Five AU Artists Chosen for Phillips Collection Exhibition Opening August 1
Five artists from the American University community have been selected for one of the Washington region's premier contemporary art exhibitions at The Phillips Collection.
More than one in every 10 artists selected for Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise has ties to AU, giving the university an outsized presence in this year's exhibition. The group includes five faculty members, one of them a Studio Art MFA alumna.
The selected artists are professors Kyle Hackett, Don Kimes, and Danielle Mysliwiec, along with professorial lecturers Emily Francisco '13 and Alexandra Silverthorne.
"Having five talented artists from the College’s academic community selected for this exhibition is an extraordinary accomplishment," says Linda Aldoory, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "Our arts faculty are active contributors to Washington's cultural life, and bring that experience, connections, and creative energy into the classroom every day."
The exhibition will be on view at The Phillips Collection from August 1 through September 20. Plan your visit here.
Championing Living Artists
Presented by The Phillips Collection—America's first museum of modern art, established in 1921 in DC’s historic Dupont Circle neighborhood—the exhibition continues the spirit of museum founder Duncan Phillips's commitment to championing living artists while underscoring the breadth and vitality of artistic practice across the greater Washington-Baltimore area.
For artists like Mysliwiec, that regional focus is what makes the exhibition especially meaningful. "Many of the museum exhibitions in DC are centered on historical artists, international artists, or national artists from major art cities," she says. "It's meaningful to have The Phillips Collection center an exhibition on contemporary artists living and working in the DMV."
Hackett adds that Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise fortifies The Phillips Collection's commitment to regional narratives. He hopes visitors will experience the exhibition in person, taking time to look beyond the surface of the work, reflect, and engage with the ideas it explores.
The exhibition also has special significance for American University. According to Kimes, AU's art program traces its roots to The Phillips Collection, where art classes were taught through the museum's education department a century ago. The university's art collection also began when Phillips donated works to AU in collaboration with then-department chair C. Law Watkins.
"Having taught at AU for 38 years and having served more than half that time as head of the studio art program, it is a special pleasure for me to see several members of our current faculty chosen to participate in this highly selective exhibition," Kimes said.
The Artists
Here's a closer look at the artists representing American University in this year's exhibition.
Art Professor Kyle Hackett
Kyle Hackett's paintings explore race, class, and identity through portraiture and self-representation. Drawing on the traditions of historical portrait painting, his work examines how images shape personal identity and social power.
Hackett's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at London's National Portrait Gallery, and is held in collections including the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Soho House Art Collection. He is the co-director of American University’s MFA Studio Art program.
Kyle Hackett, After Return Investment, 2024, Oil on aluminum, 41 x 31 in.
Art Professor Don Kimes
Don Kimes's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Biennale Internazionale di Firenze, the Brooklyn Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Phillips Collection.
Kimes is senior professor of visual arts at American University, where he has taught for more than 35 years and helped lead the creation of the Katzen Arts Center. He also serves as artistic director of the ACI International Artists, Writers and Scholars Residency in Corciano, Italy. He said it is especially meaningful to see several members of the AU community represented in such a highly competitive exhibition, adding that "loss can be an immense catalyst for creativity."
After losing decades of work in a devastating flood, Kimes said he chose to use "the second part of my life to discover a new way to repaint the first part." The painting, Rising Blue, included in the exhibition is part of that journey.
Don Kimes, Rising Blue, 2025, Collage of artwork remnants, acrylic, and ink on canvas, 48 x 36 in.
Art Professor Danielle Mysliwiec
Danielle Mysliwiec transforms oil paint into intricately woven surfaces that foreground materiality and tactility in abstract painting. Her work explores the intersection of painting, craft, and materiality, inviting viewers to experience subtle shifts in light, texture, and form.
Mysliwiec has exhibited widely in the United States and abroad. Her work has been featured in Artforum, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Brooklyn Rail. She has received fully funded residencies to the Tides Institute & Museum, Long Meadow Art Residency, the Surf Point Foundation, and Vermont Studio Center, as well as grants from the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Arts and Humanities Commission of Montgomery County. Mysliwiec is the current director of AU's Undergraduate Studio Art program.
