2022 USA Fellowship
2022 USA Fellowship
“One thing that surprised me this year was the reminder of how powerful seeing one's own image is. I take that for granted because I'm in the rare position of seeing lots of African films, so it feels like everybody has the same opportunity. And while things have changed a great deal since I was a child, seeing thoughtful, hopeful, and affirming African stories still isn't as widespread or common as it should and should be. I am constantly humbled to meet people who watch my film and feel "seen" for the first time. What that does for their health and psyche, that feeling and knowledge, never grows old.”
![Portrait of a woman with long, black hair and brown skin. She smiles, almost as if in mid-laugh. Her head thrown slightly back, her eyes half open, and her body tilting left. Her right hand is raised up to her shoulder, mid-motion, giving the image an even more candid feel. She wears a bright yellow, off the shoulder, African printed top.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/6f05a4ad-0b8f-4fe4-9df3-9417bf4b8b81/ekwa-msangi-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Ekwa Msangi
Writer and Director
Ekwa Msangi. Director reel.
“I am encouraged to witness a growing number of people working to contextualize Crafts beyond materiality, natural history, tradition, and technique. Contemporary Craft is deserving of platforms for audiences to consider trajectories which push into new economic, cultural, social, and political territories. Complex and sophisticated craft traditions can be found in the most mundane of locales and made of commonplace materials. I hope we continue to flush out these wonders so they can optimally inspire.”
![A headshot of a man with tan skin and a reddish-brown full beard. His expressionless face is seen from a three-quarter view. He wears a grey kufi, and a navy-blue collared shirt with sky blue and olive green vertical stripes.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/1b0f163a-23e2-467b-8749-41010daa0285/sharif-bey-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Sharif Bey
Ceramicist
![An abstract grey stone sculpture resembling a bird with a beaked head, long neck, oblong triangular body, and two-cylinder shaped legs. The sculpture stands on a circular pedestal that is covered in jagged ceramic shards.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c2efbe4e-913a-484d-abd2-faf5ccb262ea/bey-sharif2-4.jpeg?crop=1200%2C1803%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Sharif Bey. Ceremonial Vessel #1, 2016, Earthenware and mixed media, dimensions 17 × 10 × 10 inches.
Photo by Nathan J. Shaulis.
“Our most recent lesson: it takes a village! The pandemic taught us that only by building and fostering community can we weather uncertainty, as our small office pulled together creatively to maintain functionality. Quarantine also showed us all that space matters, that quality of space and access to air and light should be a right. These lessons converged in our involvement with the Neighborhoods Now initiative, through which we designed and installed public outdoor seating in the hard-hit neighborhood of Jackson Heights.”
![A portrait of a woman and man in the model shop of the SO – IL studio in downtown Brooklyn. The shop is full of white shelves and metallic tables, which contrast sharply with the two artist's dark clothing. The two people look small amongst the busy shelving and bric-a-brac of the studio. The woman stands next to the seated man, her arm resting on his shoulder as they look in opposite directions.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/7387cd4d-90ad-4fec-b4c7-6a0ccf8d95e6/so-il-1.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
SO–IL (Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg)
Architects
![Photo of a view down an outdoor passageway of light, textured concrete, leading to a doorway. A triangular awning hangs overhead.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/e922ebe7-b87e-43a7-8246-315d1d12cf7e/so-il-work-sample-1.jpeg?crop=1200%2C1799%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
SO–IL. Amant art campus. East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Photo by Rafael Gamo.
“To be awarded such an amazing honor leaves me speechless. We all wish to be acknowledged and applauded for our work, and I am so very fortunate to gain that opportunity. Not bad for a kid from Chicago.”
![A portrait of a man sitting in an empty showroom, his right leg perched on a roll of blue paper and his arms resting on his thighs. He is dressed in a pink t-shirt, pink fur coat, black jeans, Space Jam Air Jordan’s, and New Era baseball cap.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c81f710a-fdb4-412e-b079-ff5508139b65/germane-d-barnes-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Germane Barnes
Architect
![Photo of six chairs set up in a museum space. The backs of the chairs are carved to resemble hair combs, each one in a slightly different style. The seats of the chairs are woven with a red-and-white design.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/45b08270-3b49-4bde-a70f-ab044ab074ed/barnes-germaine-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C780%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown.
Photo by Steven Brooke.
“The physical nature of my work and emotional intensity of it helped me recover from each of the 5 surgeries I had between 2020 and 2021. My work with unseen forces in my practice, heightened my intuition about the inner workings of my body during moments of emergency and healing. Being an artist isn't just about making art, it is about how the practice sculpts you into a wiser, more courageous, compassionate and flexible being.”
![A headshot of a nonbinary artist with brown skin, large dark eyes and short curly hair smiles at the camera. Their right arm is crossed over their left shoulder and rests on their floral shirt. A grouping of candles, representing their ancestors, can be seen behind them.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/90f15f5b-ab0d-4503-b6cd-16f45e683d52/indira-allegra-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Indira Allegra
Performance Artist and Sculptor
![A photograph of an outdoor performance on a waterfront. A performer leans back, supported by taut red ribbons tied at their waist that stretch beyond the frame to the right. The performer wears a white shirt, red pants, and a medical mask.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/527eb0df-b7d2-47f6-a27f-b7ce181e2d10/allegra-indira-work-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C801%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Corresponding Sites, 2021. 30 minutes. Commissioned by The Wattis Institute.
Photo by Chani Bockwinkel.
“We've experienced firsthand the fragility of our connections to one another and the necessity of reinforcing those bonds in intentional and infrastructural ways. People in many artistic disciplines are rebelling against the inadequacy of current institutions, and creating new institutions that reflect their values. We feel incredibly fortunate to be part of various networks of solidarity through this period of extraordinary upheaval. We continue to explore our core concerns and make work that unsettles.”
![A headshot of two people. Jennifer, an African-American woman with glasses and long natural locs, wears a black shirt and looks directly at the camera with her head tilted to the side. Tom, a white male with brown hair and a subtle beard, wears a black shirt and looks directly at the camera. Both are standing in front of a black background.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/23a04135-6e82-4ee1-848b-82e709b04e01/dream-the-combine-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Dream The Combine (Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers)
Installation Artists and Architects
![A photo of a person, blurred from movement, ascending a metal ramp with walls of translucent blue fabric. The ramp zig-zags across the interior space where it has been set up.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/97936157-5dbb-414f-a74f-50f80092ef8e/dream-the-combine-work-sample-2-2.jpeg?crop=1200%2C900%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Lure, 2019. Debris net, steel, 24 × 56 × 60 feet.
Photo by Caylon Hackwith.
