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
My name is Kapali Bilyeu and I’m a kanaka maoli (aboriginal Hawaiian) born and raised on the island of Kaua’i, Hawai’i. From birth I was exposed to the creative process of music; my father is a founding member of a popular Hawai’i band called Kalapana and I had the privilege of meeting many talented artists, some of whom I still have a close relationship with today. The music industry in Hawai’i is very close-knit and has been an environment I always imagined myself being a part of when I’m an adult. My journey into traditional Hawaiian arts began in elementary school when I attended Kanuikapono Public Charter School, which specializes in place-based learning. My daily schedule was full of Hawaiian music, chanting protocols, Hawaiian history, cultural practices, and STEM programming done directly on the land, from the mountains to the sea. This experience inspired me to pursue and earn a BA in Hawaiian Studies and completion of the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program, both offered through Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo.
