“Sip, Shimmer and Sprout”: A Collaborative Exhibition

Featuring Mike Valle, Sky Bradshaw and Emma Church

The CVA is proud to showcase three member artists working across painting, ceramics, reclaimed materials, and textile art come together in “Sip, Shimmer and Sprout,” a vibrant collaborative exhibition celebrating growth, transformation, storytelling, and the beauty found in everyday experiences.This exhibition aims to celebrate these three top winners of our Juried Member Show of 2025 at the Center for Visual Artists.

Bringing together the work of Mike Valle, Sky Bradshaw, and Emma Church, the exhibition invites viewers to explore how personal history, discarded materials, ancestral traditions, and emotional landscapes can be transformed into meaningful works of art. Though each artist works in a distinct medium, their practices share a common thread: a deep appreciation for the extraordinary potential hidden within ordinary moments, objects, and experiences.

Mike Valle, “Sip”

Originally from New England, Mike Valle brings a unique approach to contemporary mosaic art through his use of reclaimed bottle caps. Having explored a wide variety of creative disciplines throughout his life, including drawing, painting, glassblowing, stained glass, woodworking, and furniture design, Valle earned a degree in Furniture Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design before making North Carolina his home.

What began as a hobby of collecting bottle caps evolved into a distinctive artistic practice that transforms discarded materials into portraits of historic, iconic figures.Through thousands of carefully arranged pieces of "trash" Valle creates striking images that merge traditional portraiture with contemporary pop art aesthetics. His work challenges viewers to reconsider the value of everyday materials we discard, and inspires a fresh perspective on sustainability, creativity, and environmental stewardship.

Sky Bradshaw, “Shimmer”

Sky Bradshaw is a contemporary textile artist, intuitive spiritualist, and energy practitioner whose luminous works combine sequins, embroidery, beading, and paint. Deeply influenced by mentor Edgard Jean-Louis and the Haitian Drapo tradition, her work honors ancestral lineage while embracing a contemporary voice. Every piece is created one sequin at a time, allowing thousands of individual reflections to become something greater than the sum of their parts. Together, they remind us that transformation is not found in any single moment, but in the thousands of small moments that come together to create something extraordinary.

One sequin at a time, Bradshaw creates captivating portraits and compositions that honor ancestors, cultural icons, and the connection between spirit, memory, and transformation. As light moves across the surface, the work is continually changing, inviting viewers to slow down, look more closely, and discover something new with each encounter. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Southeast and includes live art performances, large-scale commissions, and immersive creative experiences that invite viewers to see beauty, connection, and transformation in new ways.

Emma Church “Sprout”

Greensboro native Emma Church is an emerging artist currently pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A 2023 graduate of Northern Guilford High School, Church has studied at the Kiefaber Studio of Arts and furthered her artistic practice through programs at the Penland School of Craft and the Women Working with Clay Symposium in 2026.

Drawing inspiration from her family's agricultural heritage and Southern roots, Church's paintings capture landscapes, routines, and familiar objects from her personal experiences. Many of her works are created en plein air, allowing her to engage directly with the North Carolina landscapes she depicts. Alongside her painting practice, Church creates ceramic sculptures that explore emotional experiences, particularly fear and vulnerability. Blending realism and abstraction with elements of humor and whimsy, her ceramic works encourage viewers to confront their own anxieties while recognizing the unexpected playfulness that often exists alongside them.

About the Exhibition

“Sip, Shimmer and Sprout“ presents an engaging dialogue between three artists whose practices celebrate growth in its many forms. From Church's reflections on place and personal experience, to Valle's transformation of discarded materials, to Bradshaw's radiant explorations of spirit and light, the exhibition demonstrates how creativity can reveal beauty, meaning, and possibility in the world around us.

Together, these artists invite our community to “sip” in the experience of environmentalism, “shimmer” with curiosity and connection, and “sprout” new perspectives through experience.