Kathryn Hicks' artistic journey began with a childhood obsession with dragons that her mother once warned would never lead to financial success. Starting as a traditional artist with a strong foundation in drawing and painting, Kathryn was initially "anti-digital art" before completely reversing course. At the University of Memphis, she studied studio art before transitioning to graphic design, which taught her to think differently about creative work. Her path then led to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), where she initially pursued animation before discovering 3D modeling was her true passion. The pivotal moment in her career came in 2015 when she experienced virtual reality at SCAD and immediately knew it was her calling. This led to working with extended reality (XR) technologies in medical device training, creating augmented reality experiences for Snapchat, and eventually founding Creature Studio (named for her love of dragons). Her expertise in spatial thinking, 3D design, and world-building culminated in her being chosen to create a location-based augmented reality experience for HBO's House of the Dragon through Snapchat, bringing her childhood dragon obsession full circle in her professional career.

Emily Burkhead is an intermedia artist whose work blends 3D printing, found materials, and surrealist filmmaking. Despite not having formal artistic training in her undergraduate years (she has a social science degree), Emily pursued an MFA where she developed her distinctive style featuring vibrant hot pink colors and varied textures. Her thesis project, "Trigger/Glimmer/Something Else," became a powerful exploration of her queer and neurodivergent identity. Emily was drawn to hot pink as a "dopamine inducer" that felt forbidden because of how society had conditioned her to view it as childish, trashy, or garish. Her work creates a visual language that communicates her neurodivergent experience - with yellow elements representing sensory triggers (like "wet socks" or "Ed fucking Sheeran") and hot pink representing sensory "glimmers" (like "weighted blankets" or "my nephew's laugh"). Though she sometimes struggled to verbalize her artistic intentions in graduate school, Emily found that her work allowed her to express feelings that are difficult to put into words.

Sam Reeves Hill's artistic journey began after what she describes as an "ego death" when her basketball career came to an unexpected end. Asking herself what she would do if money didn't matter, Sam finally admitted aloud what she had always known inside: "I want to paint." Despite having no formal painting experience until college, Sam developed her distinctive layered, textured style through daily practice—what she calls "daily journal entries" of creativity. Now a prolific painter and muralist, Sam creates abstract works that embrace imperfection and depth, drawing inspiration from her family's creative heritage while carving out her own artistic identity.

Almost a year ago, the music and lifestyle platform BitchBopz—led by Ashley Koehler—was born and has since taken the Memphis music by an ultra hot storm, highlighting all things femme, femme, femme. Frustrated with not being able to use her marketing and design talents for something that gave her purpose, Ashley formed BitchBopz out of a need to amplify authentic music she loved which blossomed into an engaged online community. Eventually, artists Taylor Mix and Ellen Whelan joined as co-Bopperz, and now, the trio is getting ready to throw a big anniversary bash at Ugly Art Co. after a wildly successful Grammys Watch party—their largest feat yet, but with so much more to come.