Young Contemporaries 2021

Erik Benjamins is a multidisciplinary artist and writer who celebrates the possibilities for embodied knowledge. Recent projects have brought him to Chengdu, China; the Banff Centre, Canada; Spring Workshop, Hong Kong; the Jan Van Eyck Academie, the Netherlands; and the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico. Most recently, he has exhibited at Foreland in Catskill, New York; the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine; and River and Marta, both in Los Angeles. Erik is a proud alum (’08) of LMU where he double majored in Communication Studies and Studio Arts. He received his MFA in Studio Art with a focus on Performance at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Tufts University in 2012. From 2013-2015, he served as an LMU Clinical Assistant Professor in Communication Studies and Studio Arts.

Nathalie Sánchez is an interdisciplinary artist, social justice arts educator, museum worker and arts advocate raised and rooted in Los Angeles. Nathalie firmly believes in the transformative power of arts education and community. She has developed and led visual arts education, museum education, and professional development programs at ArtworxLA; Avenue 50 Studio;  ESMoA; Fowler Museum at UCLA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA); and P.S. ARTS. Currently, she is the Interim Education Program Coordinator at the Vincent Price Art Museum. In 2016, she founded the Art Education + Social Justice Book Club with over 300 members internationally. She graduated from LMU in 2007 with her BA in Art History and Studio Arts with an emphasis in education, and received her MFA in Public Practice from Otis College of Art and Design in 2010.