Artist, Activist, Educator, The Lawrence Arts Center

Blanca Herrada is a Queer, Mexican American Artist and Activist living and working in Lawrence, Kansas, and her pronouns are she/they. In 2014 Blanca received a Bachelor of Fine Art with an emphasis in Painting and a minor in Art History from Emporia State University. Since that time, she has shown her work regionally and locally. Her work often focuses on her life experiences, friends, and family. Blanca enjoys working on large-scale oil paintings that they often combine with mixed media to create contemporary pieces that combine traditional and new methods. Blanca enjoys working within the intersections of art and activism and is passionate about her community. They have been privileged to coordinate and work on several public art projects and currently teach classes at the Lawrence Arts Center. She formerly taught workshops to adults with cognitive and physical disabilities through Douglas County Day Services. Blanca enjoys working with diverse communities to spread her love for the arts and strives to make art spaces more accessible and welcoming to everyone.

Grant Programs Manager, Arkansas Arts Council

My name is Brazierdene Watts, I live in Maumelle, Arkansas. I have three children and four grandchildren. I have a Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy. I have enjoyed working with arts organizations throughout the state of Arkansas for over 12 years. I was the grants administrator for the Arkansas Arts Council for 12 years and I was recently promoted to Grants Manager. I am mostly interested in making sure that funding is provided in underreached areas that lack resources but have just as many great artists and creatives as other areas. I would like to ensure access to arts programming in communities that are really in need of these awesome resources but have lacked the guidance and opportunity to receive them.

Associate Artistic Director, Cornerstone Theater Company

Bruce Lemon is a storyteller born and raised in Watts, CA. As a child, his father made him write stories and read them aloud in the hallway as punishment for lies and mischief. He’s still in trouble.
Recent credits: Actor in the short film HALLELUJAH, an Official Selection of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Director of THE ANONYMOUS LOVER at the LA Opera.
Associate Artistic Director/Ensemble with Cornerstone Theater Company, Co-Artistic Director of Watts Village, Company member of Illyrian Players and Collaborative Artists Bloc.
BruceALemonJr.com
@balemonjr

Bruna Massadas (b. 1985, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a painter based in Bozeman, Montana. Her work has recently been exhibited at de boer, Los Angeles; The Pit, Los Angeles; Bozomag, Los Angeles; My Pet Ram, New York; McClain Gallery, Houston; and Gallery 16, San Francisco.

Massadas has also participated in two-person shows with Raymie Iadevaia at Bozomag and Daniel Gibson at Some.Time.Salon. From 2018 to 2021, she exhibited with Binder of Women, and from 2016 to 2018, she was a member of the CTRL+SHFT collective.

Massadas earned her MFA from California College of the Arts.

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Camas Logue is a multidisciplinary artist and an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes, representing the Ewksiknii, Modokish, and Numu people. Logue’s practice spans painting, carving, graphic design, and performance art.

Art Show Coordinator, Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum

Discipline: Photography

Cami Diaz Egurrola (she/her), familian Kabesa, Bodig, yan Gayegu, is an indigenous CHamoru photographer and climate justice activist from the Mariana Islands. Born and raised on the island of Guåhan, her photography focuses on depicting the environmental and social harmony (inafa’måolek) of her Micronesian homelands and the people who inhabit them. By creating imagery of the landscapes and humans that exemplify the CHamoru values she was raised in, she hopes her photography can be a tool used for environmental justice, the perpetuation of culture in Pasifika, as well as express her deep appreciation and connection to her ancestors and homelands.

Candice “Primitiva” Muna is a native Chamorro music artist, cultural practitioner, educator, and pottery artist whose work bridges the ancient and contemporary. Rooted in her Indigenous heritage and ancestral wisdom, she weaves stories through music and clay, creating powerful expressions of identity, memory, and resilience. Her music blends ancient-inspired Chamorro chant with original contemporary songwriting, representing a new era of Chamorro music.

One of her original works, “I Maga’håga” (2022), exemplifies this combination of ancient chant and modern Chamorro folk music.

As a cultural preservationist and educator, Primitiva is dedicated to nurturing the next generation by passing on traditions of Chamorro music and ancient Marianas redware pottery while honoring the practices of the past. Whether performing on stage or shaping clay, she creates with intention, embodying spirit, purpose, and cultural continuity through every medium.

