Spring 2024 Artists in Residence

May Hay Wan Shek

17 May – 19 Jun. 2024

May is the founder of Boundless Studio, a BIPOC women-owned multidisciplinary studio. May wears many hats as a designer, researcher, artist-bookmaker and educator with over 15 years of experience in designing better futures with and for communities and organizations. May tackle complex problems and ideas spans from democratizing STEM education with NASA to building a better safety net for unaccompanied immigrant children in the Bay Area with Stanford Impact Labs.

May creates through human-centered research to design artifacts, systems, and experiences with a community-driven and trauma-informed approach, always with the purpose of uncovering untold stories and building a more equitable and sustainable future. May believes that design and art is a way to build power and heal—using the power of storytelling to elevate unheard voices. Participatory design is key to May’s work, always designing new ways to connect with communities and audiences thought facilitated workshops and interactions. With a communications design background, May continues to explore storytelling in the form of bookmaking and printmaking—exploring new techniques and formats.

Advocating for diversity and gender equality is an integral part of May’s work. She is a mentor for the New Inc Incubator in the New Museum, part of the leadership team for Women In Innovation and founded The Take A Stand Project, a nonprofit collective of designers. May is currently an adjunct professor at Pratt Institute in the MFA communications design program, teaching design research with a social impact lens. May holds a master’s in branding from the School of Visual Arts. When she is not nerding out on equitable design, you will find her in the ocean surfing any waves she can hunt.


Sophia Sobers

17 May – 19 Jun. 2024

Sophia Sobers is an artist specializing in installations, sound, and site-specific work. She earned her MFA in Digital + Media from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2013 and a BS in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2011. Sobers's work has been shown nationally, including solo exhibitions in Boston, New York City, and Pittsburgh. She has created temporary public art installations for Cherry Blossoms in Winter in Newark, NJ, the I-195 Redevelopment Commission in Providence, RI, and Alloy Pittsburgh in Swissvale, PA. Sobers has performed both solo and collaborative sound performances at notable venues such as the Knockdown Center, the Rubin Museum, and Wallplay: On Canal. She is a recipient of the Puffin Foundation Grant in 2014 and the City Artist Corps Grant in 2021. Sobers is based in Brooklyn, NY and teaches at Pratt Institute.

In the Circle of the Sun is a new series of performance-structures and installations utilizing metal armature, sewn fabric, and multi-channel audio to create sculptural works which can be moved and changed during the course of a performance or exhibition.

Sophia Sobers, In the Circle of the Sun, 2023, Fabric, metal armature, speakers, embroidery, amp, dried flowers collected from my mother’s garden, speakers, Dimensions Variable

Sophia Sobers, In the Circle of the Sun (Detail), 2023, Fabric, metal armature, speakers, embroidery, amp, dried flowers collected from my mother’s garden, speakers, Dimensions Variable

Sophia Sobers, In the Circle of the Sun (Performance), 2023, Fabric, metal armature, speakers, embroidery, amp, dried flowers collected from my mother’s garden, speakers, Dimensions Variable

Constellations in Time is a series of three stained glass speakers, composed of one large speaker and two smaller speakers. The format and arrangement of the speakers is site-dependent. The angles of the speakers allows for sound to immerse the viewer in a field of sound.

The sound for this project is a collection of bird calls from Northwest New Jersey, granulated tones, and a looped synthesizer composition. The composition was created in reflection of the original exhibition the speakers were presented in.

Sophia Sobers, Constellations in Time, 2021, Stained Glass, Copper, Solder, Wire, Speaker, Amplifier, Soundscape, Field Recording, Dimensions Variable

KinoSaito Programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.