“For years I've focused on Palestinian embroidery, being that it's such an emblematic Palestinian cultural export, and I consider it the center of my practice. That being said, in the past year I've endeavored to expand the materials I work with, turning to other, maybe lesser-known Palestinian and Levantine craft practices for inspiration. I currently have been developing works using three different, new media: metalwork covered with handmade glass-beads, a technique practiced in Hebron, Palestine; wooden objects inlaid with brass, mother of pearl, and various woods, a technique employed across the Levant; and basket weaving using wheat, which is found in Palestine and throughout the Levant. The widening of my scope across other crafts than embroidery has been exciting, enlightening, and has solidified my commitment to craftsmanship and learning the cultural traditions of my ancestors.”
![A portrait of a man with a pale complexion sitting in front of a light grey background. He has short, cropped brown hair, and wears a blue silk button-down shirt.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/27e2b78e-d171-4b84-a3f2-808262a0da80/jordan-nassar-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Jordan Nassar
Multidisciplinary Artist
![A rectangular piece comprised of colorful diamond shapes. The background of the image is visually split in two, with the right half of the image patterned yellow and light green and the left half of the image blue and dark green. In the center of the image, the diamond shapes become multi-colored to create the image of a mountain peak with blues, greens, yellows, and pinks.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/b2d85d2b-fb41-4df2-8912-d65b3a93aa4f/Nassar,-Jordan-sample-1.jpg?crop=2000%2C1333%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Jordan Nassar. A Yellow World A Blue Sun, 2020. Hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, dimensions 33.5 × 55 inches.
Photo by Phoebe d'Heurle; courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles; and The Third Line, Dubai.
“My practice has evolved immensely this past year and throughout the pandemic. The separation from the regular routine of work allowed for a reflection on what had been important to me in my exploration of architecture, art and public space. I took the time to make again. Making with my hands reminded me of how liberating and joyful it can be to allow the intuition in my hands to direct formal.”
![Portrait of an African American woman with short hair and brown skin. She sits leaning slightly forward with her arms crossed across her knees. She is dressed in all-black and is wearing yellow-rimmed glasses. She sits in front of a geometric volume in the background.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/1e5f9a0d-36d7-4b45-9a43-d4e091e20762/nina-cooke-john-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Nina Cooke John
Architect and Public Artist
![Photo of an outdoor art installation at night. Six bright red architectural sculptures are constructed on the cement of a public plaza, illuminated by lights. The frames of each structure are strung with ropes, to create an inviting space.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/6b7fcc31-535b-43ad-805e-01034f659c4b/john-nina-cooke-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C800%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Point of Action, 2020. Flatiron Public Plazas.
Photo by Tony Turner Photography.
“Artists work to imagine futures, synthesizing the past with the present through material exploration. This is a messy process, which requires are unique balance of sincerity, deep contemplation, light-heartedness, and faith.”
![A portrait of a Chinese/Filipino individual standing in front of a white wall. They smile warmly at the viewer with their arms casually crossed at the chest. They wear a wonderfully bright colored, quilted jacket; striped red, yellow, and blue.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/0b545fe3-a482-461f-94de-0207de782091/jovencio-de-la-paz-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Jovencio de la Paz
Weaver
![A vertical textile strip placed against an off-white canvas. The textile is grey with yellow, blue, white, and red blocks sporadically patterned like an old computer punch card.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/fc7094a7-ad19-4342-9ff1-d4687a271884/de-la-paz-jovencio-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C1637%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Jovencio de la Paz. Bionumeric Organisms 2.0, 2021. Handwoven TC2 textile and canvas, cotton, dimensions 36 × 24 inches.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
“This year, nineteenth months into the pandemic, I've learned to find a new pace and slower rhythm in my practice. I've learned that some burdens are not meant to be held alone, that in confronting the scarcity complex that encircles ego and unlarning a culture obsessed with single-authorship and hero's journeys, I could share in the abundance and collective healing that comes with co-creating work. With co-creation comes a new methodology for artistic process: one that prioritizes relationships and "moving at the speed of trust," as adrienne maree brown puts it; that is accountable to the community and creates a benefit to them; that grows locally and is rooted in intergenerational community knowledge and expertise; and that is grounded in collective care.”
![An Algerian-American woman sits in darkness under a bright spotlight. Her face glows under the illumination as she looks directly into the camera. Her head is crowned with curly brown hair, framing a stoic and determined face. Her body is posed with her hands clasped in her lap.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/26bb40ab-ed17-465f-923b-779f4fda458c/assia-boundaoui-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Assia Boundaoui
Documentarian
Assia Boundaoui. The Feeling of Being Watched trailer.
“My art-making begins with a devotion to the moving body. I don’t know where it ends. Dance is my refuge, my drug, my practice. After these past two years, I'm not sure what and whom it's for. It is, and must continue to be. That I do know.”
![A headshot of a woman standing in front of a white backdrop. She looks directly at the viewer, mouth slightly agape, and a burst of curly brown hair piled on top of her head. She wears an orange hoodie over a leopard print top.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c8175a67-0993-4376-a87f-a397e2c4df44/netta-yerushalmy-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Netta Yerushalmy
Dancer and Choreographer
Netta Yerushalmy. Paramodernities #4: "Inter-Body Event" trailer.
“Over the past year my practice has taught me the value of unproductivity. That aimlessly wandering is a form of rest and that idleness isn’t a luxury but essential to my healing.I’ve learned to show up to the studio with no agenda and meet myself at that day’s edge. I’ve learned to give grief its space. I’ve learned when to push and when to find stillness.”
![A portrait of a Black woman with an asymmetrical afro, standing in front of an apricot-colored wall. Her eyes are closed and adorned with purple eyeshadow. She appears to be breathing in, mid-inhale. Her fingertips lightly touch her neck, her face glowing, and her lips spreading into a big smile, giving a look of both serenity and joy.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/db14d8bb-9f2c-4a18-8e5c-5aef7140f166/jenn-pochop-freeman.jpg?crop=1080%2C1080%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop
Multidisciplinary Artist and Burlesque Performer
![Close up photograph of a wooden chair on its side. A person wearing a tan suit reclines behind the wooden slats of the chair’s back, holding them as though they were bars. A brick wall is visible in the background.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/0a9a1ffc-42ff-4418-b002-5c297ccd672c/freeman-jenn-pochop-sample-1.png?crop=1600%2C900%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Jenn Freeman | Po'Chop. LITANY | Pt. V | Dynamite, 2020. Filmed at Rebuild Foundation by Jordan Phelps.
Courtesy of the artist.
“I am thinking about how we shift from ideas of land-owning to collective land-belonging; and I'm curious how cultivation of plants informs human body-based artistic practices, what kind of movement and technologies might emerge, how humans can practice sharing space with plants and each other, and how plants an be a reminder of what's at stake globally.”
![A tan person with short black hair and a mole just above the left side of her lip looks into the camera. She wears a dark blue shirt speckled with white dots.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/6336aa5f-f555-4592-93d9-d56b6363c632/pramila-vasudevan.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Pramila Vasudevan
Choreographer and Transdisciplinary Artist
Pramila Vasudevan. Parking Ramp Project, 2018. Annicha Arts.
