, and seen.
Not every space offers this kind of refuge, which is why this time, space, and place tonight with YOU is so powerful.
The artists with us tonight originate from and identify with many regions of the world.
Their stories and creative practices carry us across borders, memories, languages, and landscapes.
We are joined by installation artist Ozlem Yeni, originally from Turkey, whose works are deeply connected to Australia.
Filmmaker Chris Agnese, sharing her Portuguese and Brazilian stories with us.
Kristin Miologos, whose performance art will transport us to her memories of Greece
And
Cecilia Carvahal reminds us that Brazil is not simply an image but a sensation.
And tonight, Phoenix, whose very name symbolizes being rebirthed in the fire, becomes that place for all of us to be welcomed home.
And I think Phoenix is exactly the right place for this work to begin.
Phoenix is a city of movement, migration, and reinvention.
Audience Poll:
How many of you were born here in Arizona?
How many of you arrived from somewhere else and had to build a new home?
It is not always by choice that we find ourselves in a new place.
People arrive here from many different places, cultures, and chapters of life.
As Ozlem and Chris shared with me:
Belonging does not happen automatically. Even surrounded by people, one can still feel isolated.
Modern life separates us in so many ways, and even the desert itself can remind us of distance, solitude, and the need for refuge.
That is why art and connection matter so deeply here.
I believe art transcends time, space, and place. A single image can transport us back in time to the Italian Renaissance.
A song can conjure up long-lost memories or allow us to embody the experiences of someone we have never met.
We don’t have to understand the words of another language to be able to feel their meaning.
A performance can invite us into another person’s lived experience, giving shape to feelings we may not have words for.
Art creates another kind of space. A space outside of routine, outside of work, outside of social division.
It gives us room to listen to be vulnerable, to recognize ourselves in one another, and to feel less alone.
I often say that I did not consciously choose Phoenix; Phoenix chose me.
Well, what I REALLY say is that I was drafted here by ASU, but that is a story for another time and place.
But I am so very glad I landed here in this beautiful painted desert.
Having made my home here. I get to participate in truly meaningful work. I get to be a part of shaping the culture and life of this region.
I am one of those people who can’t answer the simple question: “Where are you from?”
I moved around so much growing up as a child, I never had the opportunity to put down roots or be able to say I feel that who I am represents any of the places I have lived.
I felt that void so deeply growing up that my mom got me a bear that says, “Home is where your mom is”.
For some of us, “home” is not a physical place but a connection we have to the people who surround us.
To me, this exhibition and platform represent the people who understand that a sense of “home” is something that we craft, create, and carry with us.
In closing, I invite you to be truly present with us tonight.
The platform will continue. The work will continue. The conversations and connections that began here may carry forward across communities, countries, and continents.
But this exact experience, this gathering of people, artists, stories, and energy, will never happen in quite the same way again.
My humble ask of you tonight is to slow down. Move through the space with curiosity. Spend time with the work, the artists, and each other.
And as you do, I hope you will also take a moment to reflect on your own sense of home: where you have found it, where you have longed for it, and where you may be called to help create it for others.
Thank you for being here, for showing up for these artists, and thank you for helping make this room a place of connection, memory, and belonging.
Before you leave… There is a box in the corner of the room. Only after you have experienced the work, the artists would like to invite you to leave behind a single word that emerged from your journey here tonight. Your experience is now a permanent piece of the exhibition and launch of the Welcome Home platform.
And with that… I welcome you home.
