Johnny Sablan is a proud son of Agat, Guam and singer of Guam’s greeting song, “Hafa Adai, Todo Mauleg How Are You”. He released the first Chamorro recording album in 1968, named Dalai Nene, and subsequently released 15 original Chamorro music albums. With the goal of keeping culture alive through music, he opened a recording studio and helped local artists throughout the Marianas record their music.
He spent decades perpetuating Chamorro culture, and served in various cultural roles in the Government of Guam, notably leading the department that opened the Guam Museum in 2016. Johnny Sablan looks to continue to keep the Chamorro culture alive, and nurture the next generation of Chamorro artists.
Jonathan Rai Sablan is a filmmaker from the island of Guam. His passion lies in capturing authentic Chamorro cultural stories and preserving them through film, with hope that it can be shared with future generations. Having worked in the film industry, he learned that Guam has just as much talent and great stories to tell the world. He is excited to continue his filmmaking journey through cultural documentaries that inspire and connect us all.
Jordan Tate, born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a multi-talented individual with a passion for both basketball and art. Growing up as a hooper and an artist, he discovered his love for creative expression early on. Recognizing the potential of merging his artistic talent with a professional career, Jordan pursued a degree in graphic design at Colorado State University.
After graduating, Jordan embarked on a career journey that led him to the vibrant world of media. He found a home at iHeart Media in Northern Colorado, where he honed his skills and made significant contributions. It was during this time that he met his future wife, prompting a move back to his hometown of Albuquerque.
In Albuquerque, Jordan seized the opportunity to establish his own creative agency, aptly named Creative Duke. Here, he channels his artistic prowess into helping businesses and individuals bring their visions to life through innovative design and branding solutions. Jordan Tate’s story is a testament to the power of passion, skill, and the pursuit of one’s creative dreams.
Jordia Benjamin is a community engagement specialist, art educator and curator with a passion for creating compelling programs, cultivating and curating creative environments for artists and communities to thrive using art as the mechanism for change. With over a decade in the art sector, and a background in museum education, she embodies a commitment to equity, inclusion, empowerment and advocacy for communities of color. Benjamin has worked for national and international museums; overseeing their education departments ie. the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas as the Education Officer and again oversaw Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine public and community engagement programs along with being on the ground floor of the launch of the Lunder Institute for American Art.
In her role as Deputy Director at Indigo Arts Alliance, Jordia co-leads with the Executive Director/Co-Founder the organization’s day-to-day operations along with ensuring that the quality and impact of Indigo Arts Alliance’s activities and programs directly support its’ mission. A highly effective collaborator, manager, relationship builder, and communicator, she guides and refines the artist residency program, developing related programming that connects our local, national and international communities. She currently serves as a board member to the Museum Education Roundtable and MassAction Anti-Racism Think Tank committee. Jordia is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
Managing Director, Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Northwestern University
Prior to joining Northwestern University as the Managing Director for The Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Jorge Silva was the Managing Director for the renowned experimental collective, The Neo-Futurists, leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic utilizing revitalized infrastructure. Before The Neos, he was the Producing Coordinator for the Goodman Theatre serving as the producing liaison for community engagement projects and the curator for artistic programming
While based in Washington, DC, Silva was a performer and administrator for the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater and a founding teaching artist for their DCPS in-school arts education program, ‘Tools of Discovery.’ Much of Silva’s work, however, is identified with The Neo-Futurists beginning as a 2016 recipient of the Artists of Color Scholarship; he is also an artistic affiliate with Teatro Travieso (Wooster, OH).
Outside of theatre, Silva has worked with the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund and The Posse Foundation: Chicago in their respective student mentoring programs. He was also a Lecturer and graduate projects advisor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Writing Program. Notably, Silva was a featured speaker at Latinos Progresando’s flagship community event, MEX talks, and remains a member of the event’s Host Committee.
Josh Taira is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Missoula, Montana. His work is inspired by both classic and contemporary manga and anime. Themes in his art often include his experiences as a first-generation Asian American growing up in a rural part of the United States, Japanese folklore, and modern trends in American and Japanese media.
Taira currently serves as the art director at the Roxy Theater in Missoula and takes on occasional freelance illustration and design projects.
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.
JU-EH is a Las Vegas based visionary, community leader, and operatic vocalist. As a conceptual curator, JU-EH has initiated projects that defy genre, period, or easy categorization. JU-EH self-produced the musical drama The Living Dying Opera based on the story of their life addressing a racist experience as an Asian queer male in the opera industry; They also brought worldwide attention to the episodic audio opera Asian Casta Diva on the social media platform Clubhouse responding to the #StopAsianHate Movement.
JU-EH has collaborated with numerous non profit organizations to raise awareness of safe and caring environments for people of color artists and employees.
The brand new business the Milk Tea Opera House was recently launched as a pioneering concept combining performing arts and beverages as a placemaking act for the daily life of Nevadans. JU-EH would like to cultivate a creative space to meet where people are at, and to invite people who do not have professional training to interpret how art makings do not have prerequisites. MTOH aims to engage local residents in finding their own creative voice, and expand the connection of our voice to be the place to meet who we truly are as the new definition of the opera house for the next 100 years.
Col. JC McPherson, Kentucky Colonel Goodwill Ambassador, has a background in writing, electricity, and general troubleshooting. During his time at the Carnegie Center, he has worn many hats. Currently he is an agent for the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative, Creative Writing Instructor, Rental Staff, and Staff Support. He is the author of On My Mind (blacoetry press), Jupiter’s Child (Winged City Chapbooks), and Hey Batta Batta (Lefthanded JuJu). In his spare time, he likes to cook, explore nature, garden, and listen to music.
I am a self-taught artist drawing on early childhood memories of my grandparents and their Mexican culture and
heritage, my work becomes a whimsical and positive interpretation of various periods of my
own life. I am especially inspired by my own experiences working in animal husbandry and
ranching. Many times in Mexican folklore animals were often used to teach right from wrong
or to explain the current political events. This was one way to keep the rural population
informed since many of them were illiterate. Animals often assume human characteristics in
my work and I strive to create an open-ended narrative that allows my viewers to create
their own story. In some of my current work I am writing and illustrating children’s books.
This is a wonderful new challenge that pushes me to look at my work from a different
perspective.
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.
Kamakani Konia
Leaders of Color Fellowship
2021 - 2022
Honolulu, Hawaii
Project Manager, The Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
