The Assemblage Art Fund is proud to announce the jurors for the 2025–2026 cycle of the Assemblage Art Fund. Each brings a distinct perspective grounded in curatorial practice, architecture, rural engagement, and artist-centered support structures—reflecting the spirit and values of Assemblage.

Aurora Tang is a curator and researcher based in Los Angeles. She has worked with the Center for Land Use Interpretation since 2009, where she currently serves as program director. As an independent curator, she has organized exhibitions at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, MOCA Tucson, and the Armory Center for the Arts, and previously served as managing director of High Desert Test Sites. She has taught at Otis College of Art and Design and the University of Southern California.

Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr. is a founding principal of DUST, an architecture studio based in Tucson, AZ, and an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona School of Architecture. His work explores material, landscape, and cultural memory as tools for imagining more just and equitable built environments. He is also a licensed contractor and a board member of Native Seeds/SEARCH.

Maria Sykes is a designer, multidisciplinary artist, and rural advocate. She is the Executive Director and co-founder of Epicenter, a nonprofit that invests in rural Utah through art and design. Sykes has collaborated with over 100 artists and collectives throughout the West and internationally, and recently co-founded Building Common Ground, a practitioner-led initiative supporting rural communities.

Louise Martorano brings nearly two decades of nonprofit arts experience, with a focus on building supportive infrastructures for artists. She formerly served as Executive & Artistic Director of RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver, where she launched regranting, fiscal sponsorship, and affordable space programs. She now works with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) and serves on several national boards, including the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Harmony Hammond Trust, and National Performance Network.

The Assemblage Art Fund is supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Regranting Program, which funds experimental, artist-driven work through a national network of partner organizations. UMOCA is proud to be one of 36 organizations across the U.S. participating in this initiative to support new work by visual artists working outside traditional institutional frameworks.