Artist in Residence
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Twin Cities Pride is committed to celebrating and uplifting LGBTQIA+ voices and talents within our community. We are excited to continue to grow our year-long Artist-in-Residence Program designed to empower and showcase LGBTQIA+ artists. This program aims to provide a platform for artists to express themselves, connect with the Pride community, and contribute to the vibrant culture of our annual Pride festival.
Meet the 2023/2024 Twin Cities Pride Artists-in-Residence
![Picture of artist Nell Tryst with the artist in residence badge in front of photo](https://tcpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1-1-1024x1024.png)
Tryst Trigger Artworks
Nell Tryst (Minneapolis, 1985) is a full time multidisciplinary painter and muralist. She is most known for her bold murals and use of anatomical hearts on the walls of galleries and alleyways of Minneapolis. She uses a combination of aerosol/acrylic paint for extreme color contrast and dynamic expression through texture.
Nell’s work combines fantasy, realism, brilliant color stories and human anatomy. She often uses the human heart to express herself in her work. Diagnosed at a young age with a rare heart disease, Nell has been studying the human heart and using her creativity to process her diagnosis since she was a child. For Nell, everything is art. You can find her traveling to paint large-scale mural works in the warmer months and deepening her craft indoors during the colder ones. She has been recently diving head first into sculpture alongside her canvas work, creating an interactive way to experience her work by encouraging to touch the pieces.
Nell has done work for Project Chimps, Lyn-Lake Business Association, Twin Cities Pride, The Sketchbook Project, and Art Basel.
She is often quoted in saying “The more afraid I am the more compelled I am.”
Wil Natzel | Ice Cycle
As a gay artist and creator I straddles the line between art and architecture. My diverse body of work integrates new technologies to create interventions that resuscitate contemporary spaces
and artifacts that have been scraped of all embellishment and meaning. Drawing from
architectural sources I explore the cultural frameworks and natural phenomena that shapes us. I create new environments and abstract objects that manipulate our perception and exposes the relativity of our unique experiences. My most recent works are in the form of animated architecture exploration devices. To discover more about my objects, light fixtures, and interiors,
please visit www.icecycle.com.
As a graduate from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the cradle of American Modernism, with a Master of Architecture I have designed and created private commissions and public projects for the City of Owatonna, City of Eagan, The Soap Factory, Northern Spark, and SooVAC. My architecture exploration devices have received back-to-back grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. My work has been featured in Wired, Design Milk, MN Original, and numerous design blogs. I have also served as a visiting architecture critic at the University of Michigan, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Minnesota, and Iowa State University.
![Picture of artist Sebastian Rothe with the artist in residence badge in front of photo](https://tcpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/3-1-1024x1024.png)
Sebastian Rothe
Hello! I am Sebastian Roth. I’m an 18 year old, Minnesota based artist who primarily works in digital mediums, such as illustration and animation.
My work typically is focused on portraying characters and their personalities and includes themes of genres such as horror and fantasy as well.
A lot of my pieces also incorporate LGBTQ+ themes as well, due to the fact that I am a trans man and identify as pansexual. Watching people interact with my art, I am happy to know that people can find themselves. I aspire to continue to develop my skills, I am a student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, with the goal of becoming a professional illustrator and animator.
Alicia De La Cruz | Waabooz Beading
Alicia De La Cruz is a native artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota and an enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
My work reflects the contemporary native art style and a touch of old style Ojibwe art with my own twist. Especially important to me in my work is the preservation of my culture, through both language and art.
I enjoy using beadwork, painting, mixed media, ink and marker in non traditional ways to showcase my own identity as a native artist and also as a woman of the 21st century. I love the intricacy of beadwork, which inspires me to connect with my ancestors through a beautiful traditional native art form. Color, medium and design are carefully considered in how they reflect me and my culture. It’s important for me to show the craftsmanship and vision I put into each piece from start, to end. In my eyes, it is the responsibility of each native generation to revive and renew the Native art form, and I’m here to do just that.
DeSean Hollie | ArtCrusher
ArtCrusher began painting for the first time in June 2020. What started as a hobby. Later became a passion. Currently, he’s going into his 3rd year as an artist today. What inspired him to get into painting in the first place. Was bringing artwork into life that spoke to him. “Skys the limit on imaginative ideas”, he says. It was also fun for him to discover what idea’s he was capable of creating.
As a hobby, ArtCrusher first taught himself how to paint abstract. Weeks later he became interested in Graffiti. After taking a deep dive into graffiti murals. He started to wonder what other painting styles he could learn. ArtCrusher spent each day for weeks learning how to paint forest landscapes. Until one day he became heavily interested in practicing portraits. Realizing they weren’t so hard. It became a dream of his to mix different painting styles into one concept idea. His goal today is to bring a bit of beauty back into his community. He believes his artwork has a positive influence on his community and hopes to encourage inspiring artists who want to create amazing things too.