A lot of hours in the studio focused on turning raw material into something solid and useful. The work is mostly independent, but anyone who knows something knows that growth does not come without community.
Recently, becoming part of The Union for Contemporary Art has been a beyond a blessing for myself and Village Woodworking. With a private studio space on North 24th Street, community connections, and a network of fellow artists and creatives, this fellowship opportunity offers something I have yearned for since leaving Carleton back in 2023. I've missed being around artists. People with an electricity for creating and expressing themselves. This is a space where my work can be challenged, where I'm not the artsy-est guy in the room, and our influences cross-pollinate.
Intellectual Electricity : Seek those spaces where individuals are charged with passion for the things they do.
— Stephen MohringIt’s more than just working right here in my home town on the same block I grew up on. I find deeper meaning, within the institution. VW has a dedicated space inside a building that pulses with creative energy from five different disciplines changes the texture of the work day. You hear a photographer setting up across the hall. You catch a conversation about marketing and better understand how to present a brand to the community. You sit at a table with artists whose practices look nothing like yours and realize the questions you are wrestling with are the same.
The 2026 Fellows
The Inside/Outside Fellowship at The Union for Contemporary Art is a 10-month program that pairs studio practice with community engagement. Five artists are selected each year. This year's cohort spans woodworking, photography, writing, painting, and sound — five disciplines under one roof, each pushing different material toward the same fundamental questions about craft, identity, and place.
Darryl York III
Darryl York III is the artist and craftsman behind Village Woodworking. Born and raised in North Omaha, Darryl represents the living spirit of a simple idea: it takes a village to raise a child.
As a fourth-generation Omahan, he carries forward a legacy shaped by resilience, family, and a deep sense of belonging to the community that raised him. That inheritance continues to influence both the philosophy and the physical work produced in his craft.
Darryl is an alumnus of Jesuit Academy and Creighton Preparatory School, institutions that instilled values that remain central to his life and practice: cura personalis, the care for the whole person, and magis, the call to be more in one's self.
While studying Computer Science at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, he unexpectedly discovered a profound connection to fine woodworking. In the quiet discipline of the craft — the patience and honesty required by the material — he found something deeply spiritual.
Today, Darryl brings together technological fluency and time-honored woodworking techniques to create one-of-a-kind furniture and objects from locally sourced hardwoods. His work is rooted not only in craftsmanship but also in place — often created on the very same streets where his family and community have long called home.
Through Village Woodworking, Darryl continues to tell a story larger than himself. A story of community, heritage, and the enduring power of making something meaningful with one's hands.
Alice Swartz
Alice is a painter working in acrylic and watercolor. Heavily inspired by her multicultural family and her faith, her practice centers on advocacy for human rights and the humanness found in cross-cultural connections. She takes seriously the artist's role of observing, documenting, and commenting on history as it is being made.
@amswartz27
Kevin Kabore
Kevin is a photographer and filmmaker whose work lives at the intersection of culture, storytelling, and community. Rooted in intention rather than trend, his practice explores identity, movement, and everyday beauty — creating images that feel deeply personal yet universally resonant. Access and visibility are central to his process, and his aim is to expand who gets to be seen, heard, and remembered.
kabuckets.com · @_kabuckets
Rio Chantel O'Reilly
Rio is a writer and multimedia artist exploring the generational threads between the women in her family — the womb as a keeper of memory, migration, and becoming. Her Mexican, German, and Scottish heritage shapes how she understands lineage and loss. Her work blends magical realism with moments pulled from everyday life, searching for emotional truth in the space between memory and imagination.
riochantel.com · @riochantel
Birdie Bijoux
Birdie is a multihyphenate artist — DJ, fiber artist, sculptor, photographer, and illustrator — whose practice is rooted in Black diasporic sounds, movements, and patterns, as well as the Black female form. Working from a Black, lesbian, immigrant perspective, Birdie's work continually returns to the inherent political nature of existence: why is Black hair controversial? How can music convey feeling? How can art bring community together?
@birdiebijoux · birdiebijouxbookings@gmail.com
Learn more about the fellowship program and all five fellows on The Union's website.
Looking Ahead
Becoming a fellow at The Union for Contemporary Art opens a door to new conversations, collaborations, and creative possibilities. As Village Woodworking continues to grow, the studio will explore new projects and directions that build on both tradition and community.
The studio will host its first open house later this spring — a chance to walk through the space, see work in progress, and talk about what is being built and why. A second open house is planned for October.
Through this Journal, you can expect to follow along as the fellowship unfolds. Here is what is on the horizon:
Workshops with VW — Hands-on sessions in the studio, open to the community. Details coming soon.
Community exhibitions and showcases — Opportunities to see finished work alongside the process behind it, including the Fellows Group Exhibition at the end of the program.
Opportunities to collaborate — If you are a maker, a designer, or someone with a project idea that intersects with craft, reach out. The door is open.
Chances to win VW projects — Giveaways and community offerings for Journal subscribers. Stay subscribed.
As you believe, so shall it be done onto you.
— Earl Nightengale