“I still get emotional watching my rehearsals. Bodies moving so generously and committed to what I propose is still a wonderful feeling. I am thankful that after all this years I find it adventurous and a little scary. Making a new piece gives me a chance to keep on exploring something like risky behavior, even if it is private.”
![A portrait of a woman sitting on the floor in an interior space, in front of a couch. She sits with her legs extended in front of her, crossed at the knee, and her hands in mid motion at her waist. She has red curly hair with silver roots, blue framed glasses, and pink lipstick. She looks directly out at the viewer, with a small smile.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/67959ccf-2d9c-45ac-a3d6-f463b8c2aee6/viveca-vazquez-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Viveca Vázquez
Experimental Choreographer
![A photograph of a person who lunges with their right leg forward and arms above her head. She is posing in a small room, in profile. The walls are covered in white paper with black paint smeared on it.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/f9490e98-1833-478f-85d2-6da1f63fb874/vazquez-viveca-work-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C801%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Viveca Vázquez. Improvisation at a public investigation laboratory, Hidrante Gallery, San Juan.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
![A woman performs onstage. She wears a metallic suit jacket and stands in front of a dark red curtain.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/227cb046-e80a-43ee-a8e4-3e0ca8fabff6/Screenshot2024-07-15at8.11.50PM.png?crop=2880%2C1620%2C0%2C90&width=1000)
Marga Gomez talks about producing comedy at a Latinx drag club and the influence of her Cuban Comedian father, Willy Chevalier.
“Artists are archivists, translators, and inventors who are expanding and extending research into something that can be felt. Artists are excellent at modeling potentials for change that can be reproduced and scaled up.”
![Portrait of an Ethiopian-American woman sitting on a brownstone stoop on a sunny Brooklyn day. She is looking away from the camera and wears a green puffy jacket with her hair in a ponytail.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/756c82fe-7ca7-4bd4-a4ed-067cb7591e8d/salome-asega-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Salome Asega
New Media Artist
![Virtual reality graphic still, looking down on a natural environment of palm trees, grasses, and rocks in muted greens.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/69752cd9-818b-4eff-954b-b6294cc96a95/asega-salome-work-sample-2-3.png?crop=1200%2C676%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Salome Asega. Still from P0SSESI0N, 2021. VR film about spirit possession and Mami Wata.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
“I never know what I’m looking for. And I’m mostly ok with that. This year, I realized how much I rely on that sense of uncertainty to make the work. You never know where you’ll end up. Embrace the unknown, and the possibilities are infinite.”
![A portrait of a brown-skinned man sitting with his hands resting on a 1951 Gibson ES-150 electric guitar. He sits in shadow in front of a wood panelled wall, with specks of sunlight punctuating the image. He looks out at the viewer from behind black horn-rimmed glasses with an expressionless face. He has short dreadlocked hair and a small chin beard.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/7f9ae570-8e74-4817-9816-99a41eb17568/jeff-parker-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Jeff Parker
Musician and Composer
Jeff Parker & The New Breed, "Max Brown" from Suite for Max Brown, 2020. Filmed and directed by Mikel Patrick Avery.
“Although I was fortunate to have a fairly successful debut narrative feature, the next film I want to make is a very ambitious, a magical realism pop music opera set in Japanese occupied Philippines during WWII. Initiatives like USA also someone like me to continue to pursue writing and researching this film while still being able to support myself.”
![A portrait of a Filipino American with dark brown hair and large tortoiseshell glasses. She looks directly at the viewer, smiling, and resting her head in her right hand.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/094ec7f2-2c7a-44a4-bca8-e5b48cd79812/diane-paragas-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Diane Paragas
Filmmaker
Diane Paragas. Yellow Rose trailer.
“As an improvising artist, the isolation of the past year due to Covid 19 reaffirmed the essential importance of a present audience in my creative process. The transformational power of music has everything to do with immediate communication and being in community with the people who are receiving the work. I am excited to be in the presence of everyone again as things continue to open.”
![A portrait of a man standing in front of a cement wall with grey paint peeling off the surface. The man looks directly at the viewer, with his hands clasped behind his back. He has curly blonde hair and brown eyes. He wears a blue button-down shirt and denim jeans.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/98293a17-06b1-4d63-9658-91bf01e09637/craig-taborn-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Craig Taborn
Pianist, Composer, and Electronic Musician
Live at Skopje Jazz Festival, 2015.
“It’s cool that you want to make the art in your museum accessible for disabled people, we really appreciate the gesture, but it would be a lot cooler if you were to feature our art as well.”
![A white man with sandy blonde hair, curved eyebrows, and a full red-and-gray beard. His head tilts up at the viewer with slightly raised brows. He is smiling with his mouth closed showing his dimples.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/0ef0ea4b-c4d6-4e9a-a628-046a938b011a/andy-slater-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Andy Slater
Media Artist
Andy Slater. Sound as Sight at Humboldt/Columbus.
And So We Walked, created and performed by DeLanna Studi, 2018. Portland Center Stage at The Amory.
“I’ve learned, more than ever, that my artistic practice is a survival technique. It is a language that has brought me closer to the earth and to strangers who appreciate and understand it. My practice is the biggest part of my self. My work is my breath, my activism, my reason for existence.”
![A headshot of a person standing in front of a white wall. They look directly ahead with an expressionless face, perhaps just the hint of a smile. They have dark curly hair and beard stubble. They wear a black peacoat, with a graphic printed shirt peeking out around the collar.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/e2354271-d7a2-4492-8c64-d49f7dcf79f5/machine-dazzle-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Machine Dazzle
Artist and Designer
![A nude White woman luxuriates on a background of black fabric. The left side of her torso is engulfed in the deep folds of pink fabric that circle around her head and is tucked under her bent knees.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/6812d91a-c95e-4eac-b094-88f151e2f2a0/machine-dazzle-sample-2-2.jpeg?crop=1200%2C1501%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Photo by Steven Menendez.
Slow Moving Luminaries by Lars America Jan, 2017. Curated by Kathleen Forde and presented by Audemars Piguet Art Commission at Art Basel Miami.
![Photo of a stage play, the actors in 19th century period costume and a chandelier hangs above them. A boy in a vest and top hat moves his hips in an exaggerated motion, while others, including a woman in a blue hoop dress, a man in red face paint, and a man in blackface, stand behind him on the stage looking shocked.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/acec3070-0f2d-420b-9fc1-22109edd49c4/garrett-nataki-sample-3-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C827%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs Jenkins, directed by Nataki Garrett. Performed at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in 2016.
“One surprising thing I learned through my practice this year has been the value of patience, reflection, and community. We suffered great losses during the pandemic. Yet somehow we managed to continue creating work in different ways, continuing in a way that heals, including ourselves. In my opinion, musicians became essential workers. Music healed us in more ways than I ever imagined or expected. Social media became our connecting friend, our catalyst for activism, social justice, kindness, and community support.”
