Saima Adil Sitwat is a writer and educator based in Baltimore City. Her work entails facilitating conversations on race, religion and identity politics.
Saima is the author of her memoir American Muslim: An Immigrant's Journey.
Bomani Armah is a Hip Hop artist, writer, educator, and family man. Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, Bomani's goal is to "Honor the Ancestors, Prepare the Descendants and Love Right Now." Bomani has released four Hip Hop albums, including "Bomani Armah is the Watermelon Man." He is best known for his 2007 viral crunk hit "Read a Book," which aired on BET's 106th & Park.
Jay Coleman is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary focus is public art. He is an experienced muralist, bronze sculptor, portrait painter, tattoo artist and photographer/ filmmaker.
R.I.P. BALTIMORE/DEAD BY DEFAULT
Short Video using a small amount of the images that I have made photographically from 1999 to present documenting the murder rate in Baltimore City as manifested through graffiti. I started to see the graffiti, "R.I.P." everywhere I went in Baltimore. I went past one 2 blocks away from where I lived, it was on a wall on the corner of Whitelock St. and Druid Hill Avenue, "R.I.P. TROY." That is when I decided to start recording them photographically. I began asking people, showing them R.I.P. on a piece of paper, "Have you seen this anywhere?" Many said NO, right there in their own neighborhood on the walls, and people were not seeing them. I did not want to be alone viewing this madness.
Medium: Digital video from film and digital files
Year: 1999-2020
Details: Length 12:22
INSTALLATIONS, PRIVATE COMMISSIONS, and PUBLIC ART, selected
Nizette Brennan, Sculptor
410-903-5474
___ Commission awarded by the GSA Art-in-Architecture Program for a site-specific, carved-stone plaza environment at the Duncan Federal Building, Knoxville, TN
Desmond Beach is an artist and educator. He earned his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art's Rinehart School of Sculpture and his BFA from MICA. Desmond is an interdisciplinary artist, the middle son of three boys born in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a project artist, meaning that his work takes its point of departure from specific problems or tragedies. Desmond finds inspiration for his work from growing up in Baltimore during the 80s and 90s and his lived experience as a Black man.
Yann Seznec is an artist whose work focuses on sound, music, physical interaction, games, and building new instruments. Recent projects include residencies at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Floating Cinema in London, Playable City Lagos, and Timespan in the Scottish Highlands. He has performed at The Roundhouse London, Mutek Montreal, Melbourne Recital Hall, Liquid Rooms Tokyo, Köln Philharmonie, Fak’ugesi Johannesburg, and more.
The Voice is an incredibly versatile creative tool. It manifests language, sound, and emotion. It emulates any sound in the environment. It reverberates in our own head when we vocalize, creating a dynamic feedback loop that can be a portal to deep inner discovery.
Kevin Martin, the founder of Rockcreek Steel Drums, has been building, teaching, and performing on steel pan musical instruments of Trinidad since 1989. We have taught over 100,000 people in person the joy of performing music on the steel pan and the steel tongue drum.
As a teaching artist, Kevin has visited over 300 schools bringing large group steel pan workshops and steel pan residencies throughout MD and the east coast.
Megan Lewis is a professional multi-disciplinary Illustrator, born and raised in Baltimore, MD. She received her BFA in Illustration from Ringling College of art and design. Lewis is a well-regarded member of a thriving art community in Baltimore best known for her ‘Blk Women Period LLC”series and other interactive murals throughout the City. She has represented her hometown through collaborations with the Baltimore Orioles, Doritos, Target, HBO Max, and the US Open.