Darrell Mckinney is a Washington-based interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersections of design, art, and architecture. His practice examines how design can address the complexities of politics, race, and social infrastructure by highlighting the interconnectedness of history, people, and places.

He earned a Master of Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been featured in exhibitions at EXPO Chicago and internationally at Salone Del Mobile in Milan, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, and the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Mckinney was the inaugural recipient of The Current, an Artist Award at the Tacoma Art Museum (2022). He has also received several honors, including the Greg Kucera & Larry Yocom Fellowship Award (2022), the A Tale of Today Emerging Artist Fellowship for the Richard H. Driehaus Museum (2019), and the Hilltop Lasting Legacy Fellowship (2020).

Mississippi, Speaking Down Barriers

Davelyn Hill is the Executive Director for Speaking Down Barriers. SDB is an organization whose mission is Equity for all. SDB seeks to build community across all that seeks to divide us by ending oppression and valuing everyone. She has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Converse College. Alongside providing counseling services, she has led support groups, presented research, and conducted university presentations around racial trauma and oppression. She enjoys facilitating groups and retreats around grief and wholeness. Davelyn Hill, also known as Davelyn Athena is an author, poet, and intuitive painter. She has her MFA in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry from Converse College. Davelyn Athena’s poetry and art have been featured in print and digital media. She is a curator for Spark and Echo which is a collective of artists giving artistic interpretation to every verse of the Bible.

Co-Founder, Artist Magnet Justice Alliance

Over the past decade, David Mack (he/him) has managed some of California’s most innovative performing arts organizations, including: Joe Goode Performance Group, Invertigo Dance Theatre, The Industry and Watts Village Theater Company. As a Strategic Consultant, Mack’s clients have included the cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Culver City, as well as Center Theatre Group and LA Dance Project. Mack’s inaugural project as a Producer and Co-Founder was Chocolate City, an industry showcase connecting BIPOC writers and performers from institutions across Southern California to Hollywood agents, managers and casting directors. Since then, he has served on the Boards and committee leadership of several arts organizations, including the San Francisco Arts Alliance and Western Arts Alliance. Mack is currently the Managing Director of the African American Arts & Culture Complex, a member of the Greater Bay Area Arts & Cultural Advocacy Coalition and Co-Founder of Artist Magnet and Artist Magnet Justice Alliance, Oakland-based arts service organizations.

Discipline: Dance

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is the author of the novel WINTER COUNTS (Ecco/HarperCollins), nominated for an Edgar Award, and winner of the Anthony, Thriller, Lefty, Barry, Macavity, Spur, High Plains, Electa Quinney, Tillie Olsen, and other awards. The book was also a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, the Hammett Prize, the Colorado Book Award, and the Reading the West Award for Debut Fiction. The novel was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Indie Next pick, main selection of the Book of the Month Club, and named a Best Book of the year by NPR, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Guardian, Financial Times, Air Mail, and other magazines. He has short stories appearing in the anthologies The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2022, Denver Noir, and others. He is a Professor of Native American Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and lives in Denver, Colorado, with his family.

Producing Artistic Director, Global Lounge Incorporated

Debbie Mekiana is a Nunamiut Inupiaq writer from Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. Her work is rooted in the land, language and stories of her people, drawing on intergenerational memory to explore identity, belonging and cultural continuity. Through reflective, place-based storytelling, she writes about the ties between people and the natural world, the weight of inherited histories and the responsibility of carrying knowledge forward.

Her writing weaves personal narrative with broader themes of Indigenous resilience, community and healing, creating space for truths that are both intimate and collective. As a mother of three, she is guided by a deep commitment to future generations and the preservation of Indigenous ways of knowing.

Debra Littlesun is the Assistant Director of the University of Wyoming Art Museum since 2018. Previously Associate Director of Scholarships & Program Coordinator for Diversity Initiatives in the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid. Appointed by the University President to administer and serve as ex-officio for the Northern Arapaho Endowment and Chief Washakie Memorial Scholarship Programs. Prior to coming to UW Littlesun was Director of Scholarship for the American Indian College Fund in Denver, Colorado. Littlesun earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business Administration from Chief Dull Knife College, Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration Cum laude, from Rocky Mountain College and a Certificate in Arts Management, from University of California, Irvine. Littlesun is an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe and a direct descendant of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Debra is responsible for the financial management of museum activities but most enjoys when called on by curators for historical information related to objects from Native American Tribes. She has developed a deep appreciation for museums as a medium for teaching while continuing to explore ways to use objects to educate and inform individuals to view culture through a different lens, and to encourage growth and collaboration.

Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts

Artist/Educator, DDAT Management | San Juan College

Discipline: Music

Delbert Anderson is a Diné jazz trumpet artist, composer, educator and culture bearer. Anderson performs music inspired by his Diné heritage with the Delbert Anderson Quartet. Anderson also composes music inspired by Navajo Nation landscapes and historical events in hopes to educate and preserve the truth of Diné history. 

Anderson also created Build A Band, an educational program teaching jazz improvisation to young students through a Diné and Family curriculum. Anderson’s musical projects keep Indigenous knowledge and wisdom  at the forefront. Along with researching Diné historical figures and events, Anderson developed wellness programs and community outreach programs to evoke change for the wellbeing of all humans.

 “I am a healing artist. I heal communities and individuals with my Diné way of life, knowledge and wisdom so that everyone can live their lives through Hózhó (Beauty, Balance, Harmony).”