![A headshot of a Native and African American woman, wearing a Senegalese braided hairstyle. She wears pink lipstick, wampum shell earrings, heishi shell necklace, and green-patterned blouse.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/4d60d491-15f8-4715-abb7-deac55cfac58/martha-redbone-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Martha Redbone
Vocalist, Songwriter, Composer, and Educator
Martha Redbone performs her Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST performance from her home studio in Brooklyn's Navy Yards.
“[My practice] always reminds me of all the energies of how alive we are with our music, art, dance, theatre, writing, filmmaking, building, and beyond. Beginning with just sparks of ideas and inspiration from generations ago of family, friends, nature, all creatures that surround us that gets to grow and grow until we're all twirled up into creative and collaborative societies that are listening together to the world around us each day.”
![A portrait of a woman standing in front of an enormous tree holding an Apache Violin. She looks directly at the viewer, holding the instrument on her left forearm in front of her torso. She has long dark hair, wing-tipped eyeliner, and colorful patterned garments that both clash with and complement one another.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/32ff2ba9-32b8-4714-992f-1783d45e0b41/laura-ortman-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Laura Ortman
Musician and Composer
Moon Media Session with Laura Ortman, 2016.
![A group of musicians performs on stage. From left to right: a woman holds a banjo; Brett plucks at a fiddle with his fingers, while the bow dangles in front of him; a woman plays the double bass, a man with a guitar strums.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/69f9f473-6038-40c3-9028-89ce975c2f32/ratliff-brett-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C801%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
The High Tops perform at 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky.
![An abstract design ripples across the background, which is made of quilted material. The lines of the design look like faces in profile, painted in white forming a stark contrast against the blacks and greens of the background.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/f44f29da-3fdd-4497-946d-8bf4f10384b2/holley-lonnie-work-sample2-2.jpg?crop=1200%2C1200%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
I Can Always Fly by Lonnie Holley, 2020. Paint, oil stick, spray paint, on quilt and wood, 49 × 49 inches.
![A quilt of many textures, colors, and patterns depicting a Black woman weaving a basket in a wicker chair. She sits on a field of turquoise, green, and purple fabric.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/26ea5f69-b263-4fcb-86b7-6e4f9a34abde/hartwell-peggie-work-sample-2-2.jpeg?crop=1200%2C1078%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Sweetgrass Basket Weaver by Peggie Hartwell, 2018. Cotton/batik fabrics, cotton batting, and thread, 40 × 40 inches.
“More than ever, my art practice has been an important factor in my survival this past year. I’ve used my art to process. I’ve also used my art as a way of speaking up for and with my community.”
![A headshot of a brown man with two brown braids on either side of his head. He looks directly at the viewer with a stoic expression. He is wearing a jean jacket and a yellow beaded necklace.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/a522289e-da70-4a2e-a3d8-28cab0a202d4/marty-two-bulls-jr-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Marty Two Bulls Jr.
Interdisciplinary Artist
![A framed black and white printed fabric on a bright yellow background. The abstract geometric shapes of the illustration are arranged to look like the Oglala Sioux Tribe flag, a sunlike pattern. Borders of very small, illegible text, frame the illustration of the sun like newspaper columns. The right side of the fabric frays into the yellow background.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/23f1ae59-4363-4e30-a8b6-f259135d2ecf/two-bulls-jr-marty-sample-1-3.png?crop=1200%2C1311%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Lakota Quarantine Flag (Red Shirt Table Health Checkpoint) by Marty Two Bulls Jr., 2020. Printed fabric, sorrow, bravery, fear, wind, sun, rain, and hail, 25 × 23 inches.
Photo by Ashley Pourier.
"Mi Pueblito en la Ciudad" by César Castro, 2020.
“Connection is strong medicine. With the potential to heal across time and space, it can doctor through soft touches, sweet smells, and aching memories. Connection is medicine, and it is the connection between my beadwork, the wisdom of those who came before, and contemporary issues that fuels my work.”
![A headshot of a woman of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She looks directly at the viewer and smiles. Her long silver hair falls past her shoulders. She wears earrings and a necklace made of Wampum, crafted from the shells of the Quahog clam.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c02cf2dd-9adb-48e9-b8e7-a213d7e6e358/karen-ann-hoffman-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Karen Ann Hoffman
Haudenosaunee Raised Beadwork Artist
![White and black beaded embroidery on a dark background. The image is a flat and stylized image of a caribou standing under a flowering vine. The embroidered scene is framed by a brown marbled background.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/4f1d7185-62e7-48dd-8ff3-b79a9a640e5a/hoffman-karen-ann-worksample2-4.jpg?crop=1200%2C947%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Rock Art Caribou by Karen Ann Hoffman, 2015. Glass beads on velvet, Lake Superior and agates in a ceramic frame, 32 × 30 inches.
Photo by James Gill Photography.
"Moan to Me (For Blind Willie Johnson)" from Krip-Blues Stories EP by The Black Kripple aka Leroy F. Moore Jr, 2017.
[No strawberry moon]
No strawberry moon for me, tonight. No strawberry moon. This small house creaks when I walk and open it. I have to weigh it, to goddess or not tonight. Goddess or godless. God is in my sleeping children’s presence tonight. I use words like god when I haven’t seen the strawberry moon, less when I haven’t been so generous. It’s not about gender—ess or less—but heft of the weight. Inside me like a baby. When people procreate. Romance a dashing thing. The harvest upon us. Will we feast or collapse in exhaustion tonight which is every?
"[No strawberry moon]" by Emmy Pérez, 2016. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 14, 2016 by the Academy of American Poets.
“Quarantine time passed in a way I have never experienced, producing a strange, wonderful inattention to each day's progression. Inside of that unstructured time, my mind was allowed to wander or to think of nothing at all. It was that wandering nothingness from which language emerged as if not coming from my thoughts, but from elsewhere.”
![A headshot of a black, masculine-of-center queer person with a faux hawk style haircut. She is wearing short sleeved black coveralls with her arms folded. She is smiling.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/5df6822d-123b-4fc6-ade2-353c322cee31/dawn-lundy-martin-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Dawn Lundy Martin
Poet and Writer
When my brother was a teenager and I was in grade school, he let some bullying kids from his high school convince him to skip the day and invited them over to our house. The boys refused to leave after being asked, so my brother grabbed our father’s shotgun and corralled them into the bathroom, the barrel pointed in the boys’ direction. The bathroom door now locked, my brother held the rifle, luckily, up toward the ceiling so that when his finger slipped and the mechanism went off, the bullet, with its massive force, went through the second-floor ceiling, the attic, and then out the roof of the house into the sky. How the rest of the family received the details of the incident, I can’t recall. But to travel home now is to walk beneath the hole in the ceiling stuffed with newspaper from 1978. To return is also to encounter the past lurking behind me, contorting its face so I can really feel it—its truncated force, whispering a ghost voice into my ear.
