2023 Members of the Jury

Austin Pratt is an artist, educator, and curator based in Reno, Nevada. He received an MFA in Painting+Drawing from the University of Tennessee and a BFA in Painting with a Minor in Museum Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. Pratt was a recipient of the Nevada Arts Council Visual Artist Fellowship and has been featured in New American Paintings magazine. His work has been shown widely, including Baitball Art Fair in Italy and solo exhibitions at Oats Park Art Center in Fallon, Nevada, and at Channel to Channel Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee, among others. Pratt is currently the Curator and Manager of Sheppard Contemporary & University Galleries at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a faculty member in the MFA program in Interdisciplinary Arts. He splits his time between programming exhibitions and teaching courses in Painting, Drawing, and Contemporary Theory and Practice.

Frances Melhop is a visual artist, curator and gallery director, born in Christchurch, New Zealand, living and working at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Melhop works in tactile mediums such as photography, printmaking, hand embroidery, sculpture and oil paint exploring the tensions between the virtual and physical ways we experience the world. Her focus is on human presence and absence in our screen and material lives. She has exhibited collaborative works with Susan Norrie at Nancy Hoffman Gallery (New York, NY) and the NSW Museum of Art, (Sydney, Australia). Awards include, University of Nevada, Reno, Outstanding Artist Award, 2019, NNDA Innovator of the Year 2014, Luerzers Archive World’s Best Photographers 2009/2010. In 2020 as a curator and artist, she opened Melhop Gallery °7077, at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, representing 12 national and international artists. She also curates themed group shows with other invited exceptional artists. For the last 6 years she also taught in the art departments of University of Nevada, Reno, Western Nevada College, Truckee Meadows Community College and Lake Tahoe Community College.

Megan Berner is a visual artist and arts professional living and working in Reno, NV. Coming from a multi-disciplinary and non-traditional art background, Megan is interested in innovative ways to activate public space and create opportunities for citizens and artists to engage with the community and connect people to their environment. Her personal practice is centered around place and the psychological experience of the environment. Megan holds an MFA from the University of Iowa in Intermedia. She currently works as the Arts & Culture Manager for the City of Reno. 

Nettie is a partner with Foothill Partners Urban Development in the position of Arts and Culture Director. She collaborates in all the company’s projects to incorporate culture and commerce to build and sustain community.

A graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts and former dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, Nettie served 10 years on the City of Reno Arts & Culture Commission and chaired the City’s Public Art Committee and Arts & Culture Grants Panel. She co-chairs the regional Reno Arts Consortium and serves as board president of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts.

Parker Stremmel is the Director of Stremmel Gallery, a Reno-based fine art gallery that specializes in contemporary paintings, drawings, and sculptures by mid-career and established American and European artists. Stremmel serves on the board of directors for the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum, The Barracuda Championship/ Reno-Tahoe Open Foundation, the John and Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art at UNR, and the Prospectors’ Club. Additionally, Parker is part of the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, which specializes in the finest classical Western and American Art, representing past masters and outstanding contemporary artists.