Fellowship for Black Artists

Designed to fund, foster, and elevate the important work of emerging Black artists residing within the city of Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Black Artists Fellowship, focuses on nurturing emerging talent, and is dedicated to creating essential pathways for artists through a blend of mentorship, professional development, and long-term industry connections.

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Fellowship Highlights

Annual Fellowship Exhibition

Our Annual Exhibition showcases the talents of the current cohort and invites our great city to explore the work of 15 voices from their communities.

Networking

The Cohort's focus on professional development and fostering creative connections through a network of arts leaders and cultural institutions in the Philadelphia region is a fantastic way to empower artists and cultural practitioners.

Mural Arts X Filter Club

Mural Arts x Fitler Club Artist in Residence collaboration features artists from the Fellowship. The residency introduces new audiences to these artists and awards each with a year-long membership at the Fitler Club.

Apply for the fellowship

Our Fellowship Program celebrates the talent of the artist while focusing on building essential pipelines for burgeoning art careers through mentorship, professional development, and long-term creative connections.

Who we are

This committee is committed to removing barriers to access and nurturing artists talent. Providing resources, mentorship, and opportunities, empower artists to contribute their voices and visions to the evolving fabric of Philadelphia. This commitment to accessibility aligns with our belief that artists deserve a place in shaping their city's cultural landscape.

Ginger Rudolph

she/her/hers

Curator

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Noah Smalls

Him/he/his

Director of Exhibitions and Collections Management at the Williams College Museum Of Art

Noah Smalls is an exhibition designer, gallery director, consultant and artist, as well as Gallery Director of Rush Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Shiven Love

she/her/hers

Cultural Strategist

Shivon Pearl Love is a cultural strategist, preservationist and educator, based in Philadelphia. She works as an arts administrator and cultural producer, connecting artists and organizations to resources and opportunities. Shivon has held leadership roles within several Philadelphia institutions, cultivating relationships and resources, building organizational and community capacity, resilience and self- determination.

Yannick Lowery

Him/he/his

Artist, Former Fellow

Yannick Lowery is an interdisciplinary artist currently residing and working in Philadelphia, PA. Originally from New York City, he embraces both cities as cultural and creative influences, drawing on their rich and diverse visual art histories to fuel his practice. Yannick studied sculpture and graphic design at The Atlanta College of Art (now SCAD) and Columbia College in Chicago.

Felix ST. Fort

Him/he/his

Artist

St. Fort’s most prominent commission, “The Stage” (Philadelphia, 2018), has garnered international press. Felix St. Fort recently worked as an Art Teacher for C.B. Community School while continuing to work on private commissions and mural commissions until beginning his role as a Resident Artist for Mural Arts Philadelphia. He is an advisor for the Mural Arts Institute on mural making logistics, wall designs, and approach to public art projects.

Directory of Fellows

Learn How We Grow

Each year, the Philadelphia Black Artists Fellowship grows and adapts, mirroring the evolving social landscape of Philadelphia and the needs of its artistic community. By listening closely to the voices of both emerging and established Black artists in the city, the fellowship dynamically reshapes its programming to respond to new social, cultural, and economic realities.

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Nasir Young received his BFA from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art in 2021. Nasir is currently represented by Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia. In 2020 he was awarded The Raymond D. & Estelle Rubens Travel Scholarship to go to...

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As an illustrator and designer, Shahvteeaylah Williams (Shahv) enjoys creating vibrant, expressive artwork and colorful wearables. She is a mixed-media artist who prefers working with acrylic ink and colored pencils, before polishing designs digitally.She completed her BFA in Illustration at...

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Duwenavue Sante Johnson is a BIPOC artist with a rich heritage spanning both the northern and southern regions of the United States over the past four centuries. This diverse upbringing has significantly shaped Johnson’s artistic lens, fostering a relentless quest...

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Qiaira Riley is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, educator and cultural worker, from Chicago’s south-side, and based in Philadelphia. She holds a dual B.A. in Black Studies and Studio Art from Lake Forest College, as well as an M.F.A in Socially...

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Susan Ragland is a self-taught artist whose focus has been to unwaveringly create joyful images of Black people affirming their human connections. Amidst bursts of color and intricate designs, her paintings seek to examine the humanity of Black subjects while...

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Michele Pierson (b. 1993) is a contemporary painter born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. Michele obtained her B.A. in Studio Art and Art History from Spelman College and has maintained an active studio practice alongside a fulfilling career in nonprofit...

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Kara Mshinda (b. 1978) is a visual anthropologist who creates photo-based artworks about identity, memory, and embodiment in public spaces. Mshinda is an alumna of Temple University (‘07) and is best known for using collage, collaborative portraiture, and alternative photo...

