Meet the Judges
Side Stories 2023’s panel of judges.
The Denver Art Museum’s
Andrea Fulton
Andrea Kalivas Fulton is deputy director and chief strategy officer for the Denver Art Museum (DAM). She oversees the Museum’s talent and culture programs, government affairs and strategic partnerships and initiatives. She recently led a major renovation and expansion effort for the Museum’s 1971 Gio Ponti-designed North Building, which opened in fall 2021.
Meow Wolf’s
Cody Borst
Native to Colorado, Cody Borst is a Creative Engineer and Technologist specializing in immersive themed entertainment. His passion for interactive technology, artistic design, fabrication, and environmental storytelling has brought new worlds to life in the escape room, immersive theater, and themed exhibit industries. As Meow Wolf Denver’s Exhibition Manager, Cody manages the art and technology teams tasked with the curation and ongoing evolution of Convergence Station.
2019 & 2022 Artist and Filmmaker
Ella Vance
Ella Vance is an Australian-American filmmaker, writer and interactive media-maker living and working in San Francisco, CA. With a background in art film and interactive museum media, Ella’s creative practice is rooted in the use of film and media as an oneiric conduit for self discovery. Her 12 short films take on a variety of structures and themes that explore the inner worlds of each subject, whether real or fictional.
Bonfils Stanton Foundation’s
Gary Steuer
Gary Steuer joined the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation as President and CEO in 2013. Since that time he has focused on leveraging the voice and legacy of the Foundation to sustain and strengthen the arts and nonprofit leadership in our community. He is empowering the signature programs and initiatives of the Foundation to ensure they are advancing innovation, excellence, community and quality of life.
Martin Family Foundation’s
Mary Lester
Mary Lester is a co-founder of Side Stories. She has an extensive background in the arts. Some of her more recent projects include the Martin Museum Residence and the Art Hotel in Denver. Mary works closely with the Martin Family Foundation which supports many artistic initiatives in the Denver area, including the Denver Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Central City Opera and History Colorado as well as educational institutions locally and across the country. She currently serves as a board member for the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award Committee and as a trustee at Denver Academy School.
The MCA Denver’s
Nora Burnett Abrams
Nora Burnett Abrams is the Mark G. Falcone Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Among the youngest museum directors in the country, Abrams moved into the Director role after nearly a decade as the Ellen Bruss Curator and Director of Planning. Her curatorial approach has been instrumental in bringing MCA Denver to where it stands today as one of the most important cultural institutions in Colorado. Since arriving in Denver in 2010, she has organized over 40 exhibitions and authored or contributed to over a dozen accompanying publications. Recent projects highlighted unusual or unknown episodes in artists’ careers such as Basquiat Before Basquiat (2017), which traveled to 3 other venues, as well as the first survey of Senga Nengudi’s R.S.V.P. sculptures (2014), which traveled to 5 other venues around the country. She has taught art history at New York University and lectured throughout the country on modern and contemporary art. She holds art history degrees from Stanford University (B.A.), Columbia University (M.A.), and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.
