Grantees & Fellows

A citizen of the Catawba Indian Nation, Aaron Baumgardner began studying traditional art in 2022 at the Catawba Cultural Center, learning pottery from master potters and elders. Drawing inspiration from his great-great-grandmother, Sallie Rebecca Brown Beck, he continues the 4,000-year-old tradition of Catawba pottery, a vital part of his people’s identity.

Baumgardner is also the first Catawba in over a century to create a river cane basket, a skill learned from Cherokee artist Gabe Crow. He now teaches these traditions to the next generation and collaborates with land conservancies to steward river cane and culturally important plants.

A 2024 South Carolina Arts Commission Emerging Artist, he is also a 2025 Running Strong for American Indian Youth Dreamstarter and a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation LIFT awardee. Through these projects, Baumgardner teaches basketry, explores sustainable pottery methods, and helps sustain Catawba art as a living, community-rooted practice.

Alexandra Olivares is an arts administrator based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her focus is audience research and evaluation, leveraging qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to inform institutional strategy and drive meaningful community engagement. Her expertise is demonstrated through her published work examining motivations for and barriers to arts participation, as well as the role of cultural representation in shaping visitor experiences.

With over a decade of experience in the museum field, she has developed innovative evaluation initiatives to systematically collect and apply visitor feedback, building deeper connections between museums and their audiences. As board president of the North Carolina Museums Council, she leads statewide efforts to strengthen collaboration, advocacy and professional development across North Carolina’s museum community.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Amy Le Ann Richardson is a writer, educator and advocate from Carter County, Kentucky, where she lives and works on her multi-generational family farm. Rooted in Appalachia, her writing explores place, resilience, motherhood and people’s connection to the land. She is the author of three poetry collections—“Make Believe Worlds We Built Together,” “Who You Grow Into” and “Out of Places”—and editor of the forthcoming “Rooted, Resilient, Rising: Women Growing Food across the Mountains.”

Her work has appeared in Still: The Journal, Appalachian Journal, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel and Kentucky Monthly. She holds a bachelor’s in English from Morehead State University and an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University, and has received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.

Through teaching and community workshops, Richardson works to expand literary access and amplify women’s voices in Appalachian communities. She leads the Bloodroot Writers Collective, a youth-centered literary initiative fostering creative voice and place-based belonging across eastern Kentucky.

Andrew Nemr is the founder of the Nemr Institute, where his work explores the ideas of spiritual formation and creativity. The only child born to Lebanese parents, Nemr’s work has journeyed through the worlds of music, dance, theater, film and the visual arts. The New York Times described him as “a masterly tapper.”

He is recorded on the Grammy-nominated recording “Itsbynne Reel” by Dave Eggar, is the subject of the award-winning documentary short film “Identity: The Andrew Nemr Story,” and is the author of “The Tap Dance Method: A Practical Exploration of Tap Dance Land.” Nemr has given multiple TED Talks on topics ranging from identity and oral traditions to love and collaboration. He also writes regularly on Substack.

Nemr is captivated by the immense and diverse inner landscapes each person carries within and has immense curiosity about how we become who we are becoming.

April Bojorquez is a Colorado-based Chicana artist, curator, folklorista and educator. She holds a master’s from Arizona State University, where her research examined Chicanx/Latinx/Hispano/a representation in museums and explored decolonial curatorial practices.

As director of programs and food practice at Desert Art LAB—a Chicanx-led environmental arts collaborative—Bojorquez guides participatory projects that restore desert ecologies through zero-irrigation regrowth and revitalize ancestral foodways rooted in the Chicanx experience of the desert Southwest.

Her work as a nationally recognized artist and leader has been featured at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Native Art in Santa Fe, Galería de la Raza in San Francisco, Dom Museum in Vienna, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara and the New Mexico Museum of Art – Vladem Contemporary.

She is a Creative Capital Award recipient, a 2021 Mellon Artist in Residence at Colorado College Fine Arts Center Museum, a certified Colorado Change Leader and an alumna of the Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Program.

Bojorquez is dedicated to amplifying rural Chicanx/Indigenous/Latinx/Hispanic voices and practices in the Southwest to inspire and shape future generations. She lives and works in Pueblo, Colorado.

Aubrey Edwards is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural anthropologist, archaeologist, educator, storyteller and memory worker based in Laramie, Wyoming. Her collaborative practice spans academic, creative and applied spaces, exploring how art and research combine as knowledge-making systems.

She is the founder and executive director of Alces Community Works, a nonprofit design studio that uplifts artists and storytellers through humanities- and arts-based projects, reflecting Wyomingites’ lived experiences and contributing to the creative economy.

