• Read more about Dez Customz

David ‘DEZ’ Zambrano is an artist in the DMV area, originally from Los Angeles. DEZ has made his mark in the sneaker community as one of the best custom sneaker artists in the world. He does this for a living having worked with companies like Adidas, Under Armour, MLB, NFLPA, NBAPA, and professional athletes from almost every major sport. This does not take away that DEZ is also an incredibly diverse artist, specializing in canvas art, murals and more. His first love for art began at an early age, was cultivated at home, and exploded when he watched the classic hip hop movie Beat Street.

• Read more about Nora Howell

Nora Howell is a fiber and performance-based sculpture artist and art administrator living in Baltimore, Maryland. In her art, Nora uses a mix of ceramics and soft sculpture to develop a visual language to illuminate and stimulate dialogue around themes of motherhood, racial identity, community, power, and privilege. For 8.5 years Howell was the Program Director of Jubilee Arts, a community-arts program in west Baltimore that uses art as a tool for building community and changing the future.