header image: A New Day Rises, Debbie Secan
Jane Cheek • Adam D. Cohen • Alexandre Emmanuel • Erin Ives • Jackie Sanders • Debbie Secan
Where We Work Now
June 4 - August 16, 2026
Where We Work Now is a group exhibition marking a transitional moment in the careers of North Carolina artists who previously held studio space at Artspace.
About the Exhibition
“Where We Work Now is a group exhibition marking a transitional moment in the careers of North Carolina artists who previously held studio space at Artspace. The exhibition honors work developed during their time here while recognizing that artistic practices continue to evolve across home studios, shared workspaces, temporary sites, and shifting conditions of access and support.
Rather than framing this transition as an ending, the exhibition understands it as continuation. These artists carry their practices forward beyond Artspace, navigating risk, instability, and the changing realities of where and how creative labor can happen today. The title reflects both a present condition and an ongoing question: where does the work happen now, and how do those conditions shape what is made?
At its core, Where We Work Now recognizes art as labor; work that requires time, space, care, and resources. Artists contribute meaningfully to the cultural and social fabric of the communities where we live, work, and gather, yet the systems supporting that labor often remain fragile and uncertain.
By bringing these artists together at this moment, the exhibition honors continuity, acknowledges transformation, and affirms artistic practice as essential, ongoing, and deeply connected to the communities it helps shape.”
-Jonh Blanco, Creative Director
Related Programming
- FRI June 5, 5-10pm // First Friday + Exhibition Opening (free)
About the Artists
JANE CHEEK is a Raleigh-based installation artist who creates immersive, large-scale works that blend sculpture, light, and audio elements to transform institutional and public spaces. Cheek was born in Winston-Salem, NC, and is an alum of North Carolina State University. Cheek’s most recent exhibits include Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Radford University Art Museum, and the AD Gallery at UNC Pembroke.
Her work is part of Raleigh’s municipal art collection, and she has had public art commissions with Chapel Hill Arts and Culture and Roswell Arts (Roswell, GA), as well as temporary activations for a number of festivals and institutions including North Carolina Museum of Art.
In addition to her studio practice, Cheek serves as Vice Chair on the Raleigh Arts Public Art and Design Board and is on the Executive Committee for the Raleigh Arts Commission, where she advocates for equitable access to the arts.
Studio Artist at Artspace: 2021-2026
ADAM D. COHEN is a visual artist who works primarily with the human figure. He received an MFA at the Savannah College of Art & Design and his work is held in private collections throughout the country and in Europe.
Studio Artist at Artspace: 2021-2026
ALEXANDRE EMMANUEL is a Brazilian artist born in Olinda, Pernambuco, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. He began painting at an early age and was already selling his artwork by thirteen. After earning a degree in Architecture and Urban Studies from the University of Pernambuco, he completed formal studies in painting at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Recife. His interest in merging architecture and visual arts inspired a series of murals for hotels, schools, resorts, and commercial spaces, receiving recognition from critics in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Emmanuel has presented solo exhibitions throughout twelve Brazilian states and internationally in England and the United States. His exhibitions include “Ambiguity,” “Seven Deadly Sins,” “Black & White,” “Bailarina En Mi Vida,” “Acgua,” and “Elements.” He lived in Boston for nearly fifteen years before relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina.
He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in Italy, Brazil, and the United States, including events associated with MAPS, the Brazilian Art Cooperative in New York City, the United Nations Brazilian Art Musician program, the 311 Gallery in Raleigh, and the Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. His work continues to explore abstraction, symbolism, architecture, movement, memory, and emotion.
Studio Artist at Artspace: 2020-2026
ERIN IVES has a background in photography and a BFA from Corcoran College of Art and Design. She combines multiple disciplines to create 3-dimensional collages. Her work revolves around portraits of women, nature, and woodworking, the latter being a predominantly male craft, but the work is soaked in a feminist perspective. She uses found materials, image transfers, paint, and organic materials to craft her artwork.