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Alexsi Morales is a self taught multimedia artist currently based in West Philadelphia. Alexsi’s work is driven by their take on contemporary art, the beauty of life, the people around them, dealing with self-love in a constantly mediated space, and...

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Originally from the Dominican Republic, LUSMERLIN is a multidisciplinary artist and chemical engineer with a background in textile and cement manufacturing. She currently splits her time between Philadelphia, PA and Columbia, MD and exhibits her work nationally. LUSMERLIN’s works across...

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Keshawna Logan is an award-winning visual artist and educator based in Philadelphia. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University Of The Arts, and her work has been nationally exhibited. Her paintings frequently reflect how she...

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Terrell Halsey is a visual artist and photographer based in Philadelphia, PA. With a BFA in Film & Media Arts from Temple University, he transferred his knowledge of the camera from cinematography to still imagery. As an artist, he fuses...

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Mello Dixon, is a trailblazing designer and artist making waves in the wearable art realm. With his company, Greatness Was When…! He is revolutionizing the art scene with his fresh and captivating twist. He has swiftly become one of the...

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Elijah Crawford is the co-founder and Director for Ugly Art. Elijah’s career has led him from modeling on billboards to being featured in multiple magazines including Essence, The Cut, & Insider for his creative direction and fashion. His true passion...

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Brittany Anne Baum, born and bred in the vibrant tapestry of Camden, New Jersey, carries the soul of her hometown within her artistic expressions. Now rooted in Philadelphia, Baum’s work stands as a testament to the resilience and beauty of...

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Steven CW Taylor, also known as “The Time Thief,” is an award-winning visual artist and photographer based in Philadelphia. Having spent a pivotal decade in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (DMV), Steven initially ventured into the field as a youth...

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Born in Georgetown, D.C. in 1992, Darryl Babatunde Smith started making art as a way of interpreting foreign languages as opposed to translating them in English. He studied French, German, and Latin in high school and later began to learn...

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Jillian M Rock is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Philadelphia. Her current personal practice focuses on the exploration of place and placemaking. Specifically, the intersection at which the past, present, and future play on the narratives of Blackness; and...

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DeJeonge Reese (she/her) is a black female, visual artist, educator and art advocate from Yeadon, Pennsylvania. She uses her art and creativity to stimulate new and on-going conversations on the various facets of identity within the black community. I am...

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Jordan Plain is a Philadelphia based creative skilled in many mediums. He uses graphic design, poetry, and photography tell stories, set a scene, and influence thought. He covers topics, from masculinity to gun violence and is not afraid to tackle...

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Jasmine lynea is a non-binary filmmaker, educator and futurist radically dreaming outside of this reality. Curious about what lives between truth and myth, through their vibrant imagination, lynea presents unconventional ideas that have the possibility of becoming attainable in a...

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Shakira Hunt is a multi-disciplinary artist and branding photographer based in Philadelphia, PA. With her Interior Design & Architecture Experience [BFA in Interior Design], Shakira owns and operates Shakira Hunt Creative Studio. SHCS provides creative services including digital content creation...

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What I am most interested in as an artist is painting black figures and placing them in environments. Although I draw inspiration from looking at old masterworks, I’m upset when the people in those paintings don’t look like me or...

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Shanina dionna (she/they) is a visual and performing artist, non-profit founder and educator, mental health advocate, and certified PCEA (Person-Centered Expressive Arts) facilitator based in West Philadelphia.Since 2012, their arts advocacy has helped bridge the gap between local wellness institutions...

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Based in Philadelphia, Kendra Dandy (b.1987) is a multidisciplinary artist known for creating colorful illustrations, cheeky, smile-inducing patterns and bold art featuring a variety of whimsical characters. Using familiar icons mixed with bold colors and patterns, she creates her own...

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Marian Bailey is a self-taught contemporary artist whose work explores themes of memory, history, and identity through the use of mixed media, painting, and drawing. Bailey’s works are often characterized by her use of bold colors, gestural brushstrokes, and dynamic...

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German Ayala Vazquez is a photographer and visual artist originally hailing from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, raised in New York City and now based in Philadelphia. His artistic practice encompasses a diverse range of photographic styles, including fashion, conceptual, and photojournalistic...

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I received my BFA in Illustration from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA in 2021, and was the recipient of the 2021 Fellowship Trust Award and the Conrad J. Linke Memorial Scholarship while at The Academy....

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Self taught freelance Writer, Artist and Instructor. Head of Pyroglyphics Studio.

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Odochi Akwani is a film photographer originally from Omaha, Nebraska, but now based in Philadelphia. Odochi is a member of Diversify Photo’s Up Next collective. She uses the medium of photography to document the rhythms of everyday life. Her work...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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Chelsey Luster is a Philadelphia-based curator, visual artist and art educator from Baltimore, Maryland. Luster received their BFA from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture and attended a residency at Chautauqua School of Art. As a curator, Luster...

