Stories that connect art and discovery

Mikey Foster Estes is an artist and writer working across the disciplines of film/video, installation, photography, sculpture, and sound. Estes’s artistic practice considers how personal narratives intersect with broader cultural and technological structures; a self-portrait as mediated through images, objects, and systems. His work has been presented in exhibitions at venues such as Eye Lounge, Microscope Gallery, Project Art Distribution (P.A.D), and Tempe Center for the Arts, among others. In 2023, his debut 16mm film was an official selection at the Bogotá Experimental Film Festival (Colombia) and Kinoskop Analog Experimental Film Festival (Serbia). His work has garnered recognition in publications such as Hyperallergic, Phoenix New Times, and The Arizona Republic. His writing has also been published in Java Magazine, Phoenix New Times, and Tongue, Taste, Appetite. Estes received an MFA in Studio Art from Hunter College, City University of New York, and a BFA in Sculpture from Arizona State University. He lives and works in Tempe, AZ where he teaches at Arizona State University.

Monica Aissa Martinez was born in El Paso, Texas and earned a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Texas at El Paso and Masters in Fine Arts from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. She has kept an ongoing artist blog for more than ten years and exhibited extensively in museums and galleries, including including Nothing in Stasis (solo) at Tucson Museum of Art, Nothing in Stasis (solo) at Mesa Contemporary Arts, Nothing In Stasis at University of Arizona Medical School (solo); Draw, the art of curiosity and innovation at Tempe Center for the Arts (Artist-in-Residence); Between Earth and Sky: Contemporary Art from the American Southwest in China and at the ASU Museum; Drawing with Everything, Art at the Cellular Level, and Beyond Boundaries, Map in Art, all at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Museum; AZ Biennial at Tucson Museum of Art, Connections to the Natural World at LA Artcore Brewery Annex; and notably State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now at Crystal Bridges Museum.

Nicole L. Olson is a choreographer and performer based in Arizona, where she has worked with Phoenix Opera, Liliana Gomez, Diane Hunt, Dulce Dance, Center Dance Ensemble, and Scorpius Dance Theatre. She currently serves as Artistic Director of NicoleOlson | MovementChaos. Her work has been presented nationally at venues including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Ruth Page Performing Arts in Chicago, and the TBA Festival in Portland. Olson has created choreography for The Phoenix Theatre Company's productions of Evita and Once, and for Stray Cat Theatre's Heathers and Silence! The Musical. Olson specializes in creating work for alternative performance spaces, with presentations at Phoenix Art Museum, SMOCA, and the internationally award-winning Canal Convergence from 2018 to 2022, presented by Scottsdale Public Art. She received the Phoenix Mayor's Arts Award and was selected as Phoenix New Times' Best Dancer in their annual Best of Phoenix in 2016. Phoenix New Times recognized her in their Best of 2018 for her collaboration with artist Patricia Sannit.

Dr. Oaklee Rogers is the associate dean for the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University. Throughout her career, Dr. Rogers has successfully published in peer-reviewed journals, obtained grant funding, and presented at state, national, and international conferences. Her research interests focus on designing and implementing OT programs for individuals with substance use disorders and best practices for clinical education.

Art evokes inspiration, creativity, problem solving, connection, different methods of communication and empathy. All of these are vital tools for the researchers, faculty, staff and students working and learning on the Phoenix Bioscience Core every day. As we continue to evolve our understanding of the world through science, the PBC is committed to continuously finding ways to integrate Phoenix’s art and culture so we can continue to foster meaningful relationships with our community and develop a develop a deeper level of understanding for all.

Pamela Rogers Bosch, PT, DPT, PhD, is a Professor at Northern Arizona University. She holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology from Arizona State University. Her research focuses on adult neurorehabilitation after stroke, with particular attention to improving physical function, supporting community reintegration, and reducing the risk of subsequent stroke.