Meet the Curators
Drago Renteria (he/him/his) is a Deaf, Chicano, heteroqueer transman and a long-time LGBTQ/social justice activist based in San Francisco. He currently splits his work time between running a small tech company and serving as Executive Director of the national Deaf Queer Resource Center, an organization he founded in 1995 to support, inform, empower, and bring more visibility to and awareness about marginalized Deaf LGBTQ communities.
In addition to his activism work, Drago is also a photojournalist and professional portrait photographer; he studied and received certificates in both genres from City College of San Francisco, one of the oldest and largest photography programs in the country. For the past several of years, Drago has been working to document in visual form the gentrification currently taking place in San Francisco’s Mission District, an area he has called home for over two decades. He eventually plans to publish a book of his work showing how gentrification impacts communities of color.
My name is Clifford Earl Terry (he, him, his), but I prefer to be called Earl, (3-handshape, thumb on chest – sign name). I am currently living in Phoenix, Arizona. I recently moved back to Phoenix, Arizona after living in east coast for 20 years. I am an Afro-Latino American, DeafBlind, Gay male. I have a Deaf brother in Salem, Oregon and a CODA sister who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. I am an ASL teacher at Phoenix Day School for the Deaf, where I graduated from 21 years ago.
Here are a few interesting facts about me. I am third in my family with the name, Clifford. My father’s name is Clifford James Terry and my great grandfather’s name is Clifford Jones Terry. If you take out all of middle names and put them together, you get, “James Earl Jones.” My father’s favorite guitar player. I graduated with a master’s degree in Sign Language Education and a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies. Believe it or not, I once had dreadlocks for 14 years before I inevitably became bald; and I dislike watermelon. My favorite quote: “Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstance.” –Maya Angelou
Delphine Jade (she/her/hers). Delphine has been a licensed behavior specialist consultant at Maternal Child Consortium in Bensalem, PA since the summer of 2018. Delphine received her M.Ed in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arcadia University in 2018 and is currently collecting 1,500 experience hours and studying for Board Certified Behavior Analyst exam. Currently, Delphine lives in Philadelphia, PA. She enjoys traveling to exotic places, running obstacle races, indulging in good fiction novels, and meeting new friends.
Noel King (she/her/hers) is from Little Rock, Arkansas. When she was five months old, she was adopted from Seoul, South Korea by Deaf parents. She graduated from Gallaudet University with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Studio Art. Noel got her first taste as a docent at National Gallery of Art (NGA), which is an art museum in Washington, D.C., where she provided ASL Gallery Tours. She moved to Chicago for two years where she graduated from School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois with a Master’s degree in Art Therapy. Noel brought her passion in art history to the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) to establish the ASL Gallery Talk as a docent, which provides free art education to Deaf Chicago residents every month.
Currently, she lives in San Diego, California and work at Deaf Community Services of San Diego, Inc. (DCS) as a behavioral health therapist. She works in a wide range of settings with clients who have diverse backgrounds, experiences, and lifestyles. One of Noel’s deep passions is to work with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community and expand access to mental health services through providing various approaches to therapy including art therapy. Her goal is to return to school and obtain a doctorate degree in Expressive Therapies in the near future and expand access to art education, art therapy, and art network within the Deaf community. On a more personal side, Noel loves attending art museums and galleries, being a foodie, exploring new art mediums, and traveling.
Bethany Gehman (she/her/hers), M.Ed., is an AASECT certified sexuality educator, and an artist at heart. Bethany has often found herself exploring the multi-dimensional layers of her sexuality through artistic expression as a part of her healing journey. Sexuality in art is a very personal thing, expressed and interpreted in many different ways. Bethany believes that art is one of the most powerful therapeutic processes one can experience to heal from trauma. As a part of her bachelor's degree studio art thesis, she seized the opportunity to explore her sexuality through mixed media photography and drawing, that expression made a lasting impact on her as a Queer person.
Bethany is currently working as a sexuality educator at Family Tree Clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bethany provides sexual health education for people of all ages, conducts professional training, and promotes affirming and comprehensive sexuality education in Deaf K-12 academic programs. She also conducts sexuality interpreting trainings in order for interpreters to provide better access for the Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing, and Late-Deafened communities. She strives to connect with the community through her educational videos and interactions during her workshops / training. She is a firm believer that advocacy and education cannot happen without genuine connections. She is humbled and honored to be part of this influential art gallery to create and promote a space to foster these connections within our Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing and Hearing LGBTQIA+ communities.
Rob Roth (he/him/his) is originally from Chicago and received his undergraduate degree in design at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design, and received his Masters in Art Education at California State University, Northridge. He has worked as a program coordinator for the King County Arts Commission (now 4Culture) in Seattle, and has served as executive director for two non-profit organizations providing social services to the Deaf community in Seattle and in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rob has provided presentations on how Deaf artists express their ‘Deaf Experience’ in their artwork, and is the proud owner of several artworks by Deaf artists. Rob is one of the founders of Deaf Spotlight, an organization that promotes Deaf performing and visual arts and artists in the Pacific Northwest. Now retired, Rob is renewing his interest in creating art.