Dakota Gearhart is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York. Her artwork examines the environment and how it is perceived. She creates a collaborative animated series called Life Touching Life that invites scientists, researchers, and caretakers to share observations on consciousness and its relationship to biodiversity. Her work has been supported by the New Museum, United States Artists, Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, Franklin Furnace, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches as Visiting Faculty at NYU and Pratt Institute.

The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program awards rent-free non-living studio space to 17 visual artists for year-long residencies in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Its mission is to provide working studio space and community for artists. Artists are selected annually based on merit from a competitive pool of applicants by a professional jury comprised of artists and members of the SWSP Artists Advisory Committee.

The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program is the new face of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program, developed for artists, by artists in 1991. In 2014 the program was renamed the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program to honor the legacy of Marie Walsh Sharpe and reflect the new sponsorship and commitment of the Walentas Family Foundation.