Ashley Cornelius, MA, LPC 

Pikes Peak Region Poet Laureate 

Ashley Cornelius ( she/her) is the creator of Destination Rest and believes rest and joy are our birthright. She was the first Black Pikes Peak Region Poet Laureate She is a nationally recognized and multi-award-winning spoken-word poet, facilitator, cultural worker and keynote speaker. She is the author of "Translations of the Soul" her debut poetry collection.  Ashley is a Licensed Professional Counselor and has 7 years experience working in hospitals and healthcare using poetry therapy interventions and supporting staff resilience. Ashley is the Co-Director of Poetry719, a Black-led poetry group lifting the voices of marginalized communities through monthly events in Colorado Springs.

Nina Elder, MFA

Artist and researcher Nina Elder creates projects that reveal humanity’s dependence on, and interruption of, the natural world. With a focus on changing cultures and ecologies, Nina advocates for collaboration, fostering relationships between institutions, artists, scientists and diverse communities. Because Nina is devoted to rural communities and often overlooked places, she regularly works outside of urban cultural centers and the commercial art world. Nina lectures as a visiting artist/scholar at universities, develops publicly engaged programs, and consults with organizations that seek to grow through interdisciplinary programming. 

Nina’s artwork is widely exhibited and has been featured in Art in America, VICE Magazine, and on PBS. Her research has been supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Rauschenberg Foundation award for Arts & Activism, the Pollock Krasner Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. She has recently held positions as an Art + Environment Research Fellow at the Nevada Museum of Art, a Polar Lab Research Fellow at the Anchorage Museum, and a Researcher in Residence in the Art and Ecology Program at the University of New Mexico. She migrates between rural Colorado and site-specific projects.

Em Grotton-Juco

Em Grotton-Juco (they/them) is a multifaceted creative and community leader in Colorado Springs. Em is an advocate, educator, yoga instructor/yoga therapist for the LGBTQIA+ & BIPOC community, model, photographer, and storyteller - committed to being of service, and celebrating expression of the queer and trans experience. Em has been involved in a plethora of Indigenous & Trans galleries across the country and overseas; celebrating the uniqueness, divinity, adornment, and power of embodying a queer and transgender vessel. Whether behind the lens capturing the stories of others, or in front of the lens challenging the status-quo ; Em believes in uplifting the stories and existences of those who are so often silenced, erased, and deemed less than in our current political climate. Here in Colorado Springs, they continue to cultivate spaces for radical expression, connection, and transformation—bringing their many gifts into service of the collective.