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Jah’s body of work centers black bodies adorned with humanity and elements that may not be of this world. Self-taught, Jah began painting as a means to express themselves and to connect with the world around them. Afrosurrealism is the...

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Zeinab Diomande otherwise known as “Z The Rat” is a Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary artist. Diomande was born in 1999 in Virginia. Her family left the United States to relocate back to their home in the Ivory Coast where she grew up...

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Branche Coverdale is artist based in Philadelphia. Originally a New Yorker, Branche works in an expressive and playful manner inspired from cartoons of his childhood with elements of the fantastical. Before moving to Philadelphia, he was a full time studio...

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Faysal is a 16-year-old Philadelphian native from Germantown. He was diagnosed with childhood brain cancer at a young age, and has been living life to the fullest ever since! He wants to be an inspiration to other people living with...

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Kelli Williams is an animator, visual artist, and community artist based in Philadelphia, where she is an assistant professor at Moore College of Art & Design. In her personal work, she uses stop-motion animation, photography, installation, and humor to create...

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Andrea Walls is a multidisciplinary artist, informed and inspired by the writers and visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts Movement. She is pleased that her writing, scholarship, and visual art have been supported by organizations she admires,...

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Philadelphia native Khalif Rivers is a self-taught photographer and writer interested in capturing the remnants of “Old Philadelphia” and uncovering its rich past. Driven by his love of the city’s unique industrial and residential architecture, he possesses an uncanny ability...

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Rachael Moton is a writer, director, and failed internet comedian. Her obsession with weird indie films and reality television led her to attend Temple University, where she graduated with a BFA degree in Film with a concentration in Directing. Her...

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Emilio Maldonado is an Afro-Caribbean artist living in Philadelphia. He graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with an MFA in Painting (2013), from Escuela de Artes Plasticas de Puerto Rico with a BFA in Painting (2011), and from...

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Wit López is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning multidisciplinary maker, performance artist, writer, and cultural advocate based in Philadelphia. They are the Founder and Artistic Director of Till Arts Project, a grassroots arts services organization serving LGBTQ+ artists in the Greater...

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Ken Johnston is a Philadelphia-based walking artist who responds to the call of social change and history by walking to put “movement” back in the civil rights movement. During the past year, Ken has retraced the footsteps of Harriet Tubman’s...

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Mz. Icar is an anonymous interdisciplinary artist. Her name is a semordnilap and is a reversal of racism. Her colorful visual narratives celebrate Women, Global Blackness, and Play. She creates art in the form of murals, mixed-media, textile, and photography,...

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Acori Honzo is a self-taught sculptor and painter. His influences range from Norman Rockwell to comic book artists like Alex Ross. His sculptures often refer to pop and mass culture. He sees this as a way to connect with anyone...

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Creating paintings to engage youth in reading is Arthur Haywood’s passion. His paintings are published in his book The Great Library and Space and Time Magazine. He has completed murals for Mural Arts and Elkins Park School. He received a...

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Dara Haskins (b.1992 Baltimore, MD) has rooted her practice in Philadelphia, working primarily in painting oil portraits and figurative oil and mixed media paintings. Addressing the ways the black body has been represented and looked at throughout history, she challenges...

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Anthony Folks is a visual artist most known for his collage works on paper. He received his BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) before completing his master’s degree program in Art Education at the School of...

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Kenyssa Evans is an interdisciplinary artist from Washington, DC, and now resides in Philadelphia. She received her BFA in Photography and Digital Arts with a minor in Curatorial Studies from Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia (‘20). Her work...

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Mikel Elam was born in Philadelphia. He attended the University of the Arts receiving his BFA in painting. He also attended the School of the Visual Arts in New York. He has been showing his paintings in numerous gallery spaces...

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Taj DeVore-Bey is a filmmaker from Philadelphia. Through his body of work, he aims to leave his viewers with a sense of perspective. He is inspired by directors such as Spike Lee, Terrence Malick, and Ava DuVernay. He is inspired...

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Steven Cooper is an artist who specializes in photography, video, and graphic design. When creating art pieces, he takes his own photos from his archive and “enhances” them. Making them into true works of art from plain photos. Starting photography...

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Robert is a full-time artist working mainly in photography, specializing in commercial portraiture and figurative fine art. Some of the thematic elements found throughout his work include rich colors and painterly light, impactful storytelling through imagery, and a commitment to...

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Amir Campbell, also known as Amiracle, is a multi-faceted creative. His work revolves around displaced identity and unity through the lens of integration and assimilation into American Culture as an African American. Through his work, he communicates and forms relationships...

