Debra Mims has been a Performing Artist for over thirty years. She has a B.F. A in Theatre Performance from Marygrove College, in Detroit , Michigan. With training in Dance, She has performed at the Georgetown Theatre Company, the Children’s Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Detroit-Windsor Dance Company. Debra is the 2010 Individual Artist Award winner for solo performance She worked as an Arts producer for PBS in Detroit and Madison, Wisconsin and has produced arts programs nationally.
Mark Lohr New Vaudevillian Extraordinaire has trained in art of the Traditional American Circus Clown. He performs without makeup and the large shoes of his trade but with all the zany antics of the roots of his profession. His trade of silliness consists of some serious disciplines! Acting, slapstick comedy, pratfalls, comedic movement, and acrobatics, juggling, hat manipulation, spinning plates, fire juggling and manipulation, stilt walking... a veritable smorgasbord of theatre and circus skills!
WombWork Productions, Inc. was founded in 1997 by three Black women – Kay Lawal-Muhammad, Rashida Forman-Bey, and Nataska “Walks on Water” Hummingbird – who as artists and mothers established a space to address the dearth of creative outlets for their children and Baltimore youth. To this day, WombWork’s primary constituency remains youth ages 5-18, and secondarily young adults ages 19 and older. WombWork Productions primarily operates in Central Maryland, specifically Baltimore City.
Katherine Dilworth is a photographer and fiber artist who has been combining her interest in both disciplines in her own artwork and in her role as a teaching artist in Maryland schools. Her work has been shown in galleries throughout the US and Europe and is included in two books on surface design and digital photography.
Quynn Johnson, a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and native of Flint, Michigan, is an award-winning performing, teaching artist, and author. She has toured as the tap soloist in the Tony Award-winning production After Midnight (NCL) and performed both nationally and internationally.
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.
STEVE CYPHERS
Steve has been a professional drummer, percussionist and singer since 1988. He is a founding member, singer and percussionist with the band Blue Miracle. Blue Miracle is a genre-bending Jam Band with two original albums. They have played at clubs, festivals, colleges and private events throughout the country for over three decades and still perform today. Steve also collaborates with many different bands and musicians across the region.
Femi Lawal or Femi the DriFish has been a professional spoken word artist and slam poet for more than 10 years. Best known as one half of the spoken word/Hip Hop-influenced duo, THE 5th L, and the frontman for the Hip-Hop Rock band the Out of Water eXperience, Femi uses his artistry to encourage his listeners to discover their own unique voices and identities in his writings, performances, and teachings.
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.
Gayle Danley is one of Maryland's most beloved teaching artists. Recently she launched Poetry Pros, an agency devoted to poets who are experts at weaving art into learning. She has worked as an independent MSAC teaching artist and was a roster artist for Young Audiences of Maryland where she was named both Maryland Artist of the Year and Young Audiences National Artist of the Year.
After winning the International Poetry Slam in Heidelberg Germany, poet Gayle entered the classroom teaching thousands of children how to access their emotions through the force of words.