Nate Renner is a Memphis-based pop artist who finds inspiration in Southern rituals and commercialism. His work explores the repetitive traditions of the rural South—like the guy who throws beer cans in the same ditch every day after work—and how people prioritize vices over necessities. Growing up Church of Christ, Nate examines the connection between brands and memory, how families attach to specific products that stir up nostalgia. His recent solo show "Flowers Ain't Forever" at Ugly Art Co processed his divorce through black and white dying flower paintings, marking his first solo exhibition in seven years and representing a departure from his typical highly conceptual screenprinting work.

Dame Mufasa is a poet disguised as a hip-hop artist, "Trojan horsing poetry through gold teeth and hip hop.” His brain works in narrative connections, whether linear or abstract, creating entire universes from disparate thoughts before they become too big to execute. Dame's philosophy centers on art as sacred work—following in the footsteps of Tupac and James Baldwin—with every project carrying the weight of representation and the responsibility to prove hip hop is fine art. His recent album "Church in the Wild" emerged from a Crosstown Arts residency where life fell apart (lost job, lost someone close, car got smashed) but became fuel for the "fuck it, create" mentality. Dame admits to being a nerd with concepts rather than a traditionally skilled rapper, but turns limitations into strengths through high concept and intention, making do with minimal resources while creating maximum impact through storytelling and aesthetic vision.

Elle Perry is Memphis's go-to Arts & Culture editor at The Daily Memphian, a self-described generalist who can hit five art gallery openings in one night. Her love affair with the arts began in third grade when a speech therapy teacher took her to see The Nutcracker, then deepened in college when she discovered the broke student's paradise of gallery openings (free wine and cheese). Elle's nosiness-turned-superpower drives her journalism, giving her permission to ask deeper questions while building genuine connections with artists. She approaches art like a tactile kid who wants to touch everything, drawn especially to abstract works that mess with your head and make you turn sideways to look. This constant consumption of Memphis's vibrant arts scene—from the bold, bright colors she sees recurring in local work to ballet adaptations and underground galleries—directly feeds her creative writing projects, including a novel inspired by The Warmth of Other Suns and a comedy script about female relationships.