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Lindsay Bedford is a Spatial Storyteller, Communications Strategist, and an agent of change in her community. In June of 2021, Lindsay will graduate from Drexel University with a Master of Science in Interior Architecture & Design. Lindsay is passionate about...

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In his somewhat simplistic yet playfully unapologetic approach, Caff Adeus’ work boldly says what a lot of artists wouldn’t dare express openly. His practice includes portrait photography, sculptures, and abstract paintings that explore Picasso’s dictum that anyone can learn to...

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Ellen Tiberino is a mosaic artist born and raised in West Philadelphia. She comes from a family of renowned visual artists. Ellen has exhibited in numerous galleries in Philadelphia and New York . Including the Sande Webster gallery, Gallery 22,...

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Athena’s work is the synthesis of fine arts and design. Her influences include Frida Kahlo, Käthe Kollwitz, Basquiat and Kerry James Marshall, just to name a few. Though her primary love is in portraiture, she has also worked professionally as...

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Nazeer Sabree is a contemporary African-American artist from Philadelphia. His subjects are often centered around the African American experience and capturing black culture. Nazeer has a photo realism quality when rendering figures and combines them with raw expressive backgrounds and...

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Aqil Rogers is a metalsmith from West Philly. Their afrofuturistic brand, BLACKMARZIAN, aims to generate a new Black visual language of identification for the liberated self. This carries the intention of urging Black collective liberation into existence. Through working with...

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Philadelphia, PA native Erika Richards is a professional illustrator – a skilled artist who has mastered the technique of blending watercolor and Prismacolor pencils. Erika began creating art at the tender age of three. A fascination with the female figure...

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As a lover of all things home, Chanae has always found so much joy in not only curating her own home, but also helping others with their home projects. With a gift for sourcing unique pieces and understanding her client’s...

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Philadelphia-based artist, Taj Poscé, analyzes the beauties and plights of his life through color, abstraction and informal narrative paintings, designs and poems. He truly has a pure, raw and optimistic gaze on art making and on the world. Many of...

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Martin Peeves is a New-Media artist of Ghanaian heritage who lives and works in Philadelphia, U.S.A. Peeves’ juxtaposes & incorporates his subjective experiences, as an African immigrant in the United States interfacing with Western contemporary culture, (for content and context)...

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Anthony Carlos Molden is a mixed media painter/sculptor born in 1968 in Cedar Rapids, IA, and raised in Altadena, CA. Anthony currently resides and creates in Philadelphia, PA.He is a ,mostly, self-taught artist; but, has taken courses at both the...

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Philadelphia native, Breyanna Maples is an alumni of The University of The Arts, School of Dance. As a freelance artist her practice is through but is not limited to Dance. Her practices extend into theatre, gallery performance and design. The...

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Eustace Mamba Francis, (born Manhattan, NY - 7/1992) is a fine artist, photographer, printmaker, and graphic designer driven by innovation and quality. Eustace's fine arts practice is an extension of his obsessive documentation of complex, contemporary thoughts and issues through...

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annick Lowery was born in New York City and raised throughout the south and midwest. The only son of two fine artists, he rebelled and studied Advertising Design at Columbia College Chicago. Working in kitchens throughout college, he began a...

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Naomieh Jovin is a visual artist with a focus in photography. She received her BFA in Photography and Digital Arts from Moore College of Art and Design (‘17). Her work is influenced by the absence of her late mother as...

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Forging professional careers in makeup, wardrobe, production design, graphic design and now, camera and creative direction, attention to detail is in her blood. With humble beginnings in makeup and wardrobe, Simone worked in the commercial and film worlds applying her...

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I am a Black college grad that studied Animation and Glass. With my work, I would like to continue down the path and show others in my community (young and old) that there are more options available to them than...

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Shanel Edwards is a Black, queer, non-binary, first-generation Jamaican, Philadelphia based, dancer, photographer, director, and poet.Their work centers Black Queer Femme-hood, intimacy as a tool for healing, and radical joy. They create art in a world where tenderness and rage...

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My background for the past few decades has involved steady work in the service industry, in arts distribution, and volunteering in many video productions. I have had a close association with the Philadelphia arts community for many years - I...

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A native of Brazil, Adenilson Dos Santos (Mestre Doutor) has practiced capoeira, a Brazilian folk and martial art for the past 41 years. As a result of his achievements, he was granted permanent residency and US citizenship as an “Alien...

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Tash Billington is a Philadelphia Native who uses art as a way to heal, motivate and give back to the world. She specializes in Photography, Painting and Community Engagement. Best known for assisting on large scale public mural projects and...

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Ginssiyo Apara is an artist, and theorist working with various media, ranging from sound, sculpture, painting, poetry, and writing. A common theme that runs throughout his work centers around manipulating found plastic materials, synthesizing them with classic fine art materials....