View Website

Leta Harris Neustaedter is a musician and actor who founded Metamorphosis Performing Arts Studio, where she integrates life skills into arts education. She has directed musical theater camps, Make-A-Movie camps, and created three seasons of Chill Skillz, an educational sketch comedy series. Neustaedter collaborates with the Boise High Orchestra on an ongoing program called Music That Matters, performs at local venues, and sings with the Boise Philharmonic Chorale.

She is a Certified Change Leader with the Idaho Commission on the Arts and a juried member of Music to Life. Neustaedter composed the musical underscoring for all 70-plus episodes of her podcast, The Lovely Afro, an archive of stories from the BIPOC community.

Last year, she produced, directed, and starred in a reading of a Lynn Nottage play. She also served as bandleader and pianist for a production of Lizzie. Neustaedter was one of nine recipients of the 2024 National Alliance for Musical Theatre New Writer Residency Grant for her original musical, for which she has since completed two drafts.

Limina Arts Foundation Inc

Living Jazz

Lofanitani Aisea is a Black Indigenous interdisciplinary multimedia experimental performance artist, filmmaker, and storyteller. She is Modoc, Klamath, Tahlequah, Black, and Tongan. Aisea’s work combines film, movement, and sound to transform cultural memory into immersive experiences, centering joy as a radical act of reclamation.

Using an experimental lens, she examines identity, intergenerational storytelling, and the ways histories are archived, embodied, and reimagined.

Log Cabin Literary Center, Incorporated

Los Angeles Performance Practice

Discipline: Crafts

Losalia Ah Chee is a revered traditional weaver from Pago Pago, American Samoa, whose artistry is deeply rooted in Samoan heritage. Entirely self-taught, she honed her craft through keen observation and an intuitive connection to her surroundings, mastering the intricate techniques of weaving with dried pandanus and coconut leaves. Over time, weaving has become more than a skill, it is an extension of her identity and a source of strength. Her passion for the art was nurtured by the enduring wisdom of her late mother, Telesia Ah Chee, whose words “‘E te ola i ou lima” (“You live by your hands”) that continue to guide her journey. Through weaving, she has cultivated resilience, purpose, and a profound sense of cultural pride. Committed to preserving the traditions of her ancestors, Chee actively shares her knowledge with youth and community members, ensuring that the legacy of Samoan weaving lives on through intergenerational learning and cultural stewardship.

Lynne Hardy, originally from Arizona, currently resides in Provo, Utah. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with a minor in entrepreneurship.

Her work, created using digital drawing and painting in Adobe Fresco, is described as colorful, modern depictions of her Navajo people and culture. Inspired by her ancestors, Hardy strives to preserve their stories. Authenticity, Native representation, and inclusion are central to her creations, as she aims to share her culture and combat harmful Native stereotypes.

In 2020, Hardy launched her small online business, Ajoobaasani, where she sells self-designed Navajo products, including stickers, prints, and apparel. The success of Ajoobaasani opened doors for her to collaborate with Native-led organizations and companies seeking Native art, enabling her to become a full-time illustrator.

Hardy hopes to continue growing her art career and business while working with clients who value Native culture.

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Arts

Magdalen Santos is an emerging bead-maker from Talabwogh, also known as Tanapag. She is learning her craft through the guidance of her maternal aunts and relatives, whose knowledge deeply shapes her journey. Through bead-making, she connects with her cultural roots and contributes to the preservation of her community’s traditions. Her growing practice is both a personal exploration and a tribute to the history, skills, and resilience passed down through generations.

Maka/Keixe Yaxti, a Tlingit woman from Yaakwdaat, carries a rich heritage rooted in her clan’s migration along the Copper River from the North. Based in Southeast Alaska, Yaakwdaat is where her ancestors have lived and stewarded the land for hundreds of years.

Monture belongs to the Raven moiety of the Copper River Clan, the House of the Owl, and she is a child of the Kanien’kehá:ka people. Her early education was shaped by the land itself, with her maternal grandparents serving as interpreters. Her understanding of humanity has been profoundly influenced by traditional practices, including harvest, song and dance, language, ceremony, and genealogy.

 

Maka’s creative work stems from the intersection of storytelling and a vision for radical abundance. She remains a lifelong student of Tlingit history and art.

Mallika Singh is a poet, farmer, and cook based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their chapbook, Retrieval, was published in 2020 by Wendy’s Subway. This season, they are growing okra, marigolds, hibiscus, and more alongside their coworkers at Ashokra Farm.

You can find them out in the field or by the river.

Discipline: Music

Malosi Tanielu Lui is happy to communicate with the community with his talent. Growing up, music was instilled through church choir, youth, and Sunday school. Started playing piano at the age of 10, and since then he was able to use the God given talent in high school choirs— Leone High Taumafai Swing Choir & Samoana High Tautua Choir. He was also blessed with the opportunity to play for American Samoa’s Choir at the Festival Arts of the Pacific this past summer.

Mancos Creative District Inc.

Mandate Project Impact, Inc.

Discipline: Photography

Marcella Fitisone, a proud daughter of Samoa, is the visionary owner of Sinavemafiti Photography and Creative Studios. Her creative work is a tribute to two core values that define her life: family and culture. Through her lens, she captures the essence of the Samoan way of life and strong bonds of family, creating timeless photos that tell stories of heritage and love. From birthdays to weddings, family faalavelaves, and the beautiful landscapes of American Samoa, Fitisone believes that preserving these moments through photography is a gift to future generations and a tangible documentation of living narratives.

