Art Worth Sharing: Dallas College Creatives Step Into the City Spotlight

April 14, 2026

April’s Arts Month shines a spotlight on the creative talent emerging from Dallas College. Thanks to partnerships with venues and galleries across the city, students in the Dallas College School of Creative Arts, Entertainment and Design gain real-world experience and professional exposure.

Here, three featured April artists share their stories and the role Dallas College has played in their artistic development.

Lolita Khugayeva

Lolita Khugayeva paints in studio at Hilton Anatole. When Lolita Khugayeva’s teacher first mentioned the Emerging Artist Residency at the Hilton Anatole, she saw a door opening. Now the El Centro studio art major is spending her free time turning the hotel studio into a gateway for her career.

An international student from Kazakhstan, Khugayeva is in her third semester. She will graduate in Spring 2027 and hopes to transfer to earn an advanced degree.

This is Khugayeva’s first residency, and she said she is constantly striving to get her work seen and build her portfolio. “Dallas College has opened so many doors for me,” she said.

As a part of the 10-week residency, she and Emily Olshevski from Khugayeva’s work in progress. Richland Campus were each given an honorarium and provided a small studio space at Hilton Anatole to work out of and display their artwork.

“We can come first thing in the morning and stay until late at night, but school is my priority,” she explained, adding that she’s currently working on a painting of the Grand Canyon.

“What’s interesting about this residency is that hotel guests are welcome to come into the space and see us working. I share my work and show them the process. At first, I was a little hesitant but it’s very cool,” she said.

Khugayeva works primarily with acrylic and oil paints — starting with acrylics and switching to oil paints toward the end to bring out details.

“It’s amazing to have a whole month dedicated to art,” she said of Arts Month, adding that she plans to attend as many events as possible. “I think it’s a big opportunity to share and connect with other artists and learn about their experiences.”

Both Khugayeva and Olshevski will present their artwork at a closing reception in mid-May.

Stephen Lee

Stephen Lee stands in front of one of his sculptures. Stephen Lee studied sculpture at Occidental College in Los Angeles and industrial design at California State University. He then worked for 20 years in corporate design. The job required him to move frequently, and for a period of time he lived away from his family. It wasn’t easy. When he lost his job during the COVID pandemic, it was time for a change.

He wanted to get back to sculpture.

“I heard that the program at Brookhaven was really good, so I took a sculpture class with Natalie Macellaio in the summer of 2021,” said Lee. “I thought it was the best way to start making art again and connect with that community.”

“Dallas College partners with arts organizations; the networking is great,” said Lee, adding that the college provides an arts ecosystem where you have traditional students coming in right after high school to learn art, but you also have practicing artists taking classes.

He credits his instructors for keeping students informed about opportunities in the community. Lee has now taken 10 arts classes at Dallas College, but is currently too busy making art to take classes, but he does plan to return.

Around 2024, Lee began showing his sculptures at high-end art fairs and shows and he’s since been awarded several public art commissions. He stays connected to Dallas College.When an opportunity came for an alum to exhibit at a gallery space in Plaza of the Americas, Randall Garrett, Dallas College art collection manager, reached out.

Lee is thrilled to exhibit as part of Arts Month celebrations. “Dallas has a thriving arts community. Connecting students to opportunities is a huge boost for artists. Engaging with sculpture, painting, printmaking and ceramics students and faculty, you learn about what is happening around town. Dallas College helps students kickstart their careers,” said Lee.

Lee said his exhibit explores the “elegance of complexity.”

“Steel and mortar are my primary materials because they let me fabricate intuitively, edit freely, and avoid rigidity. This process honors the time and decisions the work lives through, resulting in handmade textures that aim to embody authenticity and vulnerability,” he said.

“My sculptures mirror how I see the world: layers of interwoven tensions that make coexistence fragile yet just compatible enough to adapt and keep moving. I often hold multiple perspectives at once and feel the nuanced pull between instinct and analysis, and that internal landscape shapes my work. I call it elegant because that complex web of tensions is the single life-force of our system.”

Positioning emerging artists in a professional gallery space like Artspace of the Americas demonstrates the college’s commitment to student visibility, community engagement and downtown partnerships.

Amy Branch-Lambert

Amy Branch-Lambert at work with ceramics. Amy Branch-Lambert was inspired to start making art when her stepdaughter, Abby, was studying design in college. Branch-Lambert met Brett Dyer, now Dallas College senior director of gallery and live events, at a community studio. He was a North Lake faculty member at the time and suggested she take classes.

Her love for creating art took off as a second career, and she’s now been taking classes at Dallas College for more than 10 years. These days, she mostly works in ceramics but it’s one of her paintings that is currently on display in the first-floor lobby of the Omni Dallas Hotel.

The painting, “Strength in the City,” is a skyline from the perspective of the Trinity River Bottoms district of Dallas.

“The women in the painting represent the mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters who have Strength in the City, by Branch-Lambert. worked over the generations to build community in the Bottoms, while facing challenges and hardship, and sustain it through the years.  Their contributions reach deep and wide and are rarely recognized,” explained Branch-Lambert.

“The painting was made with many layers and patterns of paint, representing the different ways individuals contribute to the community and build togetherness by offering their specific and unique gifts — coming together to create a whole,” she said.

Branch-Lambert poses with her painting at Dallas Omni Hotel. Through Dallas College connections she’s had opportunities to her first solo show at Goldmark Cultural Center, then Irving Arts Center, and across the country.

Branch-Lambert said the ability to display work in the community is immeasurably valuable to artists. “As a culture we take art for granted without thinking about the people behind the art. It’s important to put the spotlight on artists,” she said.

The Omni exhibit, Contemporary Canvas: Iconic Art of the City, features alumni and student artwork from the college’s Permanent Collection that explore the visual identity of Dallas. Paintings by Isabella Brown, Kathy Castillo, Marco Antonio Alvarado Rangel, Gigi Spells and Ashley Torres are also exhibited through April 30.

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