Workshops
Malcolm Mobutu Smith is associate professor of ceramic art and director of graduate studies in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design at Indiana University-Bloomington. Smith’s undergraduate studies include both the Kansas City Art Institute and Penn State University where he earned his B.F.A. in Ceramics. He received his M.F.A. in Ceramics from the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1996. He is a member of National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. He is on the boards of Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts and The Marks Project. Smith’s professional activities include workshops, lecturers and residencies including visits to Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Peter’s Valley School of Craft and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts. His works are represented by the Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia and are in numerous private and public collections. Institutions with his work include at the Indiana State Museum, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, the Palmer Museum of Art, the Eskenazi Museum and Yingge Ceramics Museum of New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Smith’s works, guided by improvisations, merge volumetric form with graphic flatness. His studio interests include ceramics and drawing. His clay work, both wheel-thrown and hand-built forms are used to play with the intersections of graffiti art, the graphic conventions of comic books and playful organic abstraction.
Sarah Slappey (b. 1984, Columbia, South Carolina) is a painter based in Brooklyn, NY. Slappey received her MFA from Hunter College in 2016. She has had solo exhibitions at Maria Bernheim Gallery (Zurich, Switzerland) and Sargent’s Daughters (New York, NY). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Pace Gallery (Hong Kong, China); the Pond Society (Shanghai, China); the Columbus Museum of Art (Columbus, OH); ICA Miami (Miami, FL); Perrotin (Paris, France); Schlossmuseum (Linz, Austria); Marinaro (New York, NY); Musée D’Art Moderne et Contemporain (Geneva, Switzerland); Venus Over Manhattan (New York, NY); Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art (Suzhou, China); White Cube (Paris, France); Tick Tack (Antwerp, Belgium); The Pit (Los Angeles, CA); and Andrew Edlin Gallery (New York, NY).
Slappey’s work is included in the permanent collections of Hirshhorn Museum (Washington D.C), The Albertina Museum (Vienna, Austria), Pérez Art Museum (Miami, FL), Institute Contemporary Art (Miami, FL), Columbus Museum of Art (Columbus, OH), Musée D’Art Moderne et Contemporain (Geneva, Switzerland), Orange County Museum of Art (Costa Mesa, CA), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), The Pond Society (Shanghai, China), The Vanhaerents Art Collection (Brussels, Belgium), The Zabludowicz Collection (London, England), the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art (Suzhou, China).
Helen Lee is an artist, designer, and educator. She uses glass to explore language and diasporic identity. Lee holds an MFA in Glass from RISD and a BSAD in Architecture from MIT. Lee was a 2024 United States Artist Fellow in Craft. She is currently an Associate Professor and Head of Glass in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also founded and proudly serves as the Director of GEEX, the Glass Education Exchange.
Kimberly Thomas is a biracial interdisciplinary sculptor and flameworker. Her narrative works are sculptural illustrations of a re-imagined world, fabrications of obscure inventions, alternate realities, and speculative futures. Her stories describe a pilgrimage through time, space and dimensions. Drawing influence from concepts, questions and theories about human nature, Thomas’s works are a ground to explore the truth, be it flawed, darkly humorous or peculiar, yet they speak to the stark realities of human existence. They are a mechanism through which she challenges ingrained perspectives, questions the status quo, dismantles false perceptions, and confronts harsh circumstances.
Paolo Arao is a Filipino-American artist working with painting, textiles and site-responsive installations. He received his B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Recent solo exhibitions include: David B. Smith Gallery (Denver, CO), The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE), The Columbus Museum (Georgia), Morgan Lehman Gallery (NYS), and Western Exhibitions (Chicago).
He has participated in residencies at: Monson Arts, MacDowell, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Art Omi, Bemis Center, The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Millay Arts, Studios at MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, NARS Foundation, Wassaic Project, and the Fire Island Artist Residency. Arao has taught workshops at Penland School of Craft, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC). His work has been published in New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, ArtMaze, Dovetail and Esopus. Paolo Arao is a 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Painting from The New York Foundation for the Arts and a 2023-2024 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grantee. He lives and works in New York.
Leslie Smith III is an abstract painter. His recent works explore the inherent personal and political properties of abstraction as they pertain to expanding notions of Black representation. Smith earned a B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Art. He exhibits both nationally and internationally, and his work is included in the permanent collections of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the FRAC Auvergne in France, among others. Smith is a Professor of Art and Chair of the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Join Us!
Attend NIFA Region III SAFECON
October 19th-24th, 2025
This competition will be held at the Kent State University Airport (1G3).
4020 Kent Rd, Stow, OH 44224
Arrival and Safety Briefing Packet
Teams
Welcome to SAFECON 2025! We look forward to a fun, safe week of spirited competition, educational conference, and professional networking. Use the links below to come prepared and showcase your hard earned skills.
Judges
NIFA is run by a dedicated group of generous volunteers. Now is your chance to give back to the next generation. New to NIFA? We look forward to showing you the ropes! Been around before? Welcome back and THANK YOU!
Visitors
Family and friends are invited to join us for the NIFA SAFECON Region III Closing Banquet on Friday, October 24th, 2025, from 5:00–8:00 PM at the Kent State College of Aeronautics and Engineering (1400 Lefton Esplanade Kent, Ohio 44224). Additional tickets for guests must be purchased by Monday, October 20th at 5:00 PM.
Contact
For additional questions and information, please reach out to Tim Palcho tpalcho@kent.edu | 330-672-1937
May 15-16, 2025 | Crawford Hall
The Meonske Conference is held in Kent, Ohio, at Crawford Hall on Kent State University’s main campus—home to the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Named in honor of its founder, Professor Emeritus Norman Meonske, the conference has earned a strong reputation for delivering high-caliber content and welcoming hospitality. Designed for accounting and finance professionals, the event offers a total of 16 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit. Attendees have the option to register for one or both days of the conference. These sessions cover an extensive list of topics including: Accounting, auditing, reporting, financial planning and analysis, leadership, management, tax, technology and more. Registration is required to attend.
May 15-16, 2025 | Crawford Hall
The Meonske Conference is held in Kent, Ohio, at Crawford Hall on Kent State University’s main campus—home to the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Named in honor of its founder, Professor Emeritus Norman Meonske, the conference has earned a strong reputation for delivering high-caliber content and welcoming hospitality. Designed for accounting and finance professionals, the event offers a total of 16 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit. Attendees have the option to register for one or both days of the conference. These sessions cover an extensive list of topics including: Accounting, auditing, reporting, financial planning and analysis, leadership, management, tax, technology and more. Registration is required to attend.
KSU Brandenburg Strings Camp is a 4-day event for High School String and College string players. Students will learn string arrangements of several of JS Bach's Brandenburg Concerti, receive coaching and instruction from Kent Violin Instructor Amy Glick, and present a concert on the last day of the camp. This camp is a great way to increase facility on your instrument, learn chamber music skills, tackle Baroque style, and have a great time making music in a small group!
Schedule:
July 7-10, 2025 from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. each day.
There will be a public concert at 11 a.m. on Thurs., July 10
Cost: $145
