Session Descriptions

Shelly Farnham‘s career as an artist is strongly interwoven with both her career as a technologist and her passion for community organizing. She has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and B.A. in Fine Art, and for the majority of her career worked as an innovation researcher on R&D teams, including Microsoft Research and several community technology startups. She now pursues both her passion for experimental, new media art and community organizing as the President of Third Place Technologies, a 501(c)3 non-profit focused on fostering interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersections of art, technology, design, and civic engagement. See https://ShellyDianeFarnham.com

Julia Pryde Thompson, Creative Producer, Writer, Musician

Julia specializes in emerging technologies and immersive storytelling, creating participatory narratives that inspire curiosity, foster connection, and drive social change. With over nine years at the intersection of art, technology, and narrative design, she has collaborated with groups like Niantic, Liquid City, Inworld AI, Botto, and Refik Anadol Studio on projects spanning XR/AR, AI-driven characters, and data-driven public art. Passionate about animating the non-human world, Julia’s work includes audio-visual art, writing for conversational animals, spirit-plant companions in spatial computing, and a children’s book celebrating overlooked inventors.

julespryde.com

Cam Smith New Media Artist, Technologist

Cam Smith is a Seattle-based new media artist exploring surveillance, AI, and technology’s societal impact. Trained in psychology and linguistics, they worked in academia and Silicon Valley on AI projects, informing their critical investigations into how personal data is collected and commodified. Through immersive and interactive installations, Cam sparks dialogue about privacy, power, identity, and autonomy. Solo exhibitions include Who’s Watching Who? at Base Camp Studios, and their work continues to challenge audiences to understand and question the systems shaping digital life.

https://smith.cam

Diana Xie Creative Producer, Immersive Designer, Data Scientist

Diana Xie is an artist, immersive designer, and data scientist whose work blends neuroscience, computational modeling, and creative practice. Her interdisciplinary projects explore the meeting point of organic forms, digital interaction, and mindful presence, using art not only as aesthetic expression but also as a medium for introspection and transformation. From projecting fluid analog forms shaped by collective gestures, to visualizing meditative brain waves as unfolding botanical growth, her works invite viewers to slow down and observe how attention shapes what unfolds. 

She collaborates on data-driven art and projection mapping projects with Nicholas Bowen, merging analytics, storytelling, and participatory design. Their work has been exhibited at Electric Sky (2025) and the Seattle Creative Code meetup.

https://www.instagram.com/dxarts.ai

Nicholas Bowen Artist, Creative Technologist, Software Engineer

Nicholas Bowen is a creative technologist, abstract generative artist, and software engineer. He is a member of Passable, creating intuitive, human-centered technology experiences. Skilled in modern web technologies, TouchDesigner, and many different information technology disciplines, he bridges technical implementation with experimental user experience design. His practice blends technical rigor with empathy, fostering systems that are efficient, enjoyable, and impactful, while collaborating on multidisciplinary projects focused on innovation and meaningful outcomes. 

https://www.instagram.com/bowendigitalarts

Genevieve Tremblay New Media Artist, Researcher, Community Catalyst

Genevieve Tremblay (Session Chair) is a Bellevue-based new media artist, interdisciplinary researcher, and convener focused on fostering resilient, cross-disciplinary creative communities. She is an artist member of SOIL Gallery, adjunct researcher at SECOS Millennium Institute (Chile) and Climate Knowledge Collective, and a founding board member of Third Place Technology and Indigo Arts Alliance (Maine). A co-author of Fostering Communities of Innovation at the Intersection of Art and Technology in the PNW, Tremblay brings expertise in mapping and sustaining creative knowledge networks as panel moderator and co-convener of the symposium.

https://www.gentremblay.com

Lydia Boss is a Seattle-based artist whose work investigates themes of identity, time, and nature through a millennial lens. As Program Director at Artist Trust, Lydia oversees annual planning, implementation, and evaluation of all Artist Trust grant-making, resources and professional development programs. Lydia also serves on the Support for Individual Artists Committee at Grantmakers in the Arts, the only national organization dedicated to connecting and supporting funders of individual artists across the United States. Her work has been exhibited internationally.

John Boylan is a Seattle writer and producer. In 2016 he created and co-produced 9e2, a nine-day festival of art, science, and technology that included work by more than 100 artists, performers, engineers, scientists, and technologists. He’s currently working on producing 9e26: Ten Years Later. For more than 25 years, he hosted a roundtable conversation series about art, politics, and science, featuring major artists, activists, scientists, poets, writers, musicians, architects, actors, and impresarios.

Yuliya is currently serving as the Founder and Executive Creative Director at Future Arts, a new womxn-led arts+technology organization building dignity for tech-based artists through opportunities and discourse. They continue being a passionate community advocate for equity and new media curation, focused on the Cascadia region and beyond.