Edwards is a doctoral student in public humanities at the University of Wyoming and supports the Mellon-funded Re-Storying the West initiative to celebrate everyday experiences and promote representation across the state.

As a member of Monument Lab’s Re:Generation 2024 cohort, she helps steward High Iron, Wyoming’s only monument to the immigrant laborers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Housed in a former train car, High Iron honors those who helped build the state’s communities and infrastructure.

Chandra Williams is an artist, educator and community healer dedicated to fostering social and cultural change. Her work highlights the power of the arts to reshape society, empowering communities to create change directly.

As executive director of the Crossroads Cultural Arts Center in Clarksdale, Mississippi—known as the Home of the Blues—Williams leads efforts to celebrate African cultural practices and restore their role in community healing. The center provides space to reclaim Black cultural identity and narrative on local and global levels.

Williams earned a bachelor’s in fine arts from Washington University in St. Louis, with concentrations in critical theory and community education. Her experience includes serving as a museum educator, leading a private art school and two decades as a community educator and organizer.

Edra “EJ” Stephens is a writer, cultural advocate and community leader whose work bridges storytelling, heritage preservation and social equity. Stephens illuminates the enduring traditions and voices of the Lowcountry, weaving narratives that explore identity, race, culture and belonging. A Watering Hole fellow and a graduate of the University of South Carolina Beaufort with a bachelor’s degree in English, her poetry and essays have appeared in multiple anthologies.

Her work embodies the belief that storytelling is both art and activism—an instrument of healing, empowerment and transformation. Currently, she serves as a consultant and project lead for heritage-based initiatives across South Carolina, including programs that promote cultural education, economic sustainability and intergenerational storytelling.

Previously, Stephens served as director of business services for Beaufort County, where she strengthened partnerships between local government, small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Beyond her professional life, Stephens embraces her most cherished role as “Gigi,” nurturing creativity and cultural pride in the next generation.

Elena Higgins (Samoan/Māori) is co-founder and executive director of IndigenousWays, a Santa Fe nonprofit advancing community-based arts for Indigenous, deaf and hard of hearing, Two Spirit, rural and remote communities.

Raised in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Higgins began her career in education, later moving to Australia and then the U.S. to pursue music and community work. Her duo, Indigie Femme, with her wife, Tash Terry (Diné), is widely recognized for blending storytelling, Indigenous worldviews and advocacy.

In 2025, Higgins received the Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts; that same year, Indigie Femme won the Native American Music Award for Best Folk Recording for their ninth album, “Just To Be,” and previously earned honors from the New Mexico and Global Music Awards.

Higgins centers creativity as a catalyst for resilience, shared joy and meaningful community exchange.

Em Cebrowski is the administrative services manager for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums and a certified Change Leader. She provides key administrative, financial and purchasing support to help the organization’s creative mission thrive, and is dedicated to ongoing improvement, leadership development and measurable results.

A first-generation, non-traditional graduate with a bachelor’s in anthropology from the University of Utah, Cebrowski values the diversity of human experience. This perspective informs her work as board liaison and in leading a successful department-wide mentoring program for business processes.

As a leader, Cebrowski focuses on the perspectives of those often unheard within her organization and community. She believes connection is essential for organizational health, innovation and belonging. Now, as a first-time people leader, she’s eager to use her systems expertise to expand her impact beyond operations into the broader community.

Erica Felice Hunter, who goes by the artist name Ric Fe’, is a multidisciplinary visual artist, design educator and cultural advocate whose creative career spans three decades shaping visual language, minds and culture. She began her career as a business owner in the Gulf Coast design community, producing nationally and internationally recognized work that elevated the visual voice of her region. That entrepreneurial foundation became the bridge to her 17-year journey in post-secondary education, mentoring emerging designers and artists through programs emphasizing creativity, design thinking and empowerment.

Her artistic practice moves fluidly between painting, fiber sculpture and wearable form and, when the story demands it, sound and video. Hunter’s research examines how art can hold the weight of human experience—grief, faith, trauma and resilience—using creation not only for aesthetic expression but as a tool for transformation and collective healing.

She builds creative ecosystems where diverse stories are honored, belonging is cultivated and those once unseen gain visibility. Her leadership is rooted in lived resilience and guided by a core belief that democracy is not a theory but a daily practice of making the invisible visible.

Garrett Blaize is an organizer and administrator serving as executive director of the Appalachian Community Fund. The fund is a civic-cultural funding intermediary and project incubator based in East Tennessee that serves the central Appalachian region. In this role, he leads efforts to strengthen civic infrastructure in the region through strategic grantmaking and capacity-building initiatives. He also serves as co-chair of the Appalachian Funders Network, facilitating funder alignment around regional priorities through collaborative approaches to philanthropy that center on community needs and leadership.

