PHOTOVOX June 2025

Gallery Ready: How to Approach, Impress, and Exhibit

SPEAKERS | Brandy Coons, Mike McClung, and Hayley Schneider

WHEN | Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 6:30pm (Doors open at 6:00pm)

WHERE | CPAC Gallery, 1200 Lincoln Street, Suite 111, Denver, CO, 80203 

COST | Free for CPAC members; $10 for non-members

ABOUT | Exhibiting your work is a vital part of an artist’s career—but navigating how to get your art into galleries and other spaces can feel overwhelming. Who do you talk to? How do you get noticed? What are galleries really looking for?

For June’s PhotoVox, join us at the CPAC Gallery for a candid conversation with Brandy Coons (Program Manager at Art Gym), Mike McClung (Michael Warren Contemporary), and Hayley Schneider (SeeSaw Art Gallery). Moderated by CPAC Executive Director & Curator Samantha Johnston, this panel will offer practical advice and insights into the exhibition process with local spaces.

Discussion topics include:

• The most effective ways to approach galleries, consultants, and arts organizations
• What gallerists consider when selecting artists for exhibitions
• How to build authentic relationships within the art community

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to expand your reach, this is a valuable opportunity to learn how to get your work seen—and remembered.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Brandy Coons has worked as a freelance photographer, graphic designer, arts administrator, waitress, bartender, and shopgirl. Currently she works as the Galleries & Programs Manager at Art Gym Denver, where she curates exhibits, plans educational and community programming, and manages two residency programs. She has worked with the Longmont Museum, City of Longmont and a volunteer planning committee to coordinate the annual Día de Muertos celebration in Downtown Longmont, from 2021 – 2023. She was the Exhibits Curator at the Firehouse Art Center from 2018 to 2022, after serving as the Director for ArtWalk Longmont from 2016 – 2019. She creates drawings, paintings, prints, photographs and objects celebrating the domestic arts, art history, and the collector’s impulse. Originally from Monroe, Louisiana, Coons has also lived in Athens, GA, and Atlanta, GA. She holds a BFA in Photography from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA.

Mike McClung together with his partner Warren Campbell, owns Michael Warren Contemporary in the heart of Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe. In the past 11 years McClung has mounted over 140 exhibits and welcomed 130,000 visitors to the gallery. McClung works with a dozen of photographers and is most interested in process-driven work.

Hayley Schneider owns SeeSaw Art Gallery, based in Englewood, CO. She received her BA in Journalism and Spanish at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She received her teaching certificate from Metropolitan State University Denver, and her MA in Teaching from University of Colorado Denver. Hayley has worked in public relations, human resources, as a teacher for Aurora Public Schools, and after some stars aligning and a career pivot she is now running SeeSaw. Her vision is to elevate artists with diverse backgrounds through creative and thoughtfully-curated exhibitions.

ABOUT PHOTOVOX

PhotoVox is a monthly program offered by the Colorado Photographic Arts Center to help you strengthen your artistic voice with the support of other photographers and artists in the Denver Metro community. Meetings are held monthly at either CPAC’s downtown gallery or virtually on Zoom, and feature discussions led by local arts and community leaders. Two sessions per year are dedicated to portfolio sharing (Print Share).