Anna Smist [Sac & Fox Nation (Deer Clan)/Seminole/Mvskoke] first began curating at age 20 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. She curated Misunderstood!: Indigenous Art & Poetics as Political Resistance consisting of 17 poems in vinyl and 46 works of art. The exhibition happened once curator Hadley Jerman and director Mark White decided to expand the show after Smist originally proposed a much smaller version in one of the permanent galleries. This experience early on left an impression on her of the importance for curators to encourage one another in this ever-elusive field which is why she is thrilled to be this year's Guest Curator and take part in MOMENTUM 2027 with the Emerging Curator, Spotlight Artists, and general survey artists. Since Misunderstood!, Smist has worked on several curatorial projects related to contemporary North American Indigenous art, was the MOMENTUM 2025 Emerging Curator alongside then Guest Curator Narciso Argüelles, and has written for First American Art Magazine and Art Focus. Smist is currently based in Oklahoma City where she is a Curatorial Assistant at First Americans Museum (FAM).

The Emerging Curator receives a $750 stipend for their work and both curators provide guidance and support for the Spotlight Artists throughout their projects and lead artist and curator talks throughout the weekend of MOMENTUM

Kayla Marie Anley is an Oklahoma artist whose work explores cycles of life, death, and ecological memory. Raised in mid-north America, she draws native animals and plants as both living beings and imagined remnants of a world shaped by time and colonization. Her darker, atmospheric imagery reflects grief, reverence, and a longing for the landscapes that came before us. Influenced by her art history background and studies of the American landscape, she uses recurring symbols such as stars, halos, and voided eyes to examine what has been lost and what remains.

Mack Brim is a figurative painter and muralist based in Oklahoma City, whose work explores the modern feminine experience. Inspired by the personal identities of women, her oil paintings explore the deep connections between personhood and object, often drawing from the experiences of the women in her life. Mack’s style is defined by soft, layered oil painting techniques that create an intimate resonance. Her pieces range from large-scale compositions to smaller, focused works. Mack studied painting at the University of Oklahoma. Her work has been exhibited in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City. Mack’s paintings are also held in private collections internationally.

Nayelly Morales Rojo is a Mexican-American visual artist based in Oklahoma City whose paintings explore the intersections of female embodiment, cultural memory, and identity. Drawing from her family’s roots in Hidalgo, México, she often builds layered compositions beginning with warm orange underpaintings and symbolic forms such as the maguey pulquero and nopal. Her work merges personal narrative with contemporary Mexican-American experience, honoring stories of migration and resilience. Rojo has exhibited across Oklahoma and beyond, including Perspectivas desde el otro lado at the Mexican Consulate, and is a grant recipient of Celebration Nation’s Indigenous Not Immigrant art contest. She has received multiple prestigious awards, and stipends, and continues to gain growing recognition within her community and beyond.