Elle K. Yancy is a Liberian born, American raised visual artist who enjoys exploring her artistic voice through the use of wet and dry mediums, photography, and most currently, tattoos. As a first generation Liberian who immigrated to the United States with her family as a child, Elle is heavily inspired by both her West Afrikan and Black/Afrikan-American cultures and the experiences that have come with navigating both identities. At large, Elle aims for her work to reflect the essential exploration of culture and the unifying forces found within. Working as an IT Specialist post undergrad for 5 years, Elle turned to pursuing her artistic practice full time after moving to Philadelphia from NYC in 2018 and now works as a tattoo apprentice in the Port Richmond area.

Since the age of 11, Dyymond could be found covered in clay and paint. Her love for self-expression through painting and figurative sculpting led her to pursue a career that would allow her to explore the arts. Dyymond’s work has premiered in over 50 major events across the country. Some of her notable collaborations include working with PUMA, the NAACP, Jordan Nike Brand, the Los Angeles Urban League, and most recently partnering with Crayola and the Franklin Institute to break the record for the world’s largest drawing by a single artist, at 6,450 square feet. In 2016, Dyymond was named Temple University’s Homecoming Queen, where she was celebrated for her impact in her community. Today, Dyymond is an artist, curator, and educator. She has always been passionate about educating and exposing youth to creative expression, cultural heritage, and careers in the creative economy.

LaShawnna Simon (she/her) is a digital artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Also creating under the alias Shawnwitz, LaShawnna focuses on digital art and graphic design. She enjoys practicing traditional methods of painting and applying them using non-traditional media. Her work includes hints of whimsy, and as she strives to center subjects who are BIPOC in the name of representation and visibility.

LaShawnna Simon (she/her) is a digital artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Also creating under the alias Shawnwitz, LaShawnna focuses on digital art and graphic design. She enjoys practicing traditional methods of painting and applying them using non-traditional media. Her work includes hints of whimsy, and as she strives to center subjects who are BIPOC in the name of representation and visibility.

Splitting their childhood between Oslo, Norway, and New York City, Kita developed a love for public space at a very young age. This led them to pursue a career in landscape architecture to be able to allow their designs to contribute to universal and accessible scapes within the cities they love. Kita’s art strives to uplift, amplify, and protect Black spaces and folx, all while holding gentrifiers accountable for the communities they have interested themselves in. Kita collaborates with local community members to develop collage renderings of neighborhoods and neighbors, to show the spaces of generational love and growth.

Kelley Prevard is a self-taught artist and muralist whose work is centered on healing and storytelling. Through the development of her artistic skills, Prevard’s art has become more than just a creative outlet; it is her voice. She creates work that is influenced by social, historical, and cultural events. In her artwork, she explores and reveals the depths of her own identity, to revolutionize the way people view and experience Black women. As she moves forward, she hopes to keep translating experiences of trauma and loss into works of art that heal, tell stories, and create communal spaces.

Yinka Orafidiya is a socially-engaged ceramic artist based in Philadelphia and founder of “Crafting Community,” an initiative to foster social connection through shared artistic experiences. She completed an advanced pottery intensive with master potters in Ghana, West Africa and has also participated in residencies at Moravian Pottery and Tile Works (PA), the International Ceramics Studio (Kecskemet, Hungary), and Watershed (ME). Yinka has received a Multicultural Fellowship from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), an Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts, and multiple awards from The Leeway Foundation, including the prestigious Transformation Award in 2019. She is currently building the foundation for the OYA Studio Museum, a host residency space that supports and collects the work of Black ceramic artists across the African diaspora.

Monique Muse is a Philadelphia-based sculpture artist and designer. Within her practice she seeks a holistic understanding of homeness through building her questioning and discoveries of it. A fascination in domestic construction methods, psychology of the home, and semantics underlies her work. Muse perceives her practice as infinite research, which is currently being documented through functional forms and conceptually integrated photographs.

Jaz is a queer Jamaican artist who began to take her digital art career seriously in the beginning of the pandemic. She loves to use vibrant colors and represent marginalized folks to create artwork inspired by escapism. She started drawing when she was 3 or 4 years old and learned from her older brother Richie, who unfortunately left this earth in 2019. She’s a fan of adult animations, a slut for smoothies, and loves to spoil her daughter, errr I mean cat, Chickpea.

Gloria Martin’s goal is to help heal, educate, inspire, and create work from a place of gratitude and self-forgiveness. Her artistic practice seeks to offer healing by highlighting themes of spirituality in nature, as we are all connected to it. Every aspect of nature has a spiritual purpose and function within our existence. Gloria’s work draws on those meanings for the mission of self-discovery and collective healing. She examines feelings of oppression and how knowledge of self, nature, and symbols can combat self-inflicted and/or external pain.