TESTIMONIALS
From the 2025 Conference
Dear Mary,
Congratulations on this latest encounter! Our colleague Pablo Caligaris, who serves with me on the board of QUINCHO—the national residencies network we founded during the pandemic—was present and brought back wonderful impressions of the event.
At a moment when daring to resist division feels vital, it’s been truly inspiring to follow the thoughtful and beautifully curated Episodes you’ve been sharing. I especially loved Episode 7—what a joy to see so many familiar faces and compelling works brought together. . .
Warmest wishes from Buenos Aires, and looking forward to the next Episode and what’s ahead!
– Alicia Candiani, ‘ace Founding Director
“I have no words to thank you for this opportunity. . . .for your excellent treatment, for leading and coordinating a project with the rigor with which you have done it. For establishing an agile and horizontal communication with all involved and for the golden opportunity it has meant for me personally and for a cobert. We have been able to establish connections with many spaces and so many future projects will grow from this seed that has been transcultural. We will be happy to keep in touch, to meet again in Boston, Barcelona and wherever art takes us.”
– Victor Martinez Lafuente, Art Historian, Barcelona
“It was such an inspiring, powerful, and meaningful experience—truly one of a kind. Thank you, for making this incredible experience possible.”
– Makiko Onda, Program Director, ARCUS Project, Japan
“It was such a wonderful opportunity to connect with other residency programs and with artists. It was a privilege to present the Pecha Kucha among such a distinguished crowd, the panel discussions were fantastic, and I really enjoyed doing the studio visits on Saturday.”
– Jenny Carolin, Mudhouse Artist Residency, Crete
“Thanks for the opportunity to share STUPIN at the TCE conference. We received a lot of feedback and made many new friends. We look forward to working with them in the future.
This journey is very meaningful to us and has brought us more new ideas and plans. Thank you TCE for inspiring me to create STUPIN! After returning to Taiwan, I will share my experience at TCE with Taiwanese artists to create more dialogue and exchanges.”
– I-Chen Kuo, founder of STUPIN!
“The conference was excellent. Timely and inspiring.”
– Janeil Engelstad, Artist, Founding Director, Make Art with Purpose (MAP)
“I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for establishing such a fantastic environment for meaningful connections. I look forward to nurturing the relationships formed during the Transcultural Exchange International Conference, along with the incredible individuals and organizations I had the opportunity to connect with.”
– Faustin Adeniran, Artist
“I am honored to have participated and am inspired by the strength and resilience of the speakers. The overall experience provided insights into how I can be a more effective contributor to my community and better engage with our broader global one.”
– Joshua Goode, Artist
“What a phenomenal 4 days you dared to put together for those of us lucky enough to attend. I came away with a deep sense of humility. We have so many coping skills to learn from artists surviving in war-torn countries or living in exile. I learned from every panel and round table.”
– Ren Davidson Seward, Artist
“Finally, I’m getting a moment to sit down and get off a note to you with a huge thank you for including me in the amazing TCE conference! All the offerings were fascinating. It truly was a comprehensive event about global residency work.”
– Tracy Leavitt, Artist
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience. I learned so much from both peers and the guest speakers. The event was truly worth attending.”
– Angela Wong, Arts Administrator
“Thank you very much for your great commitment in organizing a conference that was filled with so much cultural and political value.”
– Klaus Krobath, Artist and Curator, Austria
“Big thanks to you and your team for organizing an incredible weekend of thoughtful dialogue and discussion. So great to bump into old colleagues and secure new friendships.”
– Jon Isherwood, Artist
“Thank you and to all of those who helped for this last weekend’s conference, It was a wonderful experience. It was my first time attending and I will certainly be attending in the future. I was able to meet a number of wonderful people, and I learned a lot. Thank you so much for your contribution to the global art community.
– John Sproul, Artist
“Thank you for putting together and hosting such a wonderful conference. It was my first time attending, and I was so encouraged as an artist. The connections, experience, and information was so valuable. Thank you again for all of your hard work and care put into this.”
– Casey Sperry, Artist
“I just wanted to extend a congratulations on another successful Transcultural Exchange and say thank you for the opportunity to be involved with such a wonderful event – I had a fantastic time both volunteering and attending. The roundtables I assisted with let me make connections with some really great members of the community and I feel I walked away having bonded with a lot of the other volunteers. . . Once again, I can’t thank you enough for this experience.”
– Abigail Worden, Arist and Volunteer
Thank you for another fantastic Transcultural Exchange Conference. The location, the people, the conversations were all incredible. . . Thank you again for allowing me to participate. It was an honor.
– Courtney Bethel, Admissions Director, MacDowell
I just really want to thank you so much for including me in the conference. It’s always a great experience participating in the transcultural exchange, and I was really surprised when I got to see Liyuan, the curator of my previous residency program. This was already my second time participating, and it was a really wonderful place to meet people and get to know a lot of new things.
– Leilei Xia, Conference Speaker
“Thank you for yet another inspiring and engaging conference. The Transcultural Exchange is a profoundly invaluable organization. One of the leading reasons is that everyone is so approachable, from the organizers, the speakers, presenters, reviewers, the volunteers and the participants. I have directly benefitted from an earlier conference by being included in an exhibition and Art Fair in Ulft, The Netherlands. This resulted from being introduced to a curator in attendance. I have also met and maintained relationships with artists from around the world. A truly enriching experience for me. A conference such as this could easily become commercialized. The beauty of Transcultural Exchange is in its authenticity.”
– Kimberlee Alemian
