2026 Conference Speakers
More information coming soon!
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More information coming soon! ---
2025 Conference Speakers
MISS BIRDY, Muralist
THURSDAY, GENERAL SESSION 2 - Regency Ballroom 12:00-1:50PM
Lunch 12:00-1:00PM, Keynote Speaker 1:00-1:50PM
https://www.birdyco.com
Instagram @miss.birdy
Mandi Caskey, also known by her artist name Miss Birdy, is a nationally recognized muralist and public artist known for turning walls into vivid, thought-provoking storytelling experiences. Her large-scale works blend surrealism, natural forms, and bold femininity to challenge social norms and bring underrepresented narratives to the forefront, especially in spaces where public art has traditionally been male dominated.
Based in Columbus, Ohio, Caskey has spent over a decade transforming blank surfaces into powerful cultural landmarks. Her work takes her across the U.S. and internationally, painting in countries like Australia, Spain, and beyond. From skyscrapers to stadiums, schools, abandoned structures, and civic buildings, her murals are always rooted in the local community and often explore themes of identity, transformation, and resilience.
She has collaborated with major institutions and organizations such as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Adidas, and the Columbus Crew, and her work has been featured on platforms like PBS and NPR. Whether painting a 100-foot wall or speaking on a panel about public art’s role in community healing, Miss Birdy is known for her fearless perspective and hands-on approach.
As a speaker, Caskey brings a raw, honest, and often humorous lens to topics like public art as activism, the grind of being a working artist, gender bias in creative industries, and the power of visual storytelling in healing collective trauma. Art is more than her subject; it’s the way she builds, endures, and transforms her life.
Through mural-making, mentorship, and storytelling, Miss Birdy is building a future where artists don’t just decorate the world. They shape it.
Miss Birdy’s keynote is funded by grants from the OAEF (Ohio Art Education Foundation) and the Ohio Arts Council.
OLIVER HERRING, Artist
FRIDAY, GENERAL SESSION 5 - Regency Ballroom 12:00-1:50PM
Lunch 12:00-1:00PM, Keynote Speaker 1:00-1:50PM
Oliver Herring is known internationally for his use of experimental techniques as a means to better understand human nature, individual behavior, and interpersonal dynamics. His work has taken on a variety of forms, but since 2000 has centered on brief yet intensive collaborative encounters with volunteer participants. The resulting works not only record these impromptu activities, but also reveal the poignancy implicit in humanity when strangers expose their vulnerabilities and embrace trust.
Herring’s work is in the collections of many major institutions, and has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art; the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Camden Art Center, London; the Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto; OCAT – Xian, and A4 Art Museum in Chengdu, both China. Herring was represented at the Xth Lyon Biennale; Configura II, Erfurt; the first Aichi Triennale, in Nagoya. Me Us Them, a fifteen-year survey of Herring’s work was organized in 2009 at the Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY. Herring was featured on Season 3 of PBS’s program Art21, Art in the 21st Century.
Oliver Herring’s keynote is funded by grants from the OAEF (Ohio Art Education Foundation) and the Ohio Arts Council.
TASK EVENT/KEYNOTE EXTENSION Friday 8:30-10:30 with Oliver Herring
TASK is an interactive and open-ended structure accessible to almost everyone, and is used in classrooms of all grade levels. TASK fosters out-of-the-box creative thinking and community building.