Join us for a pop-up exhibition featuring works by Celeste Escobar-Lau, Joshua Lawton, and Jackson Robinson created during their time as artists-in-residence at MCA Denver.

In Entering Abstraction, paintings and mixed-media artworks draw from abstraction, surrealism, and nostalgia to establish otherworldly and dreamlike imagery that will bring viewers in. 

We invite viewers to come with open minds and arrive with the intention to learn, experience, or discover something new. 

About the Teen Artist-In-Residence Program

The Teen Artist-in-Residence Program invites up to six teens to create work on site at the museum. This is an opportunity for local teens who are interested in the arts to create, ideate, and receive valuable demonstrations and critiques by local artists.

About the artists

Celeste Escobar-Lau is a up-coming high school senior at Thomas Jefferson High School. She enjoys mixed-media artworks that offer dreamlike or otherworldly perspectives in our otherwise boring reality. She hopes that her artworks can reach people and bring them to someplace special. Other than painting, she works as the stage manager in her high school theatre program, her most recent work being Anastasia. Art has always been an integral part of her life and she is happy to share it with MCA!

Joshua Lawton was born in California and moved to Colorado when he was six. He has always enjoyed making abstract paintings. His art is focused on the flow state and the influence it has on him. He likes making larger pieces so that he can fit all of his ideas. Josh believes art is a sacred activity that helps us connect with something greater the human consciousness can understand. His art at the museum will consist of a theme — the pattern of nature and consciousness through the creative spirit. 

Jackson Robinson is an emerging teen artist based in Aurora, CO. He works mainly as a painter, but also enjoys illustration with 3D elements as well. He finds religious ideology and themes of surrealism and cultural realism to be most inspiring, and symbolism is a major aspect of his works.