Erin is a practicing artist in Raleigh, NC, and an Artspace Artist. Erin has been teaching small-scale classes since 2024 in image transfers to share accessible techniques within the local arts community. She has been curating a local bar quarterly and recently co-curated a show with Local Artist, Allison Coleman at the Durham Art Guild called Ladies Auxiliary that showcased 20 female artists.
Studio Artist at Artspace: 2022-2026
JACKIE SANDERS is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based public artist whose work transforms once overlooked spaces into bold, immersive visual experiences. Rooted in abstract geometric design, her murals explore systems, movement, and the relationship between people and the built environment, often drawing inspiration from architecture, infrastructure, and patterns found in everyday life.
Jackie is an alumni of Virginia Tech and her mural portfolio includes projects with organizations such as the City of Raleigh, Town of Holly Springs, Town of Chapel Hill, Artsplosure, and Triangle ArtWorks as well as collaborations with schools, small businesses, and community initiatives throughout North Carolina. Across each project, Jackie aims to create visually striking, memorable landmarks that invite pause, spark curiosity, and strengthen the connection between people and place.
Studio Artist at Artspace: 2020-2026
DEBBIE SECAN fell in love with weaving at age sixteen as a student at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She has worked with woven structures ever since, as a handweaver, textile designer and visual artist. In her woven paintings, she uses the stretcher bars as a loom and weaves directly onto them, recycling fabric into a dimensional canvas that is the first layer of imagery. She completes the work with acrylic paint.
She has a Bachelors of Science in Textile Design from Shenkar College in Ramat Gan, Israel and a Masters of Art and Design from North Carolina State University. Recent exhibits include Hadas Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, Artfields, The North Carolina Museum of Art gift shop, The Jewish Cultural Center of Chattanooga, Pullen Arts Center in Raleigh, the Imperial Center of Rocky Mount and the Wilson Arts Center.
Studio Artist at Artspace: 2021-2026
Additional Artists
While their works on not part of this exhibition, we would also like to recognize the following artists leaving their Artspace studios this year:
A Puerto Rican abstract artist based in Raleigh, NC. After more than a decade in the investment services industry, she transitioned to working as a full-time artist. In her work, she uses acrylics and oils with cold wax to create paintings full of texture, raw energy, and intuitive marks.
An artist based in Raleigh, NC. While his primary focus is painting, he spent over two decades in New York City working as a Master Printmaker, collaborating with both emerging and established artists in some of the nation’s leading print studios. In 2025, he founded Multiplied Projects, a digital printmaking studio devoted to collaborative, experimental work across artistic disciplines.
With a plan to be an art teacher and then an artist, Jim was hired by IBM and the plan was put on hold. He retired from IBM as a Vice President in September 2014 and worked at Lenovo through January 2015. Through the years Jim painted as time allowed. Now retired, he is pursuing his lifelong dream of being an artist. Jim is an associate member of the American Impressionist Society, the Oil Painters of America, the Pastel Society of America, and an Elected associate member of the American Artists Professional League.
Isabel is an artist whose practice is grounded in experiences of the body, grappling with and resisting assignments of value, binary categorization, and diagnoses. Through painting, herbalism, zine making, and community engagement, Isabel draws upon Western and Eastern perspectives in both concept and form.
Richard Wilson is an internationally acclaimed fine artist. Wilson has works in numerous public and private art collections. Some of his notable collectors are the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Hank Aaron, Tina Knowles, Gladys Knight, Tom Joyner, Ed Gordon, Matt Kemp, Nicholas Castellanos, Cam Johnson, Judge James Andrew Wynn and many more.
Artspace Studios
Artspace houses 30 studios offered to visual artists at a subsidized rate, half of the average cost of commercial space in Downtown Raleigh. Studio artists enjoy 24-hour access to their studio, a cohort of fellow artists’ support, over 1000 visitors per month, and no commission on works sold in their studio.
In order to ensure these spaces remain accessible to a broad range of artists over time, a studio artist may renew their lease for up to a total of five years.
To learn more about Artspace’s studios, visit artspacenc.org/renting-a-studio/.