View Website

Mari Griffin is an artist, spoken word performer, and entrepreneur dedicated to uplifting Black and BIPOC creatives. As the founder and event director of Black Night Market, she curates cultural experiences that celebrate art, music, and community.

Through her leadership, Griffin has produced events such as the Soul Food Festival, Poetry After Dark, and the Black Art Soiree, providing platforms for artists to thrive. Her work empowers emerging talent while promoting economic and social equity.

Griffin was honored as a recipient of the Creative West Artist Fund in 2025. She continues to inspire through storytelling, event production, and artistic expression.

Maria Nancy Thomas is a photographer born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and based in South Phoenix, Arizona. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Thomas’ photographs reflect the acculturation of her Mexican and American experiences. Focusing on portraiture, her work examines gender roles, stereotypes, cultural parallels, and social issues.

 

Her artwork has been exhibited at Arizona State University’s Gallery 100, the New School for the Arts and Academics, Yuma Art Center, Phoenix Center for the Arts, the Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center, the Alice Gallery in Washington, and other venues.

Discipline: Visual Arts

Benito is a member of the Houpolowat clan and canoehouse, Utt Wenimai. He also belongs to Utt Hopweilal. Benito was educated in the Weriyang school of navigation and as a child studied under some of the most famous and revered old-time navigators from Polowat, including Hipour Edward and Manipy Rapung. As an adult, Benito studied with the late Teo Onopey and Rainam Edward.

A long time cameraman, photographer, and archivist of Polowat images based in Saipan, Benito was the lead photographer for the documentary “Sacred Vessels: Navigating Tradition and Identity in Micronesia” (1997) and shot for many visiting documentary teams over the past two decades. Benito serves as an informal ambassador of Polowat seafarers in Saipan, served as one of the coordinators and translators in the building of the Lien Polowat in 2012 and its sail to Guam and final resting place at the Oceanic Culture Museum in Okinawa in 2013. In 2016, Benito was one of five navigators ordained by Grandmaster Navigator Rainam Edward of Polowat.

In 2023, Benito sailed from Palau to the CNMI and in 2024, in Hawaiʻi during the Festival of the Pacific Arts and Culture. Benito teaches Basic Traditional Navigation at 500 Sails in Saipan.

Discipline: Folklife/Traditional Arts

Mary Elizabeth is an employee at the Rota Mayors office under the leadership of Mayor Aubrey M. Hocog. She is the supervisor under the hospitality division, they are responsible for maintaining and cultivating traditional chamorro medicine at the “Hatdin Åmut CHamorru”.

She and her team facilitate demonstrations in the islands of the CNMI and the island of Guam. She and her team also work together to provide demonstrations for the students at PSS events and accept requests to make chamorro medicine for the community. She thanks her grandparents for providing her the knowledge about chamorro medicine and how to make them.

Discipline: Dance

Matauaina Gwendolyn To’omalatai Whitcombe is the President and Creative Director of Teine Lalelei Dance Academy, which she co-founded with her husband, Terrence Whitcombe, in August 2019 in American Samoa. The academy has grown to include around 80 dance students. Whitcombe established the academy with a heartfelt mission: “to preserve our culture one siva at a time.” Having studied dance in O’ahu, Hawaiʻi, under the guidance of many skilled kumu (dance instructors), she draws from her rich experience in various Polynesian dance styles. Teine Lalelei Dance Academy offers a diverse range of dance lessons on the island. Over her six years in American Samoa, the academy has aimed not only to teach dance but also to enlighten young women about the diverse cultures of the Pacific, helping them cultivate an appreciation for their heritage and cultural values.

Meagher County Arts Council, Inc.

Methow Arts Alliance

Michelle Amador, a lifelong singer and songwriter, has been acclaimed as “a new breed of musician” (Mercury News) by figures ranging from jazz bassist Buster Williams to legendary electronic producers like Osunlade. Most recently, she has recorded and released singles created with producer Eli Crews (Kathleen Hanna, Yoko Ono, tUnE-yArDs). Known for her “silken-voiced” (San Francisco Chronicle) original music, Amador draws inspiration from artists such as Solange Knowles, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Björk, and more.

From 2022 to 2024, Amador was a member of the Western States Center musician cohort for Inclusive Democracy and an organizing co-founder of the Cultural Solidarity Fund. She is also a California Established Artist Fellow. Beyond her artistic endeavors, Amador serves as Chief Growth Officer for the Equity Accelerator, a board member for California for the Arts, and a member of the Equity and Inclusion Leadership Alliance of North Carolina.

Discipline: Visual Arts

Michelle Pier is a Guam-born artist, creative entrepreneur, and mother of two with over 20 years of experience creating, exhibiting, and selling original paintings locally and internationally. Alongside her studio practice, she is dedicated to fostering creativity in the community through classes, workshops, and events that emphasize the creative arts, personal expression, and entrepreneurship. She is especially passionate about mentoring young artists, equipping them with practical tools and encouragement to pursue art as both a calling and a career. Above all, she shares her journey to inspire others to feel empowered to create and thrive.