Director of Arts in Healthcare, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System

Philip Muzi Branch, a Native of Richmond, Virginia, received both his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and his Master of Art Education degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. His award winning paintings have been exhibited at The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, PANAFEST, Ghana, West Africa, The Banneker Douglass Museum, Annapolis, Maryland and The Daura Gallery. His work is included in the collections of SunTrust Bank, Richmond Community Hospital, Lynchburg College, Children’s Hospital of Richmond, The African American Museum of Dallas and First Market Bank.

While participating in the Virginia Commission for the Arts “Artists in Education”” Program, Branch completed over 20 mural-painting residencies in public schools. He has taught at Virginia Union University, Saint Paul’s College and Virginia State University. Currently, he is Director of Cultural Programs for the VCU Health System in Richmond and president of the Black American Artist Alliance of Richmond (BAAAR). BAAAR is an artists’ collective committed to identifying and codifying African American art, and supporting artists who create it.

Philip, also known as P. Muzi Branch, is an accomplished bassist and songwriter. He performs with the internationally acclaimed musical group, Plunky and Oneness.

Discipline: Multidisciplinary

Pablo Regis de Oliveira
Co-founder & Executive Director, EducArte
Education & Community Engagement Manager, Strathmore

Born and raised between Los Angeles and Brasília, Brazil, Pablo is a recognized musician and arts administrator, championing equity in the arts. He is an active member of the Brazilian cultural arts community in the greater Washington DC region, performing on the cavaco on local stages and presenting concerts of touring Brazilian artists. He has served as a community-based arts administrator at Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He serves as Education and Community Manager at Strathmore, where he furthers access to the arts through the Strathmore Bloom and Education programs. Pablo co-founded and is executive director of the Maryland-based nonprofit EducArte, a Brazilian performing arts presenter and arts education organization.

Pamela Hart is considered Austin’s First Lady of Jazz, designated by AustinWoman Magazine. She has devoted over 25 years of her life towards singing jazz and keeping the jazz genre alive. She and her husbanded Kevin Hart co-founded the Women in Jazz Association, Inc. in 1994, and she has been an advocate for women keeping jazz alive. She performed Sunday livestream house concerts most Sundays in 2020 to soothe the soul during Covid-19 sheltering. She released a CD, “Happy Talk” in May 2021. She was inducted into the Austin Jazz Society Hall of Fame in 2018. Pamela Hart has received many awards for her community work as a jazz supporter. These include the Connie Yerwood Conner National Woman of Achievement Award, and Jazz at St. James A.D. Mannion Award, Texas State University Outstanding Alumni Award, Links Austin Chapter Arts Award, and the BOSS Award of Distinction. With her performances, the Women in Jazz Association, Inc., vocal performance workshops, and vocal coaching, Pamela is making a difference in the Austin music scene. Thanks to City of Austin Economic Development Department Thrive funding, she produced the first annual Austin Women in Jazz Festival in November 2023.

Artist, individual artist

I am an islander from a tiny island of Saipan, Called Nrthern Marianas Islands.A US citizen, and an active artist uneer the Office of the Community and Cultural Affairs under Arts Council. I have been doing my variety of cultural ear head lei, bead making, coconut crafts and many recycle materials that i can teach our children.

Patrick Arthur Jackson, a Richmond, VA native now residing in St. Petersburg, FL, is a dynamic creative, producer, director, actor, and teaching artist deeply committed to connection through storytelling. A Morehouse College Drama graduate, he honed his skills at the British American Drama Academy and the Florida Studio Theatre Apprentice Program.
With a Certificate in Leadership from the Nonprofit Leadership Center and prior Fellowship in Advancing Racial Equity on Nonprofit Boards, Patrick serves as the Manager of Education, Outreach, and Program Design at The Woodson African American Museum of Florida. A versatile artist, he has showcased his talents across Southeast arts organizations, including directing acts of faith at American Stage and earning recognition as a 2023 Emerging Artist with Creative Pinellas.
Off-stage, Patrick is the host of The Black Hand Side Podcast, celebrating black culture, connection, and conversation. In addition to serving on the ministerial staff at Today’s Church Tampa Bay, he further engages with the community through The Black Excellence Collective, Actor’s Equity Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Grateful for the gift of storytelling, Patrick, the proud son of Cynthia B. Jackson-Ward and Patrick D. Jackson, envisions its power inspiring change globally.

Discipline: Crafts

Lopez is a prominent painter and muralist whose acrylic paintings are driven by color and convey a multi-faceted array of symbolic, cultural and feminine imagery infused with spiritual vision and incendiary composition, establishing her as a key artist in the Latina/Hispana/Chicana/Mestiza genre. Born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, she identifies as an artist of mixed Jicarilla Apache and European heritage.

An active and fulltime artist, she operated studio galleries in Las Vegas, Taos and in Santa Fe, exhibited in Contemporary Spanish Market and had the honor to represent New Mexico as the “official portrait artist, at the White House, in Washington D. C., in 2006, when NM provided the People’s Christmas Tree.

Relocating in 2003 to California, she maintained a public studio/exhibit space in Los Angeles. As a muralist, she produced individual, community and student-assisted murals as a teaching artist. She returned home to New Mexico in September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.