Blaize also serves as an adviser to Appalshop, providing guidance on development and advancement strategies during its leadership transition. His work focuses on helping legacy civic and cultural organizations adapt to contemporary challenges while maintaining their core missions and community connections.

Throughout his career, Blaize has concentrated on building sustainable infrastructure for community-led change in Appalachia, with particular attention to connecting traditional approaches with emerging strategies for social impact.

Israel Carranza is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and cultural organizer whose work bridges abstract expressionism, community building and cultural storytelling rooted in his Indigenismo, Xicanx and Mexicano identities. Holding a bachelor’s in fine arts in illustration from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Carranza has exhibited, curated and produced events across the Midwest, fostering collaboration between artists, musicians and communities.

As art and cultural director at Proyecto Cultural in Lincoln, Nebraska, he cultivated inclusive creative spaces through all-ages art and music events that celebrated diversity and cultural heritage. His experience spans nonprofit administration, event production, curation, art handling, ornamental metalwork, docent work, youth entrepreneurship mentorship and art education. Each reflects his deep commitment to craftsmanship, identity, creative rebellion, cultural resilience, collective empowerment and decolonized, regenerative futures.

Now based in San Diego, Carranza continues to explore the intersections of art, culture and community as a horticulturalist at the Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum. There, he integrates traditional Japanese garden aesthetics with contemporary creative practice, deepening his exploration of harmony between people and place and treating horticulture as an extension of his artistic expression.

Jaewook Lee is an associate professor of new media art at Northern Arizona University, where he leads courses in experimental game design, extended reality and 3D animation. His work explores the intersection of ecology, technology and speculative histories through immersive media such as virtual reality and video games. Lee’s recent projects, including “Toward Entropy” and “Game Over: Planet,” reimagine art history and environmental narratives through critical play and digital world-building.

Before joining NAU, Lee taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago’s Department of Visual Arts. His works have been exhibited internationally at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Currents New Media Festival and SACO9 Biennale in Chile.

Lee earned his Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University.

Jan Reyes is a meditation facilitator and early childhood administrator from Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Through a spiritual awakening in 2019, she learned breathwork, meditation and grounding practices that honor the Marianas’ deep ancestral presence. She does this through offerings and by developing profound relationships with the surrounding nature and ocean.

Reyes shares her gifts with the local spiritual community, the children in her care, schools and anyone who feels called to her path. Her unique integration of modern and ancestral traditions helps pave the way for others to pursue their own paths to healing and cultural connections.

Joyce Torres (Guåhan) is a Chamorro and Filipino actor, director, playwright and filmmaker whose work explores art as a pathway to healing, activism and belonging. As artistic director and board member of Breaking Wave Theatre Company, she develops original work rooted in community, identity and justice.

Her credits include directing “Comfort,” based on Filipina “comfort woman” Maria Rosa Henson, which premiered in Los Angeles and Guam, and co-creating “Unspoken: A Mental Health Anthology,” a workshop series using performance to open dialogue around mental health and substance abuse. Recently, she directed “We Will Not Go Silent,” an award-winning performance exploring Guam’s climate crisis through ancestral knowledge and poetry.

Torres holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in theater and a minor in political science from the University of Guam, and trained at the Stella Adler Art of Acting Studio in Los Angeles.

Kait Glasswell began working as a public folklorist for the Oregon Folklife Network in 2023. She is responsible for developing and implementing programming that serves Oregon’s culture bearers, who dedicate their knowledge, skill and agency to transmit cultural practices across generations. This work joins her two previous career paths: community advocacy and arts education.

Glasswell was born in Pullman, Washington, and has a deep appreciation for rural communities of the West. She earned her bachelor’s in East Asian studies and Chinese language from St. Olaf College, where she had the opportunity to live in community with the Asian Rural Institute in Nashushiobara, Japan.

She believes in the inherent worth and dignity of all people and finds joy in creating with others. She currently lives with her wife, dog and two cats in Eugene, Oregon.

Kayla Desroches is an artist and journalist based in Billings, Montana. She writes about science, culture and Indigenous issues for local and nationwide outlets. Community is a common denominator across her work in writing, audio production and visual art.

Desroches grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Barnard College in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing. Convinced she would be a car-free New Yorker for life, she took a reporting job in Alaska to explore the world outside her bubble. She ended up with a driver’s license, a career in journalism and a love for the U.S. West.

Desroches is using her time as a fellow to develop a workshop based on her personal experience with art and grief.

Kendell Newman Sadiik is a writer, educator and community organizer based in Fairbanks, Alaska. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she is now the associate director of transformative teaching at the Center for Teaching and Learning. In this role, she helps seed innovation and inclusive practices across the university’s systems, partnerships and learning opportunities.