CarlaDean is a cultural advocate and mentor of Indigenous sciences who follows the gathering and harvesting cycles of the four seasons. She is a steward of the land and waterways. A lifelong educator and learner, she attended the American Indian Language Development Institute at the University of Arizona and the Northwest Indian Language Institute at the University of Oregon.

In 2003, she received her American Indian language teacher license to teach the Northern Paiute language in public schools in Oregon. She shares Northern Paiute cultural legacies through written works, radio, and various multimedia visuals.

Caldera attended the National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages in 2010 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to advance her research and growth as a preserver of language and cultural legacies archives.

She was awarded an Oregon Fields Artist Fellowship for 2021-23.

Discipline: Music

Carlos Tenorio Laguaña is a musician artist born and raised from Guam. His passion for playing musical instruments began at a young age, as he was taught by his father who was also a musician. He studied music and graduated at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. With his knowledge and experience, he was able to share his passion with the people of Guam by teaching at public schools, private lessons, and at the University. He is also a member of a nonprofit organization called Inetnon na Låhen Guåhan (YMLG) that promotes culture, language, and heritage within the community.

Discipline: Visual Arts

A Polynesian weaver, marine scientist, and artist..born and raised in Amerika Samoa, Casidhe (Cassie) Mahuka graduated from Chaminade University of Honolulu with a Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Studies. Casidhe currently works full-time as the Marine Invasive Species Coordinator for the Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG), house by the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR). Casidhe is also the sole proprietor of Launiu Life, promoting the art and traditional skills of weaving handicrafts from coconut fronds (ig: @launiulife). “Launiu” is the Samoan word for coconut fronds, and I use the term “Life” to mean vital or to survive. Launiu Life seeks to connect people with nature and heritage by adopting traditional Samoan weaving techniques for modern-day wear, uses, and aesthetics. . Through these endeavors, I aspire to grow Launiu Life and contribute meaningfully to our cultural narrative and community resilience.

Chandra Williams is an artist, educator and community healer dedicated to fostering social and cultural change. Her work highlights the power of the arts to reshape society, empowering communities to create change directly.

As executive director of the Crossroads Cultural Arts Center in Clarksdale, Mississippi—known as the Home of the Blues—Williams leads efforts to celebrate African cultural practices and restore their role in community healing. The center provides space to reclaim Black cultural identity and narrative on local and global levels.

 

Williams earned a bachelor’s in fine arts from Washington University in St. Louis, with concentrations in critical theory and community education. Her experience includes serving as a museum educator, leading a private art school and two decades as a community educator and organizer.

Discipline: Opera/Musical Theatre

I’m truly honored and grateful for this opportunity. My hope with this to build a better foundation for my own longevity and build connections within the artist community. It’s truly amazing how one can take a picture in a way that’s completely different than anyone else looking at the same thing. I describe my photography as sincere, intimate and artful and to be able to do what I truly enjoy just makes my heart full of gratitude.

Name: Chastity Williams. Title: Founder of Spotlight Our Youth, Drama Director at Franklin Middle School.
Chastity Williams was born and raised in Illinois. She moved to Iowa, where she studied Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa and currently attends the University of Dubuque for Elementary Education, to integrate her arts experience in an educational setting. Chastity served as Miss Northeast Iowa 2023 where she continued to amplify the value of the arts. She is an advocate for arts education through her initiative “Spotlight Our Youth – Educate, Engage, and Emerge in Arts Education”. The arts help children find their voice and develop skills that help them become leaders. Her initiative is about sustaining artistic opportunities for kids so they can create their own stories. She has done work with Englert Theater in Iowa City and Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Illinois. She has also been on stage in productions across Iowa, some for other states. Chastity serves as a teaching associate and drama director in the Cedar Rapids School District and is a fan of anime. She’s excited to be a part of this fellowship and learn how to bring inclusivity into the arts!

Public Programs and Outreach Coordinator, Plains Art Museum

My name is Chelsea Steffes and I work at the Plains Art Museum as the Public Programs and Outreach Coordinator, a Teaching Artist, and a Senior Visitor Services Associate. I am a mixed race Filipino American who dedicates her time primarily towards the community that myself and my institution can serve. I got my Bachelor’s degree in Heritage and Museum Studies & Pre-professional Studio Art from Concordia College, Moorhead in 2019. Rather than specialize in a particular artistic medium, I focused on learning multiple artistic skills/practices and becoming an accessible and engaging informal arts educator. I have worked at my current institution since 2018 and have jumped at every opportunity that I can to improve myself and in turn, how I can serve my community. My goal is to make all arts community spaces an accessible and inclusive experience for anyone who visits. I make efforts to engage with our visitors and the local Fargo/Moorhead community through visitor experience, teaching classes, giving gallery tours, and participating in local community events by providing free art activities.