If I believed in omens, I’d say the shotgun incident was the worst of omens, literary in its foreshadowing. We can smell a hint of devastation, can’t we, a scent you can’t quite recognize upon first whiff, but you turn your nose away knowingly. Where will our characters end up? Our armed protagonist? The girl who tells the story? When I began working on this essay I wanted it to be about fate—how two black kids raised by the same working class parents could have radically different life outcomes because, as fate would have it, divergent occurrences compelled divergent paths. Bruce never went back to the high school with the bullying boys. He dropped out. It’s around this time when my parents get a call in the middle of the night that Bruce is in custody at the local precinct for being caught in a stolen car. It’s the 1970s and no charges are pressed. Boys being boys. That night, my father beats my brother mercilessly with a washing machine hose in the dank basement of our house. The chaos of a violence like that is astonishing. The cacophonous screaming. The inability for anyone to stop it. The cold pallor that hangs in the air afterward. A chasm emerged between us—me, floating off like some wandering balloon; my brother tethered tightly to a familiar story of trouble and poverty, like most of the kids in our neighborhood.
The question of fate was a fake question. It was a refusal to see how the good daughter is a part of the problem. As a kid, I was the exception, the one who would make it out of the ghetto, the one bussed out of town for school. I liked being the exception. I loved the ways people’s eyes would glimmer when I told them any little thing about my life, or when I, simply said anything aloud. “So well-spoken,” the middle class blacks would say. I basked, annoyingly, in their glow. I didn’t mind either when my brother failed because his failure meant my light shone even brighter. When Bruce is 17, already dropped out of high school, and I am 11, I’m allowed to go on ski vacations with the white families whose children I go to school with. I cannot ski, but they are patient. I don’t notice that I’m the only black face on the Vermont slopes. On the first trip, I’ve brought with me my beloved copy of Thoreau’s Walden, or Life in the Woods, not that I could understand much of it. I loved it anyway, however, for its mysteriousness, and for how its “I” stands so solidly in the wilderness.
Excerpt of "When a Person Goes Missing" by Dawn Lundy Martin, 2018.
![A painting of a cartoonish figure falling against an abstracted, striped sky hung with polka-dotted clouds. His eyes and mouth are wide with apparent alarm. The figure is clothed in many different colors and patterns with white boots and gloves, encircled by loops of white.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/df33f5d5-153a-4c3c-900d-e90102fd1a3e/williams-peter-work-sample-1.jpg?crop=1280%2C964%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
On the Way by Peter Williams, 2019. Oil and graphite on canvas, 72 × 96 inches.
![A photograph of a plaza in a modern urban environment under a slightly overcast sky. The plaza is surrounded by buildings with prominent glass windows. In the center of the square is a tall stone obelisk with a gold inscription reading, “I was a stranger and you took me in."](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/2dbe9ee8-7b57-4b4f-be23-8607fb686925/oguibe-olu-sample-1-3.png?crop=1200%2C800%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Das Fremdlinge und Flüchtlinge Monument (Strangers and Refugees Monument) by Olu Oguibe, 2017. Outdoor monumental sculpture made from concrete and stainless steel with engraved and gilded text in English, German, Arabic, and Turkish languages, 18.8 × 18.8 × 53.2 feet. Kassel, Germany.
Photo by Reimund Lill; courtesy of the artist.
“The hardest part about making art is creating. Any idea you have, no matter how big or small, just create, create, create.”
![A Polaroid of a shirtless man seen from the shoulders up. His skin is lit in stark contrast, with the left half of his face in shadow. He has short brown hair and a goatee. His chest and shoulders are spotted with illegible tattoos.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/87fdb21d-6a85-4353-885b-99edddbdc279/robert-andy-coombs-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Robert Andy Coombs
Fine Art Photographer
![A photograph of a White disabled man laying horizontally, center right of the image, on a manicured lawn. His chest and arms are tattooed, and the image is cropped just below a yellow tube that is inserted in the man’s groin. He looks directly into the camera.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/eaab404c-edd1-4fd4-a678-37bad229964b/coombs-robert-work-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C800%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Nude on grass by Robert Andy Coombs, 2017. Inkjet print on metallic paper, 40 × 60 inches.
Courtesy of the artist.
“The term engagement implies both a design to find out more about an issue and an ethical obligation to become concerned and to act. It is to such engagement that we work so that media and institutional leaders treat the climate crisis like the existential emergency it is and take the ethical lead in responding to the collective emergencies. The bigger the platform, the bigger the responsibility.”
![A headshot of two people. The person on the left stares directly at the viewer with a stoic expression. They have short brown hair, dark red lipstick, and wear a nebulae shirt. The person on the right, seen only in profile, looks to the left of the picture frame, but not directly at the figure despite standing in close proximity. They wear wire-rimmed glasses and a button-up blue shirt with white dots.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/50b4ff78-bc5e-4d32-a760-7a65084c467c/design-earth-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Design Earth
Architects
![[ID: A woman kneels at a low table set with white ceramic dishes, holding a bowl and chopsticks. A folding screen is open behind her, depicting several mountains with various walls, ramps, and other constructions built onto them.]](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/50ac07cf-1828-4453-9aa0-2559da2eea74/design-earth-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C794%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Trash Peaks, 2017.
Photo by Kyungsub Shin.
“Music and dance are keys or tools for us to keep our culture alive, our language alive. To save our people. We’re doing this to save our lives and using art to try to bring a light to the darkness. It's amazing to me how much our cultural practice brings healing and joy in the dark moon times.”
![A portrait of a man in a seal skin jacket on the shores of Aak'w Kwaan Territory. His face is stoic, as he looks directly ahead. Under his fur hood is a tuft of black hair peeking out, and his face has dark stubble around the chin.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/9f4c34c1-9313-40c3-b5e6-9e88344eb339/stephen-qacung-blanchett-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Qacung
Indigenous Musician
"On The Day" by Qacung featuring AirJazz, 2021.
“I continue to be surprised by how poems can come from anywhere and, in particular, from conversation. I used to believe writing was a completely solitary act, that it had to be, if it was going to be “true” or “pure” art. Now I believe in friendship and community as vital, as deeply essential to my creative practice and life. I can’t write without talking to and dreaming alongside other writers.”
![A portrait of a queer Chinese American standing in front of a large beige apartment building with many windows and balconies. His hair is dyed an orangey-blonde. He wears clear-framed glasses, a dark purple button-down with gray polka dot pattern, and a gray blazer. His facial expression is gently joyful.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/1a874708-36ef-42f8-8ac9-7520853f337b/chen-chen-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Chen Chen
Poet
Spring Summer Autumn Winter
I pushed my face toward
the sleeping radiator. I smelled a form
of justice. I wanted to be a poet. I waved
my living hands, dead
coupons. I watched him brush
his teeth. His teeth glinted
gorgeous. I stumbled.