Danielle Mysliwiec, Slit, 2025, Extruded oil paint on linen armature on linen-covered wood panel, 14 x 11 x 1 in.
Film and Media Arts Professorial Lecturer Alexandra Silverthorne
Alexandra Silverthorne is a Washington, DC-based photographer whose work explores community, place, and social issues. She has exhibited widely throughout the region and received multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Silverthorne has taught photography at American University since 2010, teaching both the darkroom and digital courses. Her work is included in the District Art Bank Collection, the John Wilson City Hall Building collection, and Montgomery County's Works on Paper Collection.
Alexandra Silverthorne, Southern Live Oak in City Park, New Orleans, LA, 2025, Archival inkjet print from scanned Polaroid SX-70 photograph, soaked in river water collected from the Mississippi River, 17 x 17 in.
Studio Art Professorial Lecturer Emily Francisco ’13
Emily Francisco '13 is an artist, musician, and educator whose connection to AU has come full circle—from MFA student to professorial lecturer in studio art. A five-time Janet and Walter Sondheim Award semifinalist, Francisco has exhibited widely, including at The Phillips Collection, the Kennedy Center, and the Smithsonian Institution. They said they are especially looking forward to exhibiting alongside artists she has known and admired throughout her career.
Francisco describes her installation at The Phillips Collection as a field recording of a thunderstorm, captured during an active tornado warning in Washington, DC, in July 2025. “The lighting is programmed into a DMX board and changes in real time based on the sound,” she says. “The lighting is intended to resemble the shifting colors in the sky caused by storm clouds. The lighting is a wash, like watercolor, like a painting that moves.”
Emily Francisco, 2025 July 9: A Thunderstorm // When Systems Collide, 2025, Audio recording, 5 min. 4 sec.
Credits, main story image:
Left group, clockwise from top left: Diego Borgsdorf, Rewe Tapestry, 2025, Partially hand-dyed Chilean-sourced wool, cotton, copper, clay chanchitos, burlap, polyester embroidery thread, and copper pipe, 25 x 28 x 1 in.; Christina Chan, Designed in California, Assembled in Exploitation, 2025, Charcoal and graphite on Bristol, 30 x 22 x 2 in.; Paloma Vianey, Chamarra no. 25: Parque Central (Cempasúchil), 2025, Oil on canvas, fabric, and zipper, 20 x 16 x 5/8 in.; Mojdeh Rezaeipour, Classroom Solidarities: Jin Jiyan Azadi, 2022–2026, Video installation, blackboard, acrylic and spray paint on classroom desk chairs, shelf, postcards, pencils, and mailbox, Dimensions variable; Thea Canlas, My Filipino Baby #2, 2025, Human hair, plastic rattan, and wood, each broom, 42 x 40 x 1 1/2 in.; C.S. Corbin, Room, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 29 x 34 1/2 x 2 in.; Right group, clockwise from top left: Hannah Atallah, how stunningly beautiful that our sacred respect for earth, for life is deeper than our rage (Portrait of Salua Moussawel), 2024, Acrylic, aerosol paint, canvas, acrylic yarn, muslin, polyester backing, and poplar, 72 x 31 x 22 in.; Kei Ito, Sungazing Scroll, 2024, Chromogenic photogram, sunlight, and artist’s breath, 60 x 12 x 6 in.; Gail Shaw-Clemons, Shorthand Revisited, 2025, Charbonnel Aqua Wash printing ink on 100$ rag paper, 27 x 36 x 5 in.; Katie O’Keefe, Paralysis, 2025, Freehand machine embroidery on tulle fabric and hand embroidery on silk organza, 29 x 48 in.; Sasha Baskin, Persephone II (Reece Unravels), 2025, Bobbin lace, cotton thread, wooden bobbins, metal pins, and digital still from America’s Sweethearts (Season 1), 24 x 24 x 1 1/2 in.