Stories that connect art and discovery

Matthew Baral is a full-time artist focusing on large public installations in wood, utilizing fractal geometry in my design approach. The science behind human affinity for natural patterns informs my work. He strives to identify these configurations that originate in the natural world and present new interpretations of them.

May-ling is a metal fabricator and sculpture artist. She is deeply drawn to time and the cycles of life. Not only how birth, life, death, and decay transpires through plants and bodies but also through objects like metal and concrete. Fascinated by how the beauty of time is shown through rust, the crumbling of walls, and the deterioration of bodies. She uses this inspiration to create dark surreal dream of texture and color through sculpture. Dedicated to reusing and repurposing, she uses found objects and materials. Combining those items with mixed mediums to emulate the colors and textures she is drawn to in nature. Using a number of materials, metal, clay, plaster, paper, wax, plants, concrete, and acid to express through sculpture the magic and dreams she feels through the cycles of life and death.

Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz grew up in rural Arizona and is a first-generation college graduate. She joined University of Arizona, College of Medicine-Phoenix in 2009 and is a tenured Professor in the Departments of Basic Medical Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has been recognized by numerous awards. Her translational research program is focused on understanding the microbiome and host-microbe interactions in the female reproductive tract as it relates to cancer, reproductive, women＊s health outcomes and health disparities. Dr. Herbst-Kralovetz enjoys interacting with the media to disseminate research findings and promote awareness and topics related to women＊s health to the public.

Michael Marlowe is a studio artist, art director and production designer working in the film and television industry. Marlowe’s large-scale painting process takes an abstract approach to imagery that is rooted in figurative representation. His works examine and vibrantly animate aspects of the human figure from the inside out. Interested in various modes of self exploration, he visually abstracts and reshapes his subject in a pursuit to visualize the human form as something expanded, exploded, and restructured. “It’s the aspects of self we don’t show, the aspects of self we very possibly don’t know that make us tick. This visual deconstruction, this opening up, is in order to see around the parts we know, to discover the parts we don’t.”

Following graduation from Baylor College of Medicine, Michael Murray, MD, PhD, completed residencies and fellowships in internal medicine, anesthesiology, and critical care medicine at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. After a 20+ year career at the Mayo Clinic as a cardiac anesthesiologist, intensivist, and researcher, Dr. Murray joined the newly established advanced heart failure and mechanical circulatory support program in 2019 at Banner-University Medicine Heart Institute in Phoenix, where he is Director of ICU Integration and Director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.

Organizer, educator and facilitator with 8+ years of experience advancing community-centered initiatives and culturally relevant training. Skilled at guiding groups through engaging workshops, coordinating leadership programs, and building strong networks among local communities, nonprofits, public entities, and local partners. Recognized for facilitation expertise, event curation, and strategic program coordination to empower participating community members and cultivate lasting impacts.