Cartwheeled. I said, I will always fight
alongside you in the fight
against tartar buildup. I said, I will.
I said, Thank God without believing
in thanks. I thought what my parents did,
that wasn’t poetry. I believed
what white people said about my parents.
I had to say, Stop.
Stop believing them.
I suckled. Pickled. Made mistakes
about octopi. Wore a blue jockstrap
& took pictures. Accepted stickers of astounded
apples from friends. I was a wind
smooching another wind, who had
very good teeth. I was a name
everyone in America thought they were saying
right. Even he thought so.
Then asked, Is that right?
I pushed my face toward the noisy radiator.
Its clang & labor & here.
In bed I touched his voice
in his belly. I touched his Goodnight. He said it always
like it was important.
It was important. I believed in
the Silver Millennium. I said, Sailor Neptune,
one day, a poem for you.
I said, Sailor Neptune, teach me the Deep
Submerge, the Submarine Reflection, the thunderously
turquoise hair. I was a name
in America & would forget I belonged
to my teeth.
I dropped a single wish down the cavernous
mailbox. He would ask,
Is that right? He would bring
a single microwaved donut on a blue napkin at dusk.
He would leave me alone
with my poems. O
if I could lick all your toes at once. I would
write that poem. I loved him,
I told him. I loved him,
so told him about the dream.
The dream starred my parents, stars
of a death metal band’s
debut music video. They danced
like everyone was watching. It was important. Their arms
were poems. They said, So what
if we misspell “auditorium,” so fucking what—
we’ll always say
your name right.
They pushed their faces toward me.
Their poems toward me.
They leapt & thrashed, they were stars,
stars, stars.
I woke up weeping. Do you understand?
I thought I could only fall asleep
doing that.
"Spring Summer Autumn Winter" by Chen Chen, 2020.
“I know from being an athlete and musician that sustained, regular practice is important, but I could never apply this to writing. In July, my friend Calvin Hennick and I started writing together on Zoom for the first 90 minutes of the day. Some days are hard, but on most days, it is the best part of my day. I am most myself when I’m writing and every day, I give myself this gift first.”
![A headshot of a Filipino American woman with straight, shoulder-length black hair and a black top. She looks toward the viewer with her brown eyes and smiles at the camera.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/707329df-2e90-46d3-a6e3-e2388761b78f/grace-talusan-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Grace Talusan
Multigenre Writer
Excerpt from “The Book of Life And Death"
Ever since I left the Philippines to try my luck overseas, I’ve been lugging around a series of mismatched, plastic-covered photo albums and scrapbooks I call Marybelle’s Book of Life and Death. It’s a series. When I start a new album, I tape a ribbon to the center page, splitting the photo book into two chapters: Life and Death. I fill the pages of each album with snapshots of those who have just taken their first breath and those who have taken their last.
Without my mother’s help back home in Manila, my collection would be incomplete. For years, when someone in my family was born or died, my mother would grab the elbow of the photographer and say, “Remember copies for Marybelle.” Then she’d wrap the photos in plastic and mail them to wherever I was working—Lebanon or Saudi or Hong Kong.
Last year, my fellow Overseas Filipino Workers, the government called us new heroes, bagong bayani, poured the equivalent of over $33 billion, up 4 percent from the previous year, into our home country from all over Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We work on water—cruise and cargo ships; on land—nurses and nannies; underground—oil and mining; and in the air—constructing buildings and highway flyovers.
We are described as human capital stock, but I am very much human.
International mail takes forever, and I move around so much that sometimes the newborn is celebrating their one-year birthday or the newly dead is marking their first anniversary by the time the photos find me. But that was before smartphones and unlimited data. These days, my mother shares the images herself, sometimes taking pictures of someone else’s pictures, transmitting them instantly so that I can be sharply aware in real time of what I’ve missed. I print the photos in the few remaining places one can do this, pharmacies and copy shops. It’s convenient, but I don’t have the same feeling as when I would receive a thick envelope from the Philippines, the coarse, mustard-yellow paper still infused with the very odor of home. I’d hold it to my cheek, remembering the warmth of my mother’s skin. I felt loved, and remembering this love is how I survive without the company of the most important people to me.
Excerpt from “The Book of Life And Death" by Grace Taluson, 2020. Published by the Boston Book Festival as their "One City One Story."
“It probably sounds reductive or corny, but I've never known how dependent I am on hearing other artists create, revise, and talk, often insufficiently, about their works in progress. I've needed this every year of my life, but I've needed it more, having lost so many folks I love these past two years.”
![A headshot of a bald Black man wearing a black hoodie. <span style="font-weight: 400;">He looks towards the viewer, with a stoic expression</span>. Behind him are glimpses of trees and mountains.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/80ba2c6f-cf8a-404f-baec-6afded5d4943/kiese-laymon-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Kiese Laymon
Writer
![A book cover with the word "Heavy" written in a wide, serif font vertically down the center in a mustard yellow. Black text says "Kiese LAymon" and "An American memoir." Medallions on the cover identify the book as.a New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books 2018 and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c81f86fb-aa82-4649-99a0-6f4d51f8c072/laymonkiese-heavy.jpeg?crop=1400%2C2132%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Heavy, an American Memoir by Kiese Laymon, 2018.
“Since the onset of the pandemics I have been driven to make space, hold space, and offer ideas on how we can rest in movement and find refuge for that rest. This has been critical in order to survive the onslaught of bigotry and violence so we can be creative.”
![Rosy is seated in front of a white backdrop. Rosy has medium brown skin, dark black eyes, and dark brown hair. Rosy looks at the viewer, body leaning forward and hands clasped together below the chin, wearing a black button-down shirt and multi-colored beaded hoop earrings.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/2076dfa3-9dd3-49af-b8d5-0241e79c6531/rosy-simas-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Rosy Simas
Transdisciplinary and Dance Artist
Rosy Simas. Weave, 2019.
“The pandemic has presented me with the opportunity to create therapeutic music performance for community pain and has made American audience more receptive to the ritual music performance.”
![A black-and-white headshot of a woman with long dark hair, black-rimmed glasses, and a textured headband. She faces away from the camera, to the right of the image, with a soft smile. A single light source hits the left side of her face, creating a sharp contrast with the dark background. In the bottom right corner of the image she holds a butterfly with her right hand.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/69a258cf-a64c-42ce-8ee6-efd80a91d57c/jin-hi-kim-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Jin Hi Kim
Composer and Electric Komungo Performer
"Undefined Spaces: Jin Hi Kim," CultureHub, 2018.
