Lamar Jones, (b. 1989) is an American painter, whose work reflects contemporary life from a black American's perspective. Through portraiture and mixed media, Jones depicts energetic celebrations of black existence in leisure. His paintings meet somewhere between realistic depiction and raw abstraction, incorporating text, motifs, and symbols rendered on canvas.
Liz Miller is a second-generation fine artist. She creates hair sculptures, sculptural paintings, wearable art, performance art pieces, and film. Her films capture community members and herself performing while adorned with hair sculptures for meaningful transformative movement rituals. The concepts embodied in her work are social justice themes centered around the black experience in America; utilizing both history and Afro-futurism simultaneously balanced within. She considers her work to be a part of a broader black liberation strategy employing black joy and serious play.
Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves are choreographers, performers, filmmakers, and mixed media designers. They are groundbreaking artists who bring virtuosic athleticism, mesmerizing design landscapes, and powerful imagery to their work. They have been making work collaboratively for over thirteen years as the Artistic Directors of Orange Grove Dance, a dance, design, and film company that exists at the intersection of dance and immersive, performer-operated design.
Visual artist and graphic designer Sangeeta Kaul (online at Spicyseed Art & Design) wields her creativity as a fuel for social change, mental health awareness, and community connections. Kaul enjoys organizing events designed to coach and encourage the personal creativity of the participants. She is currently studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling as a graduate student so that she may use her passion for art in a therapeutic way.
Aziza Afzal is a queer, multi-racial artist residing in Maryland. She creates art in many mediums, such as performance, adaptation, script-writing, painting (murals), linocut and intaglio printmaking, drawing, jewelry-making, design, collage, and puppetry.
Rashad Ali Muhammad is a multidisciplinary collage artist known for creating vivid and captivating works reflecting the vast complexities of our human existence. With a formal graphic design and photography education, Muhammad blends his acquired skills to create art that fascinates and expands the mind. His love for innovation and continued experimentation fuels my whimsical and enchanting artistic sensibilities. He works primarily in mixed media analog and digital collage.
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).