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Siona Benjamin’s images shimmer with jewel-toned depictions of goddesses, angels, historical figures, and anonymous immigrants. The worlds these figures inhabit hum with diverse, eclectic references, harvested from a life lived across multiple religious and cultural traditions. Raised Jewish in Mumbai and now based on the East Coast of the United States, Benjamin seamlessly incorporates Hindu, Islamic, and Christian iconography, unencumbered by any fear that this might render her work less Jewish.

If you live in Savannah, Georgia, you know Panhandle Slim. His signature work appears on billboards and on schools, in homes, barbershops, and community centers. Recently four of his paintings were collected as part of a church fundraising auction, including one of Jesus and one of Kurt Vonnegut, complete with smart, barbed, life-honoring quotes. Panhandle Slim’s work with community activists and his ethic around what he calls “art for folk” draw from wisdom built from the days of his skateboarding career—when his joy diminished as he watched his brand become a high-end commodity.