Gouled Abdishakour Ahmed (they/them) is an Addis Ababa based Somali visual artist, stylist, costume designer and writer. Their work explores the themes of memory and belonging through the lens of self portrait photography and self fashioning. Their ongoing self portrait series One Day These Names Will Be Ours explores the gaps that exist within formal language in the understanding, and contextualization of gender expressions that exist outside of the binary. Gouled's work deals with the notion of futurity, and is heavily aimed at envisioning new & equitable aesthetic futures for the Horn of Africa.

Joseph Sarenhes is a versatile creator. On top of playing piano, guitar and drums, he’s also a singer, a rapper, a composer and a video creator. A singular talent and surprisingly gifted. Joseph’s identity has very strong cultural roots. Of Guinean, Indigenous (Huron-Wendat Nation) and Quebecois origin, he instinctively creates a mixture that is both homogeneous and refreshing between tradition and current trend, innovating. With the release of his first single ’Sing You Something’ ’, Joseph clearly demonstrates that he is a promising multidisciplinary creator. “Sarenhes” means “The highest peak in the forest” and is a symbol of strong leadership. Joseph hopes that his music will be a unifying medium that inspires and leaves a positive impact on the world. 

Working from a Global African Diasporic, Afro-Centric and Afro-Futurist perspective, Nikesha Breeze’s (they/them) interdisciplinary work reimagines the possibility of healing inter-generational traumatic inheritance through the intersection of art and ritual. Black, Brown, Indigenous, Queer and Earth bodies, material and immaterial, are seen as undeniably sacred and inviolable. Nikesha’s work centers Black bodies, simultaneously existing within realms of past, present, and future. Nikesha uses performance art, film, painting, textiles, sculpture, and site-specific engagement to build a counter-narrative of an Otherwise, where black bodies and ideas are seen as existing in hypervalue, a realm of indivisibility between black artistic aesthetic, black time, and ritual healing. Black pasts become re-informed by Black futures, and the resulting present is experienced as a living altar and artifact.

Mithsuca Berry is a Haitian artist, educator, and storyteller based currently in Cambridge, MA. Each of their pieces marks an epiphany in their journey of healing trauma - as it relates to existing as a black queer/non-binary person. Art has been the intersection between their broken inner child and intuitive/spiritual self. Their practice serves a role like: How does one create an archive of imagery, recording the complex emotions that surface in their lifetime? 

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They then sketch/write/RELEASE those examples into the world, for others who resonate to connect with. That places healing within them, but also makes it accessible in places that will exist beyond their work. 

Kaya Joan (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary Afro -Indigenous artist born, raised and living in T’karonto (Dish with One Spoon treaty territory). Kaya’s work focuses on exploring relationships and responsibility to place and storytelling. Black and Indigenous futurisms and speculative fiction are also themes important to Kaya’s practice, as they map towards futures of abundance and joy for their kin. Kaya has been working in community arts for 7 years as a facilitator and artist, and is a member of Milkweed Collective. 

Mikailah Thompson is a Nimiipuu tribal member currently residing in D.C. area. Thompson graduated from Lewis-Clark State College with a degree in Business & Communication, minoring in Nez Perce Language, Leadership, and Marketing. Thompsons holds the titles of owner of Beadwork By Mikailah, LLC and Indigenous
Creatives, LLC as well as host of Quantum Theory Podcast.
Her work has been affiliated with brands and organizations such as SWAIA’s Santa Fe Indian Market, Native Art Magazine, Oregon Native American Chamber, First American Art Magazine, Potlatch Fund, First Peoples Fund, the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, Discover Your Northwest, and more.

Zahyr Lauren (they/them), also known as The Artist L.Haz, is a West Coast- based artist, writer, former human rights investigator, and former attorney. L.Haz began drawing in 2015 after the surmounting stress of being an attorney resulted in a lost ability to walk. The youngest of four siblings, L.Haz comes from a powerful, southern Black matriarchy that migrated from Oklahoma and Mississippi to California with nothing, and made something for generations to come. The he(art)work is at once a dedication to the brilliance, resilience, and beauty of their family, as well as a practice of transforming the trauma of being Black in America so that they do not transmit it. 