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Cheryl Derricotte is a visual artist whose favorite medium is glass. She also creates work on paper and textiles. Her art has been featured in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Derricotte is currently working on public art projects in the Midwest and the West. She was recently named a 2024 Emerging Public Artist at the international CODAworx Summit. In 2021, she was awarded a commission to develop a monument to Harriet Tubman at the transit-oriented Gateway at Millbrae Station. The piece is the first sculptural tribute to the abolitionist made in glass.

In 2024 and 2025, she served as a visiting artist at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, alongside her participation in the groundbreaking exhibition “A Two Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists.” Prior to her work at the Museum of Glass, Cheryl was the Spring 2024 Marva and John Warnock Artist-in-Residence at the University of Utah’s Department of Art and Art History.

Event Coordinator, Arts Council of Big Sky

A self-described introvert with a very public profession, Dasan Ahanu is a North Carolina-based cultural organizer, artist, and scholar. As an accomplished cultural leader and poet, Dasan has appeared on NPR, TV One’s Verses and Flow, and the documentary Poet Son, among other features. He is a resident artist with the St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation/Hayti Heritage Center, co-founder and managing director of Black Poetry Theatre, and a visiting professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, teaching Hip-Hop and Black culture courses. A respected recording artist, Dasan has collaborated with many Jazz, Soul, and Hip-Hop artists in North Carolina. He is an alumnus of the Nasir Jones Fellowship with the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. In 2023, he was named the 15th Piedmont Laureate for poetry. He has published extensively and is the author of five poetry collections. Dasan also works with organizations as a strategist and builder who uses art & culture as a foundation and framework for creative solutions to internal and external needs. An imagination worker, he develops programs, collaborates on projects, helps map out initiatives, coordinates resources, and fosters ideation with groups looking to increase impact and embrace possibilities.

claire barrera is an artist based in Portland, Oregon. Their dance career extends 34 years, and they are extensively trained in ballet, modern and postmodern technique. They have created and produced their work since 2010, and have received multiple grants and residencies, most recently via Regional Arts and Cultural Council, Caldera Arts and Chapel Theater. They have performed in the work of many artists, including Allie Hankins, Linda Austin and Sam Hamilton. 

barrera’s work is multi-disciplinary and includes voice and writing. They’ve been involved in DIY punk art and social justice since they were an angry 12 year old in D.C. They co-edit the zine When Language Runs Dry: A Zine for People with Chronic Pain and Their Allies, which was anthologized by Mend My Dress Press (2020). Other writings include their zine el lenguaje nos gusta y nos confunde and an essay in Cindy Milstein’s anthology Constellations of Care  (Pluto Press, 2024).

Dance Director, Michigan Dance Council

Clara Martinez is the Dance Director at Everett High School in the Lansing School District. A lifelong dancer with a passion for community organizing, she views her role at Everett as arts educator and community leader. She is a proud union representative and advocates for students and educators in the Lansing Schools Education Association. Clara won Best Dance Instructor in Lansing’s City Pulse Top of the Town 2020 Contest. She is Chair of Michigan Dance Council and Board Member for All Of The Above Hip Hop Academy and Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan. Clara was recognized as a Rising Leader in the Arts and selected for the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs’ Rising Leaders 2021-2022 Cohort. Clara is pursuing her Masters of Social Work (MSW) in Organization & Community Leadership at Michigan State University. Clara received her Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance from The Ohio State University.

Founder, The Mae Fellowship & Quitman Studios

Courtney Young is a writer of fiction, screenplays, popular culture criticism and creative nonfiction. She is a recipient of residencies from Willapa Bay Air, Vermont Studio Center, Faber, Hambidge, Bainbridge and Chateau D’Orquevaux. She is also the founder of the Mae Fellowship, a virtual, annual program that provides financial and professional support to women and non binary writers seeking to publish her/their first book and a co-founder of This Season. Her current projects include completing both her first narrative feature entitled This Savage Life Makes Us Hard to Kill and her first collection of short stories entitled Scar Tissue of the Extraordinary. A graduate of Spelman College and New York University, she received her B.A. in English with a minor in Management and her M.A. from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, completing an interdisciplinary program that combined Entertainment Business, Performance, & Africana studies. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana.

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