About Our Speakers

Keith Vinson is a visionary leader and artist whose work bridges community transformation and creative expression. Through photography, he captures whimsical objects, urban landscapes, and the unfiltered depths of human emotion, uncovering extraordinary beauty in the everyday. With a blend of structured planning and spontaneous exploration, Keith’s art invites viewers to connect, reflect, and see the world through a lens of wonder and possibility.

Bonnie's innovative initiatives in the field of medicine and the arts at UTD have been featured in The New York Times and Dallas Morning News. Her work deals with the close observation of works of art to enhance diagnostic skills needed for medical practice. Expanding her research and teaching of the art of observation, meditation and compassion, she uses her Power of Observation initiative connects neurological research with the experience and process of seeing, looking and observing. Through her daily practice to "Do Something New," she invites the exploration and celebration of making an ordinary day extraordinary while dealing with chronic illness. Areas of additional interest are teaching about the history of art and medicine and the power of observation to physicians and medical students.

As an artist and Creative PhD, Giraud Polite has more than 20+ years of visual communications experience and has spent the past two decades visually documenting and researching a variety of ethnic groups on six different continents. As a Louisiana/Texas artist, he has exhibited works extending from digital photography to multimedia arts in a variety of museums, cultural centers and educational institutions. Engaging in landscape photography, Giraud is compelled to add meaning to the environment while connecting with nature and challenging himself to unearth the unnatural and the unseen. He finds joy and fulfillment in combining elements from sparse scenery and intriguing compositions, which are stitched together to create purpose and mindfulness.