Preferring satire to sentimentality, Bernadette Negrete dismisses the idea that poetry and art need to make grand statements, instead inhabiting a space between cowboy nonchalance and the tenderness of love and community. Negrete uses poetry and art as a way to navigate sexuality, family, feeling, and her experiences as a Mexican-American woman. She graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2022 and now works as an educator for Public Programs and Creative Practice at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.