Wednesday, May 28: Rick and Lesley Chapman

For over 30 years, Rick and Lesley Chapman have been creating art at the intersection of photography and site-specific dance installations. Their life-long collaboration is an evolving exploration of ways to capture the fleeting essence of dance in a still photograph. The resulting images transcend traditional dance documentation, offering a window into a unique dialogue between human and nature. 

On May 28, the husband and wife team will share a collection of photos from their decades of work together, offering insights into how capturing a still image can be shaped by movement—and how movement itself can be reimagined through the photographic eye. This presentation will delve into the ongoing dialogue between the dancer, the photographer and the environment, where each influences and responds to the other in a bold and fluid exchange. 

Wednesday, July 23: MT Vallarta

"Toward a Mad Filipinx Poetics" will explore the incisive potentialities of Filipinx poetry, where "madness" is approached not only as mental illness, but as the subversive, transgressive, and imaginative techniques Filipinx artists use to survive, thrive, and critique dominant power structures. This talk will examine why poetry is essential to resistance movements, and how "madness" becomes an invitation to engage with the unruly, disorderly, and the unthinkable—to dream new worlds and modes of social organization where racism, imperialism, homophobia, and transphobia are dismantled. Through a reading, discussion, and writing exercise, we will be invited to think and write madly together!

MT Vallarta (they/them) is a poet and Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They are the author of the poetry collection, What You Refuse to Remember, winner of the 2022 Small Harbor Publishing Laureate Prize. They have received fellowships from Lambda Literary, Kundíman, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, Abode Press, and Roots. Wounds. Words. Their poetry, creative non-fiction, and academic articles can be found in Amerasia Journal, The Asian American Literary Review, The Selkie, Shō, Nat. Brut, Apogee, and others. They are hard at work on a research monograph titled Dismantle Me: Queer, Mad, and Anti-Imperialist Filipinx Poetry that investigates the radical tradition of Filipinx poetry written by queer, trans, mad, and disabled artists. They live on Northern Chumash Lands, in CA’s Central Coast.

Wednesday, September 17: Robin Smith

Robin Smith has used film to tell stories for more than 30 years. She is the producer, director, cinematographer and editor on her films. Robin also has an EMMY award and a few other accolades.

Robin also enjoys getting her hands messy with many types of art projects. The Monday Club and the Women Who Built It features her pen and ink drawings. In the summer of 2025 she created props for Wine Country Theatre’s presentation of Little Shop of Horrors at the Templeton Performing Arts Center. She is also busy creating a life-size sculpture called The Hitchhiker for the Cambria Scarecrow Festival in October.

Wednesday, November 19: Charlie Rugg

Charlie Rugg, a conceptual artist based in San Luis Obispo, California, specializes in abstract and figurative oil painting. His work explores the collective nature of human experience, emphasizing the interplay between shifting perspectives and the creation of new meaning. In his 2023, "And also" exhibition at SLOMA, Rugg celebrates our instinct to construct existence through narrative, highlighting the ambiguity that emerges when stories intersect, both in figurative and abstract contexts. Originally from Boston, Rugg's first career in professional soccer took him to California, where he played for the LA Galaxy followed by two clubs in Germany. Maintaining parallel passion for art, throughout his soccer career, Rugg transitioned to a focus on oil painting upon retiring from soccer.