Michelle Moore (she/her) is an animator/ illustrator from Peabody, Massachusetts. Since receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation and Interactive Media in 2017, she has applied her skill sets to animation shorts, indie game assets, comic books, and editorial illustrations. She has always been captivated by animation backgrounds, bursting with color and light from a young age and she strives to create meaningful animations that make people laugh, cry, or think. This world-building inspired her to create more beautiful environments where my characters live and thrive. She predominantly works digitally but paints traditionally as well with mediums such as ink, acrylic paint, and gouache. There are many ways to express oneself, and an artist should not be limited.

Producer-musician Kid Nick’s sounds infuse melodic, dreamy keys on midtempo. Afrobeats, R&B, and house are a few of the genres that inspire their bouncy production.

Beyond production, Kid Nick is also an accomplished classically trained pianist. Hailing from the Bronx, Kid Nick began taking music lessons as early as six from their mother and continued to pick up additional instruments. As a teenager, Kid delved into the arts and explored musical theater, choir, and even orchestra. Inspired by artists like Erykah Badu, Al Green, Alicia Keys, and many more, they channeled their love of music into playing for open mics and performances across the city. In 2022, Kid Nick released their first song “World Tour” with singer-songwriting Luvchild with over 70k streams across platforms.

Kid Nick continues to connect with all artists to collaborate and make music production knowledge more accessible to young Black and queer producers.

With roots throughout Michigan, KTS (she/her/any) is a maker who imagines, believes, and tends to the wonder and power of luv through art. Each piece is her own quiet moment in history where she invites every bit of life that inspires her to an open conversation where all truths and possibilities flow. KTS creates and sees through the lens of dreamers and lovers alike. (occupied Potawatomi, Anishinaabe, Peoria, Meskwaki, Odawa, and Mississauga land)

Jaleeca Yancy is a free-spirited abstract expressionist who roots her art in imagination, experimentation, and sustainability practices. She explores self, as an individual of the North American African diaspora and how that identity is impacted by the environment. She returns to nature for inspiration and to honor the ancestral history of the land in her work. Yancy develops aesthetically pleasing art that explores non-traditional materials and design processes. She is intentional about sourcing materials sustainably through coordinating with local waste management for recyclable items, local businesses with plastic waste, thrifting, finding detritus on the sidewalks, and using the natural elements from the earth.

Penny Gamble-Williams, (Chappaquiddick Woman), is an Environmental-Human Rights, Arts Activist, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She is an enrolled member of The Chappaquiddick Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation, an historical non-federally recognized Massachusetts tribe. Penny is the Spiritual Leader for her tribe, and is President of The Chappaquiddick Tribe’s Non-Profit Corp. In 1995 Penny was elected, and served as Sonqsqua (Chief) for seven years. Penny sees art and activism as one. Art and the environment, the rights of Ohke, Mother Earth, all beings, and the respect for life because we are all related and connected. There is a running theme in many of her creations that reflect her Chappaquiddick Wampanoag, and Afro American heritage. She has been exhibiting her work for over 50 years throughout New England, and the Mid-Atlantic.

Chelsey Luster is a Philadelphia-based curator and visual artist from Baltimore, Maryland.Her curated group exhibitions focus on exploring social and political concepts regarding race, gender, and sexuality. Lusters visual art work focuses on intimacy, vulnerability, and privacy through depictions of domestic spaces. Chelsey's mission as a creative is to design exhibitions that defy ways of thinking about the binaries of our existence and depict the complexities of her identity to form unity, community, and raise
awareness.

Tasha Dougé is a Bronx-based, Haitian-infused artist, artivist and cultural vigilante. Her body of work activates conversations around women empowerment, health advocacy, sexual education, societal "norms," identity and Black community pride. Through conceptual art, teaching, and performance, Dougé devotedly strives to empower and to forge broad understanding of the contributions of Black people, declaring that her "voice is the first tool within my art arsenal." She has been featured in The New York Times, Essence Magazine and Sugarcane Magazine. She has shown nationally at RISD Museum, The Apollo Theater and Rush Arts Gallery (Philadelphia). Internationally, Dougé has shown at the Hygiene Museum in Germany. She is alum of the Laundromat Project's Create Change Fellowship, Urban Bush Women's Summer Leadership Institute, The Studio Museum of Harlem's Museum Education Program, and the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute's Innovative Cultural Advocacy (ICA) Fellowship.