Theme: Signals: Red Light

Red, yellow, and green. Stop, pause, and go. Our world runs on signals. At all of life’s intersections, we constantly have to ask ourselves how we will proceed. Three choices can be made at these forks: remain steadfast and still, cautiously test new waters, or boldly rush ahead. The yellow and green lights can motivate continuous movement. But, the red light halts you to reflect on the experiences that have shaped you, your community, and the larger world. As you stand at the crossroads, join us to unravel how you can navigate the path to what comes next.

Zahn Innovation Center at CCNY
160 Convent Avenue
Steinman Hall T-B20
New York, New York, 10031
United States

June Williamson

Author, Educator

June Williamson is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Architecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture of The City College of New York, CUNY, where she has been on the faculty since 2008, teaching architecture design studio and supporting courses in urban site analysis, suburban form, and other topics. A registered architect, Williamson is an international expert on suburban retrofitting and the uses of good urban design in the redevelopment, reinhabitation, and regreening of obsolete suburban built form. Her award-winning books include Retrofitting Suburbia (Wiley, 2008, updated 2011), the sequel Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia (Wiley, 2021), both with Ellen Dunham-Jones, and Designing Suburban Futures: New Models from Build a Better Burb (Island, 2013), work for which she and Professor Dunham-Jones will receive the 2025 Seaside Prize.

Key Bell

Poet, Educator

Kay Bell is a Poet, Educator and the 2023-2025 Bronx Poet Laureate. She is also the author of two collections of poetry: Cry Sweat Bleed Write (Lily Poetry Review Books, 2020) & Diary of an Intercessor (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Her poetry aims to weave the language of activism with the voice of the marginalized to confront and interrogate literary spaces of oppression and her work as the Bronx Poet Laureate focuses on promoting the inclusion of and passion for poetry across the Bronx, looking to inspire a new generation of writers and poets. She was named a part of CUNY's inaugral 50 under 50 alumni list.

Kristine Esser Slentz

Co-Founder of Adverse Abstraction

Kristine Esser Slentz is a Maltese descendent, queer, cult escapee, and author of EXHIBIT: an amended woman, depose (FlowerSong Press 2021, 2024). She grew up in both northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area—what her father calls the ‘bottom of the blue-collar.’ After receiving her GED, she completed her undergraduate degree at Purdue University, double-majoring in English Literature and Creative Writing, before earning a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (poetry) from City College of New York (CCNY). KRISTINE was a finalist in the Glass Poetry Chapbook and F(r)iction's Flash Fiction Contests, recipient of a CCNY English Department Teacher-Writer Award, and former Rifkind Fellow and Poets Afloat resident. She is the co-founder and organizer/host of the monthly experimental artist series, Adverse Abstraction, in New York City's East Village. You can follow KRISTINE’s art on her substack, Carnations & Car Crashes.