2027-28 Fellows — Touchstone Foundation for the Arts

2026-2027 Touchstone Foundation for the Arts Emerging Artist Fellows Announced

Touchstone Gallery and the Touchstone Foundation for the Arts (TFA) are pleased to announce the three artists selected for the 2027–2028 Emerging Artist Fellowship: Khadija Jahmila, Abby Huston, and Aynex Mercado. Now in its fourteenth year, the TFA Emerging Artist Fellowship is a two-year program supporting visual artists through gallery representation, participation in more than 20 group exhibitions, mentorship, networking opportunities, and a solo exhibition with an accompanying stipend at the conclusion of the program.

In selecting Fellows, TFA seeks artists who demonstrate artistic excellence, creativity, vision, and innovation, as well as a commitment to continued exploration and growth. Jahmila, Huston, and Mercado were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of applicants, representing the largest number of applications in the Fellowship's history.

Khadija Jahmila’s hand-cut analog and digital collages explore cultural memory, folkloric traditions, and surrealism. Layering found and donated second-hand print materials onto wood panels and reclaimed metal, her practice celebrates the African diaspora through a symbolic visual language rooted in personal heritage, hidden references, and discovery, creating layered compositions that invite viewers to look closer, uncover connections, and engage with the stories embedded within each work.

Rooted in her experiences as an ex-Mormon and eldest daughter, Abby Huston’s work explores the collage of human experience—how contrasting emotions, memories, and experiences coexist, intersect, and shape our identities. Through the accumulation, repetition, and transformation of materials, she uses collage to explore leaving high-demand religion, family, emotional complexity, and the tension between opposing forces, reflecting the fragmentation, dismantling, and reconstruction inherent in personal transformation.

Aynex Mercado’s creates quilts divided into two bodies of work: Not What I Taught You, which uses American symbols to examine the current state of the country and question whether its actions align with the values it represents, and a series of architectural quilts that explore the intersection of structure, form, and design. Through her work, she invites viewers to reflect on the symbols, lessons, and ideals that shape our collective identity.

The 2027-28 TFA Fellows will have artwork featured in a group show at Touchstone Gallery starting December 2, alongside the culminating solo exhibitions of 2025-2026 Fellowship artist Jonathan Fuentes. These exhibitions will be on view through December 23, 2026. The TFA Fellowship will solicit new applications in Spring 2028.

Khadija Jahmila (b. 1993), based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is an Afro-Caribbean mixed-media artist, mother, and teaching artist. She has exhibited and held residencies across the DMV region, notably serving as the 2024–2025 Season Artist for Baltimore Center Stage and an artist-in- residence at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and Eaton DC. She currently serves as Community Partnerships Program Manager at Project Create, where she develops and supports arts programming in partnership with schools and community organizations. Her broader teaching practice includes art education for kindergarten through fifth grade, family art programs, and public workshops centered on material transformation, storytelling, and creative accessibility.

Abby Huston (b. 2000) is a Baltimore-based multidisciplinary collage artist who is currently pursuing her MFA at American University, with an expected graduation in spring 2027. She holds a BA in Sociology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a background that informs her interest in social systems, structure, and identity. Working with found paper, fabric, paint, beads, and more, Huston utilizes accumulation, repetition, and variation to approach complex subject matters. Rooted in her experiences as an ex-Mormon and eldest daughter, her work returns to themes of leaving religion, family, and complicated emotional landscapes. Prioritizing narrative, symbolism, and process, she creates layered compositions that reflect the fragmented yet interconnected nature of being human. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and their two golden retrievers, Gus and Murphy

Aynex Mercado (b.1978) is a Puerto Rican-born quilt artist whose creative journey has been shaped by resilience, reinvention, and a lifelong connection to sewing and textiles. After moving to Massachusetts at 18, a spinal cord injury led her to discover quilting as both a creative outlet and a source of healing. In 2004, she found her artistic home in Paducah, Kentucky, where she began merging art and traditional quilting to develop her distinctive approach. Now based in Maryland, Aynex returned to quilting during the pandemic, rediscovering the joy of transforming fabric scraps into meaningful works of art. With a background in web design and a passion for creative exploration, her work celebrates resourcefulness, transformation, and the beauty of creating something extraordinary from what remains.