Creative Aging: For the Future

Jim McGee is a professional artist and educator with more than 20 years of experience creating and teaching art. Originally from Philadelphia, he earned a BFA in illustration before moving to Utah in 2002 to complete his MFA in painting at the University of Utah. His artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States and has received numerous awards, as well as public and private commissions. As a teaching artist, Jim is passionate about helping students discover their creativity through hands-on exploration, skill building and personal expression. He believes art is for everyone and strives to create an encouraging, engaging classroom where students feel inspired to experiment, grow, and enjoy the creative process.

Cat Palmer took a leap of faith and made Salt Lake City home at the age of 21. Born in Los Angeles and shaped by the vibrant music and poetry scene of Orange County, California, they found a creative community that continues to inspire their work.

Today, Cat’s creative spirit thrives at The Bogue Foundry in downtown Salt Lake City, where they’re often immersed in photography, writing, and new artistic projects. A true renaissance creative, Cat writes the monthly Small Lake City column for City Weekly and makes regular appearances on ABC4’s Good Things Utah, highlighting the people, places, and stories that make Utah unique. They are also entering their third year as Programming Director for the Utah Queer Film Festival, curating powerful films and celebrating queer storytelling alongside a vibrant and growing community.

With nearly three decades behind the camera, Cat is also available for professional headshots, creating authentic portraits that help people look and feel like their best selves.

Sara Serratos is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and curator from Hidalgo, Mexico—on Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān and Hñähñu territories—now based in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Timpanogos, Shoshone, Goshute, and Ute lands. She migrated to Utah at the age of 26, the same age her great-grandfather, a locomotive operator, was when he lost his life in a coal mine accident in what was once Rains, Utah.

Her practice explores landscape, housing, identity, migration, and systems of power. Working across photography, video, sculpture, installation, performance, and fi lm, she transforms everyday objects into reflections on surveillance, preservation, socio-environmental impact, and ancestral nourishment.

Serratos holds an MFA from the University of Utah (2023) and a BFA with honors from Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda” (2017) in Mexico City. Serratos is a recipient of the Utah Artist Fellowship in Visual Arts (2026) from the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, was awarded the Assemblage Art Fund Grant (2025–2026) from the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation for her project Mexican Restaurants in Salt Lake County, was an Artist-in-Residence at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (2024–25), and she received the Apoyo para la Formación y Profesionalización en el Extranjero (FONCA/CONAHCYT, 2021–23). She serves as Director of Exhibitions and Education at Bountiful Davis Art Center and Director of Programs at Artes de México en Utah.