Artist Portfolio Reviews

Shfitworks is hosting a portfolio review session to give artists the chance to receive feedback on their work from national and local artists, curators, and arts administrators. Artists can reserve 25-minute time slots with a reviewer of their choice over Zoom.

Portfolio reviewers for the evening are David Bernabo (Pittsburgh, PA), Max Gonzales (Pittsburgh, PA), and Katherine Miranda (Bronx, NY).

Participants can register for up to TWO review time slots. Registration will close on Thursday, October 3, 2024. Registrants are REQUIRED to submit a link to their portfolios or website at registration. Please choose your time slot(s) carefully; we cannot accommodate requested schedule changes. Please arrive at your session on time. Reviewers cannot extend your session if you sign in late.

Cancellations and Refunds

Cancellations and no shows will not be refunded.

About the Reviewers

David Bernabo

David Bernabo is a musician, artist, and independent filmmaker. He currently plays in the bands Watererer, How Things Are Made, and Else Collective. His film work documents studio practices of composers and artists, western Pennsylvania food systems, and histories of iconic arts institutions like the Mattress Factory. He is most noted for Moundsville, a documentary co-directed with former Wall Street Journal writer John W. Miller, which screened on PBS for three years, and the biographical documentary Just For The Record about avant-garde composer “Blue” Gene Tyranny. He has exhibited 2D, video, and installation art at SPACE, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Miller ICA, and 707 Penn, and he co-founded and co-curated the Lightlab Performance Series (2013-2019) with taylor knight and anna thompson of slowdanger.

Max Gonzales

Max Emiliano Gonzales, also known by their artist name “GEMS”, can be classified as an activist, art educator, muralist, graffiti writer, curator, and much more. Originally from the Southwest side of Chicago and raised in Latino communities, Max brings a unique perspective to Pittsburgh and their Garfield community.

Max was brought to Pittsburgh in 2012 to attend Carnegie Mellon University’s Fine Art program on a full-ride Scholarship. By 2016 Max had graduated with honors, secured multiple positions with the University, and was arrested as Pittsburgh’s most wanted graffiti artist. Rather than let the notoriety of their graffiti identity dwindle, Max has gone on to develop a career from it as a practicing artist, muralist, curator, and art educator.
Max has presented as a guest artist, lectured, and run workshops at locations including The University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Winchester Thurston High School, Pittsburgh CAPA, Propel Schools, The Carnegie Libraries, Youth Places, Assemble Pgh, and The Environmental Charter School. Max is also a member of Hemispheric Conversations Urban Art Project, the Uptown Arts Council, and the Maxo Vanka Educational Programming Committee.

Lately, Max has become most well known for their spray paint Murals and community-driven Mural events. As a full-time muralist, Max wishes to use their identity and vast knowledge of the arts to serve the public and brighten the walls of any community they may be invited into.

Katherine Miranda

Katherine Miranda (they/he) is a Latinx non-binary multidisciplinary artist. Interested in the innate way familial and communal stories are connected to ancestral lineages; Miranda’s artistic practice is one that is deeply rooted in the idea that our histories hold both value and power. Using discarded objects, most notably Café Bustelo, they create work that acts as an homage to their family, community and ancestry.

Miranda has been awarded several residences and fellowships including the Governors Island Residency with BronxArtSpace (2023), the Create Change Fellowship with The Laundromat Project (2023), the Artist in the Marketplace Fellowship with the Bronx Museum (2022) and the New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship with Wave Hill (2021). They received their BFA from Macaulay Honors at Brooklyn College.

Registration

Registration is $15 per review; limit two reviews per person.

This registration link will redirect you to Eventbrite where you will complete your registration.