Visual Artist, Curator, and Artistic Director, InterUrban ArtHouse
I am a mostly self – taught artist born and raised in Kansas City, MO. I come from a creative family on my father’s side. He, his mother, and all of his 4 siblings are / were visual artists or musicians. I attended the Kansas City Art Institute briefly, found that it wasn’t for me, and went on to create and participate in the arts on my own terms. Much of my early work was afrocentric, focusing on masks, adornment, and the diaspora, while still remaining largely abstract. I showed in mostly Black spaces or in spaces that centered people of color, as the more mainstream venues seemed so out of reach. I worked retail, went to culinary school, and became a chef, all while trying to keep up my art practice. I participated in, and eventually became Director of GLOW, a body painting company of painters and models. About 6 years ago, I received a call from the Founder of the Interurban ArtHouse. I’d produced a show for her in the past and she was looking for someone to help her run the organization. I am now the Artistic Director for the InterUrban ArtHouse and in charge of exhibitions, programming, and off site corporate curation.