Eli Kurs-Lasky, an autistic and artistic 30-something, is a writer and self-taught photographer. He was born, raised, and continues to live in Pittsburgh, PA. Eli is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. In January 2025, Eli joined the PAARCC (Pittsburgh Adult Autism Research Community Collaborative) Advisory Board, where he
collaborates with others to advance autism research. Eli has also been involved in numerous projects for Evolve Coaching, where he has helped bolster accessibility by creating and editing both closed captions and audio descriptions.

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“best-kept secrets” is Eli’s first-ever solo art show. When creating a concept for this show, Eli meticulously sifted through his seemingly endless archive of photos, looking for the common threads that pull his art together. As someone who finds inspiration in a wide variety of sources and subjects, this proved to be a difficult task
until he came back to a sentence he wrote in an essay published in the summer of 2025— “My hope is that my work encourages people to look twice at things they otherwise don’t even notice once.” From that, Eli worked backwards, realizing that what catches his eye are the things that others don’t see or seem to notice. The title “best-kept secrets” is a nod to those things, and all the nooks and crannies Eli finds while out exploring. He is constantly chasing the feeling of satisfaction that comes with making the mundane magical and capturing new views of old places.

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25% of each sale benefits the Sharpsburg Community Library.