Dry Run by Sharifa Lafon and Maki Teshima
EXHIBITION RUN
June 15 - July 24, 2026
OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, June 18 2026, from 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm.
GALLERY HOURS
Monday through Friday, 11 am - 4 pm.
The Philip J. Steele Gallery is located on RMCAD’s campus at 1600 Pierce Street, Denver, CO 80214.
June 15 - July 24, 2026
Bio of maki teshima
Maki Teshima is a botanical dye textile artist from Japan, now based in Denver, Colorado. She explores the beauty of natural colors through her art works and workshops, inspiring communities to connect with nature.
She has shared her expertise through lectures and workshops in diverse settings from flower shops, compost sites, schools, and nonprofit organizations to established museums, spreading the world of natural colors.
With a background in textile surface design in Osaka and New York City, Maki has worked on everything from socks and baby onesies to men’s and women’s clothing. Throughout her career, she has been fascinated by how colors, patterns, and designs in textiles can quickly transform human emotions.
Notable projects include public art installation, Musubi // Connections (2023), supported by The INSITE Fund at Redline Contemporary Art Center; collaborations with the interdisciplinary dance company Holdtight (2024); and her solo exhibition Botanical Stories at Understudy (2024).
bio of Sharifa Lafon
Sharifa Lafon (she/her) is a curator and artist based in Denver. She works in experimental moving image, installation, and public programs. Her artistic practice is concerned with ecology and moving image as a spatial encounter, specifically the moments where the image breaks down, or reveals itself as an illusion. She is the director and curator of Night Lights Denver and the executive director of Denver Digerati, where she commissions and presents work by artists whose ideas she genuinely wants to see realized. Her curatorial approach is less about selection and more about co-production and building conditions for experimentation. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Critical Media Practices at the University of Colorado Boulder.
ABOUT THE PHILIP J. STEELE GALLERY
Named in honor of RMCAD’s founder, the Philip J. Steele Gallery features dynamic and innovative work from contemporary artists and designers, RMCAD alumni, current students, and faculty. Open to the public, these galleries serve as a place to foster critical discourse around art and design for the RMCAD and broader communities by presenting challenging, educational, and significant exhibitions and projects.