A co-founder and collaborator in the Learning Inside Out Network, or LION, Sadiik has spent the past decade expanding education and art-making opportunities for justice-impacted Alaskans. As a member of LION, she has helped publish work by incarcerated writers, facilitated courses inside carceral facilities and is currently co-designing “Lil’ Windows,” a video game that simulates an experience of incarceration in which thriving is built through literacy and social connection.

Sadiik’s essays and short stories have appeared in Grist, Iron Horse Literary Review and Jabberwock Review, among other publications. The driving question of her creative work is: What else is possible?

Kriss Jackson-Harper (they/he) is a Seattle-based interdisciplinary artist, educator and cultural strategist whose work bridges storytelling, identity and public health. As founder and executive director of Positively Positive Education Productions (Posi Pos Music), Jackson-Harper leads trauma-informed programs and creative projects centering Black, queer, trans and HIV-positive experiences.

Their Posi Pos Media Lab: Trans Joy & Black Queer Survivor Storytelling Hub amplifies underrepresented voices through arts writing, photography and digital publishing. Previous projects include “HIV Stigma 101 & 102,” “Polysecure… But What About Us?,” and “From Pain to Power,” produced with Jack Straw Cultural Center, 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. Their work bridges creative direction, education and advocacy, transforming lived experience into public dialogue and systemic critique.

Jackson-Harper holds a bachelor’s in sociology from Washington State University and a graduate degree from the University of Washington’s IslandWood program. They also conducted ethnographic research on HIV stigma with UNAIDS and the University of Ghana.

Michelle Huynh is an intercultural theater artist, performance studies scholar and arts administrator born and raised in Hawaiʻi. Her work is rooted in creating spaces where diverse stories and communities intersect and in using performance as a tool for cultural empowerment and social engagement.

She holds a doctorate in theater and drama from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s in fine arts in Asian theater performance from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Huynh has taught widely across the United States and abroad, including at universities in California, Hawaiʻi, New England, Singapore and Vietnam. She is a faculty member at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Outreach College in the Arts, Community & Engagement Department.

Her practice spans Hawaiʻi, California and the Asia-Pacific Rim, where she engages in cultural organizing and collaborates with local and international artists across performance, research and community engagement on university campuses and in public venues. Her multimodal works have been presented at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, East-West Center, Asian New Play Festival and Journey Theatre Company.

Moana doesn’t just make art—she architects worlds.

Moana Iose is a multidisciplinary artist and policy mind born in Oceania and raised in the American West. Her work moves through mediums from murals to film and exhibition design to poetry. Iose’s creative practice bridges the sacred and the stylish, turning stories of home and diaspora into visual symphonies.

Her aesthetic is layered, bold, cinematic and grounded in Indigenous futurism with a touch of West Coast ease. Her work moves between boardrooms and block parties, archives and airwaves, always returning to one question: what does freedom look like when it’s ours?

Iose’s vision is for Indigenous Pacific futures that are sovereign, sensual and unapologetically alive.

Suzanne Pickett is president of the Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation in Jacksonville, Florida, where she champions preservation, revitalization and community development through arts and culture. A multidisciplinary artist and nationally recognized strategist, she unites creativity and community empowerment to strengthen under-resourced communities.

Pickett holds a bachelor’s in fine arts from the University of North Florida and is certified in community real estate development from the University of South Florida. She has served on the National Endowment for the Arts grant panel and as a 2025 board member for the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.

Her recognitions include the 2025-26 Zora Neale Hurston Fellowship, 2025 Women’s Center of Jacksonville SHERO Award, 2023 NFL Aspire Change Award, a 2022 Jacksonville Business Journal Woman of Influence honor, silver and gold ADDY awards with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Eastside Legacy Community Champion Award.

Through her leadership, Pickett helps preserve history, elevate community voices and create sustainable opportunities for future generations by integrating arts, housing and economic development for social change.

Tamiano Gurr serves as territorial chief grants officer for the American Samoa Government, overseeing the Grants Clearinghouse Division. He manages federal and territorial funding across departments, strengthening local capacity and accountability in grants administration.

Gurr has secured and managed multimillion-dollar federal awards for projects spanning public health, agriculture, infrastructure and community development. He also co-founded Pacific Roots Open Mic (P.R.O.M.), a nonprofit promoting youth empowerment and mental wellness through creative arts and cultural storytelling.

Under his leadership, P.R.O.M. has launched federally funded programs focused on cultural expression, community healing and leadership development. Gurr holds a bachelor’s in business marketing and a master’s in management and leadership.

Born and raised in American Samoa, he is dedicated to building sustainable systems, elevating local talent and expanding access to resources that support the territory’s self-sufficiency and growth.