Discipline: Multidisciplinary

Discipline: Interdisciplinary

Executive Director, Queerlective Inc

Hello! My name is Randall Nielsen and I am a Queer Black artist and engineer living in New Hampshire. I move to Boston in 2010 to obtain a Bachelors in Engineering from Boston University. In 2014, I moved to New Hampshire for a lower cost of living. Since living in New Hampshire, I have met a lot of interesting Queer/BIPOC artists and saw a fantastic opportunity to engage and be a part of that community. This year I decided to take my art career seriously and started my art business From Strange Pieces. My primary media at first was digital illustration, but through some experimentation I developed a new process using resin and iridescent cellophane to create novel pieces that are celebrations of color and form and light. This year I have been working to grow my art skills and engage the art community.

That initial work has led me to see a great opportunity for bolstering the already growing art community here in New Hampshire by forming Queerlective. Since then Queerlective has been working on building it’s foundation in the community here and providing ways for promote and support Queer and BIPOC artists. Running Queerlective has come with it’s challenges but it has been a very rewarding process given the fantastic reception from the community.

Rebecca Evans, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Marketing & PR Artistic Communications Director, Social Justice Artist & Activist, and Consultant

Rebecca Evans is a Rehoboth Beach-based integrated communications director, social justice artist & activist, unconscious bias consultant and life coach, writer, and cofounder and co-owner of Diamond State of Mind, LLC. Rebecca also identifies as a proud parent, Black, queer-lesbian, multiethnic, multicultural, disABLED woman, who can be referred to as she/her/they. Evans promotes social and cultural equality, inclusion, diversity, and justice through all forms of artistic expression. She seeks to connect with underrepresented and isolated communities to locate artists, and provide an exhibition space, artistic supplies, and other resources to display an artists’ work, and further their professional and academic goals.

Evans obtained her bachelor’s degree in English and Women Studies from Tufts University, and her master’s degree in Corporate Public Relations from Boston University. She has over a decade of experience in integrated communications and working and volunteering within the artistic community. She has written for non-profits, directed, and acted in plays in Central Jersey, and performed in New York City and Boston before moving to Delaware with her family and three seizure-alert service dogs. Through Diamond State of Mind, Rebecca, along with her wife, Natalia will provide unconscious bias training, consultancy, and coaching to individuals and organizations based upon their unique integration of the arts and communications strategies.

Executive Director, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council

I am an enrolled citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, native American woman. I have an undergraduate degree from Bemidji State University in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. My masters degree is from University of Minnesota Duluth in Tribal Administration and Governance. I worked for 20+ years in Tribal Government with the most recent position being Internal Audit Division Director. My most recent position prior to ARAC was for the Boys & Girls Club of the Leech Lake Area as the Executive Director. Since I have spent most on my career working with my own community it has been an eye opener of the extreme need for DEI work in the general community. I have had two specific acts of racism with the employer I joined.
I want to create a program based on cultural competency that will encompass major areas to help non BIPOC to be respectful and understand history.

Rejoice Diaspora Dance Theater

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Crafts&Visual Arts

From the villages of Aoloau and Fagasa, Renisha Reid now resides in Vaitogi with her husband Tyrone and their four children—Jordan, Janae, Jesalyn, and Jrue. Her cultural journey began with music and dance and has grown into creating clothing, accessories, and crafts that reflect Samoan values and beauty. Inspired by the women in her life—her mother, sisters, aunts, and close friends—Reid blends creativity with community, honoring family, uplifting traditions, and sharing cultural pride with the next generation.