Dana Simson is an illustrator/author and the design force behind Chesapeake East Company, producing her handmade designs in paintings/prints, ceramic, jewelry, decor and gifts. Her engaging imagery has also been licensed internationally in fabric, rugs, stationary, home decor, gift items, and tabletop. Her store closed in Salisbury, MD January 2020- but please do visit her online store full of uplifting treats at danasimson.com
Darion Smith, artistic director, resident choreographer, and co-founder of Janusphere Dance Company (JDC).
I am LaShonda C. Henderson, a writer, poet, painter, and ethical technologist whose creative and technological endeavors explore the social implications of love on both micro and macro levels. Through poetry, novels, workshop journals, and daily reflections shared on social media, I delve into how love shapes our society and individual experiences.
Rachael Uwada Clifford is a writer, poet, and Cave Canem Fellow, at work on her first collection of short stories and her first poetry collection.
After earning an undergraduate degree in Painting and Printmaking at Cornell University, I spent a year working and studying in Paris, France until relocating to Baltimore, to earn a graduate degree at The Maryland Institute, College of Art, (MICA). I have won a Maryland State Arts Council Award multiple times in different categories, a Trawick Prize, and I have been published in various publications including twice in New American Paintings. I have exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions across the country and internationally.
Arianna Ross creates entertaining, educational programs that weave the power of storytelling, dance, theatre, creative writing, visual art and music together. A master educator and performer who offers a wide variety of arts integration residencies, performances and professional development workshops, Ross uses the tools of her art forms to help students foster a deeper connection to the subjects they’re learning, be it language arts, math, science, geography, or social studies, and guide the teachers to incorporate the arts into their lesson plans.
Artist Bio for Lea Craigie-Marshall Born in Falls Church, Va in 1976, self-taught, contemporary artist Lea showed talent from an early age. An natural creative spirit, she spent time taking private art lessons with her mother at home as well as in the mountains of scenic West Virginia with her grandmother, both artists. These strong female influences helped mold and inspire Lea to be the dynamic, multifaceted, feminist artist she is today.
Tyler Yvette Wilson is a multidisciplinary artist who primarily works with text, photography, and video. She blends children’s motifs, autobiographical, current, and historical narratives to discuss the aftershock of colonialism and the troubling foundations that underlie most of Western society. Tyler was raised in Austin, TX and Atlanta, GA. She studied at Davidson College from 2010 to 2016. After graduating with a B.A. in Studio Art, she attended Oglethorpe University for post-baccalaureate studies. In 2020, she earned her M.F.A.
Yam Chew Oh is a multidisciplinary, multilingual artist and educator who explores notions of self, family, and circumstance through abstraction, language, and the everyday. His work has been exhibited in the United States, Asia, and Australia, and featured in Commotion, Lumina Journal, The Match Factory, Studio Visit, and Velocity. Oh is Faculty at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he received an MFA in Fine Arts and teaches studio art. He is a writing tutor at the Maryland Institute College of Art and a member of the international collective Atlantika. More at www.yamchewoh.com.