![Twelve small squares made of sewn furs and skins of different colors and textures. Circles and orbs repeat in many of the drawings creating patterns like moon craters or cells under a microscope.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/599eb199-6b6b-4475-9f16-c18a3d3f1f09/williams-peter-work-sample1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C960%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Seasons' Transitions by Peter Williams, 2019. Seal, otter, and thread, dimensions variable.
Opening Meditation of Borders Like Water by Las Imaginistas, 2021. Video, 3 minutes 55 seconds. Footage edited by Elijah Alvarado.
“This year I have been going to the beach a couple mornings each week to walk my chihuahua Miss Sprinkles. There was a Unicycler that I kept seeing riding on the bike path, so I decided to put a Unicycler on an art piece, respectfully. Taking time to be aimlessly present in my surroundings is a crucial part of my art practice.”
![A black-and-white headshot of a man. The man looks directly at the camera and gives a warm smile on his mustachioed and lightly bearded face. He is dressed casually in a t-shirt and cap.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/654dd3af-c3af-4fc9-b23c-21fb0a13cef0/sharif-farrag-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Sharif Farrag
Multidisciplinary Artist
![A sculpture of an anthropomorphized animal, with a snout and long ears. The animal is painted a greenish grey, with decorative dashes and dots. He is covered in ceramic floral shaped objects that also obscure a small boy the animal holds in a basket.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/1fccd84e-a4ca-4076-8bba-2a501d5157ce/farrag-sharif-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C899%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Sharif Farrag. Big Dog (Guardian), 2021, Glazed stoneware, dimensions 40.5 × 29 × 26 inches.
Photo by Genevieve Hanson; courtesy of Jeffrey Deitch Gallery.
“Disabled people are leading survival praxis in apocalyptic times. Through media, art, technology, and community, we have been using online spaces to teach, organize, and disseminate knowledge. Many of our tools and techniques enabled the broader world to connect and socialize during the pandemic. Now, we are losing access to remote participation as the world attempts to pivot back to "normal." We resist the idea of normal and follow our comrades in disability culture by insisting on radical accessibility.”
![A collage of three headshots. 1) Aimi Hamraie, an olive-skinned Iranian transmasculine person with short dark curly hair, wears rectangular glasses, a plaid jacket over a blue collared shirt. 2) Jarah Moesch, a person with short brown hair and glasses wears a patterned shirt and looks into the camera. 3) Kevin Gotkin, a white person with a brown beard and brown glasses, looks back at the camera over their left shoulder. They wear a grey beanie hat, a black mesh shirt, and a light denim vest adorned with colorful feathers on the back.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c9731fc1-ace2-432b-bbcc-59c47e33f17b/critical-design-labnew.jpg?crop=1080%2C1080%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Critical Design Lab
Critical Design Collective
Critical Design Lab. Mapping Access documentary trailer.
“This year, through the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, I have offered educational programs in the woodshop for Black women. These initiatives create radically welcoming and authentically supportive experiences in spaces that have historically excluded many folx. From day one, I have been in awe of women’s immense capacity to give, to love, and to create – the depth from where the creation comes from gives me hope for our future.”
![A headshot of a woman standing in front of a stone wall. Although her body is turned away from the camera, she looks over her right shoulder to stare directly at the viewer with brown eyes. Her skin is dark brown and she has curly hair that falls just below her chin.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/e0d8e264-850d-44f9-967b-3b54a668ae3b/alison-croney-moses-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Alison Croney Moses
Multidisciplinary Artist and Maker
![Photograph of a light-colored wooden sculpture composed of panels that are bent into the shape of a conch shell. Bits of wood extend from the exterior of the shell like a fringe.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/d6eb3490-df9d-4bc4-a90b-6ba76804b8c4/croney-moses-allison-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C801%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
White Shell by Alison Croney Moses, 2005. Holly veneer, 28 × 18 × 20 inches.
Photo by Mark Johnston
“One surprising thing I've learned through my practice this year is that it isn't nearly effective enough in scale, both regionally and globally, when considering the cumulative impact of climate change on our communities. These are hard truths to learn after years of dedication to each project, but this growth, I'm learning, is what makes a life's work measurably effective.”
![A portrait of a man standing in a studio space. He stares directly at the viewer, his face neutral, one eyebrow slightly raised. He has short hair, a neat beard, and wears a black jacket, which is buttoned at the top.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/9337ece6-bc6e-4975-b2ce-427773a261ab/jordan-weber-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Jordan Weber
Regenerative Land Sculptor
![An overhead photograph of a garden formed of twelve raised beds arranged symmetrically to create a large pathway through the center, which contains three decorative rocks. The beds are filled with leafy green vegetables.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/19ebd9bd-1836-4069-9647-fa30351ae2d2/weber-jordan-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C900%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Prototype for Poetry vs Rhetoric by Jordan Weber, 2021.
Photo by Teddy Grimes, courtesy of Walker Art Center.
“Throughout the years engaged in the harvest of fibers and clay bodies, I’ve come to attain a commitment well-regarded to understanding what it means to have permission from the Land to extend upon the use of its resources. Moreover, this year, within a reflection around loss and grief, an altar was conceived as a payment and acknowledgement to teachers we’ve lost along the path we sustain. As a result, I’ve come to understand a process of self-cultivation as a significant exercise in a practice to maintain a constant reflection around presence and growth.”
![A portrait of a man sitting outside on a city block. The man has light brown skin and a full head of lustrous silver hair. He smiles at the viewer in a relaxed pose and wears a white t-shirt and a necklace.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/af9778f7-13ce-49ff-b871-b768859a6a24/jorge-gonzalez-santos-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Jorge González Santos
Installation Artist and Educator
![A photograph of a studio space with an installation made of natural materials strung onto the wall and a wooden altar, its steps scattered with flowers. A number of people sit in a row of folding chairs surrounding the altar space, engaged in quiet conversation.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/5a8e7553-a667-43cc-a0f0-ba43bb3646b1/gonzalez-santos-jorge-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C960%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Jorge González Santos and others sit in a studio space holding a wooden alter.
Photo by Sebastián Meltz-Collazo; courtesy of Embajada.
“The pandemic has been difficult for all of us, from the universal experience of prolonged isolation to the all-too-common loss of loved ones. Episodes like these can also serve as reminders of the importance of building community and cultural continuity. I feel more urgency than ever to use my work to hand down skills and traditions and to create connections between generations in my community.”
![A headshot of a woman with her dark hair pulled into a bun on her head. She wears geometric earrings and a denim jacket adorned with enable pins on the pocket. She has a tattoo of a spider on her neck, its web visible over her shirt.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/4bb8fab0-0e10-41e4-8afd-0bfb9e8d113a/melissa-cody-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Melissa Cody
Textile Artist
![A vertical wall hanging covered in clashing geometric patterns. Thick black lines, resembling architectural blueprints, as well as more traditional designs, are superimposed atop a bright spectrum of colors and patterns beneath.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/12888826-a9bb-41e7-a11c-31a36f764b55/cody-melissa-sample-2-2.jpg?crop=1200%2C1482%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Dopamine Regression, 2010. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes, dimensions 70 × 48 inches.
