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Tara Keanuenue Gumapac is a Kanaka Maoli artist residing in Heʻeia, Oʻahu. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2008 and a Master of Education in Teaching through the Hoʻokulaiwi Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2010.

Gumapac is an alumna of the HOEA Program and the 2017 Intercultural Leadership Institute. She participated in “Tears of DukwibahL: Gathering of International Indigenous Visual Artists of the Pacific Rim” in 2017, was a 2018 WESTAF Emerging Leaders of Color alumna, and a 2022 First Peoples Fund Fellow for the Artist in Business Leadership.

A dedicated participant in the Maoli Arts Movement with PAʻI Foundation, she also served as a member at large on Creative West’s Equity and Inclusion Committee. She is a mother, artist, Hawaiian cultural advocate, and practitioner, as well as an art teacher at Kalāheo High School.

Her recent projects include completing a traditional hale structure at Kalāheo and creating the first Hawaiian-language Braille children’s book.

Tiare Ribeaux is a Kanaka Maoli filmmaker, artist, and creative producer based in Honolulu. Her work takes a decolonial approach to storytelling, using non-linear narratives inspired by elemental cycles to explore themes of transformation and healing. Ribeaux centers her stories on the deep connection between bodies, land, and water systems, integrating magical realism into her films. She employs speculative fiction and fantasy to reimagine present realities and envision future trajectories of land reclamation, restoration, queerness, and belonging.

Her work extends beyond film festivals, featuring in galleries and museums as multi-channel immersive installations and live cinematic performances. Ribeaux has showcased her projects nationally and internationally and is a recipient of numerous accolades, including the Creative Capital Award, the NDN Radical Imagination Grant, and the Sundance Native Lab Fellowship.

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Trent Segura is a researcher, writer, and artist based out of Denver and Saguache, Colorado. He works as an independent graphic designer and is a member of artist collective M12 Studio. He is also a colcha embroidery artist and co-coordinates the San Luis Valley Colcha Embroidery Project. Colcha embroidery is a textile practice that came to Colorado’s San Luis Valley from Northern New Mexico in the 19th Century and has been shaped by revival movements into a pictorial art that often illustrates local architecture, landscapes, community traditions, personal narratives, and folklore.

Segura is heavily inspired by the work of his great aunt Tiva Trujillo who lived and worked in Saguache. He learned colcha embroidery from artist Delores Worley who was a member of the stitching circle La Costura de Saguache with Tiva. He has also received instruction from NEA Heritage Fellow Josephine Lobato.

Vaimoana Oufi Khalil is an artist, educator, and performer whose work spans painting, mural-making, poetry, acting, and theater directing. Born in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, and raised in Hawaiʻi and Utah, she has spent more than 20 years teaching at colleges, universities, public schools, senior centers, and community centers across New York City.

Khalil earned her undergraduate degree in painting and performance from New York University, received the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship in painting and drawing at Yale University, and attended Columbia University’s graduate program in theater and acting.

She has created and led over 38 community murals around the world, including projects in Australia, Kenya, Jordan, New Zealand, Palestine, South Africa, and across the U.S. in California, New York, and Utah. She was a founding member of Mahina Movement (2000–2020), an all-BIPOC women’s music and poetry trio that performed on more than 700 stages in the U.S. and traveled to Ireland.

Khalil has written, performed in, and directed numerous theatrical productions at various venues, showcasing her dedication to storytelling and community art.

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Arts

Vincent J. Reyes is a cultural leader, Master of Chamoru Dance, and creative director whose work focuses on national identity, cultural sovereignty, and institution-building through the performing arts. A native of the southern village of Malesso’, Reyes has dedicated his life to creating systems, spaces, and pathways that ensure Chamoru culture is seen, valued, and sustained on both national and international stages.

As the national folk dance director for the Department of Chamorro Affairs, Reyes is spearheading the development of the Guam Museum National Theater, a landmark initiative envisioned as a national home for Chamoru performance, storytelling, and artistic excellence. His creative philosophy views cultural performing arts not just as tools for preservation or presentation, but as instruments of empowerment, identity formation, and nationhood—affirming that culture is both living and foundational to self-determination.

Reyes is the founder and director of the Inetnon Gefpa’go Cultural Arts Program, which has served as a cultural institution for more than 25 years, nurturing generations of artists while establishing standards of authenticity, innovation, and excellence. Through international representation, leadership development, and large-scale cultural programming, he has created enduring pipelines that elevate local artists into national and global ambassadors.

Having represented Guam in more than 43 countries, Reyes continues to build platforms where Chamoru identity is not only remembered but actively shaped, expressed, and carried forward for future generations.

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Vogue M. Robinson is an author, poet, performer, teaching artist, and creativity enabler who deeply values people who put truth and heart into words. She inspires and empowers others by leading through example and providing resources that help artists create work they can take pride in.

Robinson served as Clark County, Nevada’s poet laureate from 2017 to 2019 and is the first Black woman to receive the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Silver Pen Award. She is the author of the poetry collection Vogue 3:16, Vol. 1. Her work is influenced by Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Patricia Smith, Suzi Q. Smith, Danez Smith, and her grandmother, Martina Carpenter.

Her poetry has been featured in numerous anthologies, including The Beautiful, Legs of Tumbleweeds, Wings of Lace, Sandstone and Silver, and A Change Is Gonna Come. Known for being humorous, vulnerable, and empowering, Robinson’s writing and performances resonate deeply with her audiences.

When she’s not writing, Robinson enjoys spending time with her family or experimenting with fluid art techniques. Learn more about her work at www.vogue316.com.

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Arts

William Jr. (Repeki) Adrillano is a carver based on the island of Saipan. A new local artist, he works primarily with shells, stone, and other natural island materials to create wearable pieces inspired by sinåhi forms, ocean movement, and the cultural strength of the Marianas. He shares his work through his artist page, Sinåhi Marianas, and is an active member of the community artist collective Alåhas Di Marianas, where members gather to carve, exchange skills, and invite others—especially youth—to learn this hands-on craft.

Outside of his art practice, Adrillano owns a small local business, Marianas Power Wash, which allows him to support his family while staying present in their lives. His goal is not to chase excess but to sustain his family with just enough while prioritizing family, culture, and community.

As a father, Adrillano’s deepest motivation is to leave his son a good pattern to follow—one rooted in creativity, responsibility, cultural pride, and showing up every day with purpose.