Photo courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
T. Ayo Alston. Performance compilation video.
“My attention span favors those who tell tales. I must live to be slow-walked through anecdotal observations, personal accounts, and the retelling of family histories. This is something that my practice needs and has been suffering for in isolation.”
![A headshot of an Indigenous woman with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She leans forward looking off to the distance with a big, toothy grin. Her pose is playful but observed. She wears a black shirt, black-and-white printed scarf, and vibrant red lipstick.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/ccd7deaa-2d05-4213-9b78-446405012609/andrea-carlson-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Andrea Carlson
Painter
![A person stands with their back to the viewer with their hands on their hips in front of a large painting. The artwork features repeating imagery, reminiscent of animation cells. Together, the images create an upside down isosceles triangle.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/f593a950-6772-4d42-a0be-55cf8e361e3f/carlson-andrea-work-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C789%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Ink Babel by Andrea Carlson, 2015. Oil and ink on paper.
Photo by Sam Fritch.
![An illustration of a white, red, and brown monument on a blue background. The monument’s columns stretch and bend towards the entablature inscribed with the words "Carter Harrison Technical High School Walkouts Black Mondays." Below the words are two portraits — one of Victor Adams and the other of Sharron Matthews.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/a2e62bfd-d93c-43bf-bde0-5c1bc66ac3b1/marraquin-nicole-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C1734%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Walkout at Harrison High School 1968 by Nicole Marroquin, 2019. Silkscreen. Published with Hoofprint Studios.
Photo by Liz Born.
“Dance and its potential for healing ancestral generational trauma and collective trauma feels more relevant and important than ever. Our connection to ourselves, our past history, nature, the cosmos, and to one another is experienced in the flesh when we dance and sing and come together in the studio and in the ritual of theater.”
![A headshot of a woman with short, dark brown hair. Her shoulders are bare and she wears blue eyeshadow, coral lipstick, and regards the camera with a neutral expression.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/a7921f3c-b667-46da-8abc-c77989033210/luciana-achugar-2-1.jpg?crop=1080%2C1080%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
luciana achugar
Dancer and Choreographer
luciana achugar. The Pleasure Project, 2014.
“What do we tackle today in comparison to pre-pandemic? How do we use dance to show our strength and to address our fears? Our belief will always be that art unites us all. But in order to unite we must continue to address the unaddressed, admit what we ignore to move forward in growth.”
![A portrait of two seemingly identical men in an elevator interior. Both men are Black with short hair and matching attire. They both wear large reflective glasses, blue tux jackets trimmed in black, black bow ties, white dress shirts, and blue jeans. The man on the left rests his extended right arm on the elevator wall and his left hand at his navel. The man on the right, holds his right bicep. Both men regard the viewer with cool sartorial looks.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/d2e87470-0049-4ed3-83cf-3f7419bd96ce/wondertwins-4.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Wondertwins
Dance Performance Artists
![A Black man stands under a spotlight, staring directly at the viewer. His gleaming torso is bare and his lower body is wrapped in an American flag. Behind him is a blank wall with a single strand of police tape running along the length of the wall.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/54980df9-3d82-4732-824e-0e779c943e37/wondertwins-work-sample-1-3.jpeg?crop=1200%2C1181%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Wondertwins in performance.
Photo courtesy of the artists.
“This year I have been trying to cultivate more patience in my practice. One afternoon late in October, I was walking along the Bronx River and came upon a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) standing in the river. I told myself to stand and watch the heron, even if I got uncomfortable. I ended up watching it and taking notes on its movements for about twenty-five minutes before continuing on my walk. It was a riveting experience and one I am very grateful for! Thank you heron!”
![A portrait of a man standing on a Harlem street in autumn. His brown skin is illuminated by the sunlight, giving his face a gentle yet passive expression. His hands are clasped under a charcoal-colored overcoat that rests over his shoulders and his olive-and-white striped shirt.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/e2336be5-d766-4d7e-b006-8078d4e40ebe/jjjjjerome-ellis-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
JJJJJerome Ellis
Composer and Poet
Evensong, 2020. Single-channel video, 18 minutes.
“My connection to Nature has deepened, and become my supreme teacher. Second to that is Toni Morrison. In her words, “I was always a little bored by demonstrations of evil. It always has this top hat, and a cape, and a cane. [But] Goodness never has anything, because it doesn’t want anything. Can’t use anything. It’s just there.” May our art continue to expose evil, but valorize even more the simple splendor of Good.”
![A portrait of a woman seated on an orange velvet couch. She looks out at the viewer, posture erect and poised. Her dark hair is pulled back, with wisps of curls radiating around her face. She wears long earrings and a sleeveless textured white top that is splashed with bursts of ambient sunlight.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/f0e3985a-302f-4cc8-a8c6-0cac51577a01/keisha-witherspoon-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Keisha Rae Witherspoon
Filmmaker
Keisha Rae Witherspoon. T trailer.
“Although taiko is known for being exciting, energetic, and high volume, it has a softer side and can convey many internal feelings. I'd like to create music that offers a glimpse of optimism — that nature and its wisdom will prevail.”
![Portrait of a man standing in front of an odaiko. The drum fills the right half of the image, and the man rests his head and back on the instrument. His distinguished short, grey hair is pushed upward by a brown headband. His muscular arms rest at his midriff and hold two wooden mallets.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/6f0cced5-3a30-4946-9ce5-76ea969177fc/kenny-endo-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
Kenny Endo
Taiko Artist
Spirit of Rice, 2015. Performed during Ten Ten, Kenny Endo 40th Anniversary Concert.
“I really enjoy making things. I’ve always known that, but I forgot how important it is to my process – to create, design, and build the things I want to see in the world. I always hope that my joy is discernible in the details of the work when others encounter it, but I have to remember to protect the part of the process that is joyful for me, whether or not others can access it.”
![A portrait of a person from the midriff upwards. They have brown skin and a stoic expression as they stand amongst green foliage. Their eyes are obscured by dark sunglasses and framed by braids that hang loosely around their face. They wear a long-sleeve, black shirt that features two small beefy figures.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/75044629-79c8-4a62-a73f-59788b566eab/american-artist-3.jpg?crop=500%2C500%2C0%2C0&width=500)
American Artist
Artist and Educator
![A view of a gallery. Three school desks outfitted with ballistic shields are facing a television monitor from which a blue man stares out, a target on his forehead.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/2d2c1d31-957f-42c7-9fb1-06f735269812/artist-american-sample-1-3.jpg?crop=1200%2C800%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Installation view of I'm Blue (If I Was █████ I Would Die) by American Artist, 2021. Installed at Commonwealth & Council, Los Angeles.
Photo courtesy of the artist.