LGBTQ+ Voices & Poetry Podcaster · American University, D.C. · Reagan Koffink

As queer, transgender man storytelling is integral to my survival. In essence, it is how queers find community and live as our authentic selves, through our own imagination, and creative pieces. For me as a spoken word poet, it is how I communicate and preserve my identity. That

is why storytelling, especially in under-represented communities, is so important. It helps form community and express identity, as well as self, in ways that normal human speech and communication could never.

Regarding creativity, it is also a concept that is integral to the survival of communities. Without creativity and imagination, we would lose the conception of self, especially of the future, which gives us infinite hope that we can create change in our broken world.

Through The Creative Process, I am connecting with other queer creatives and creating new communities with them. My most recent poems have been published in Amlit, my university’s literary magazine. In my future, at least within the next year, I intend to publish a poetry collection before heading off to obtain my Masters & eventual Ph.D. Within my Masters, I intend to obtain a degree in Women’s,

Gender & Sexuality Studies with a focus specifically on the oral narratives of transgender poetics as they relate to sexual revolutions. My Ph.D. will focus on something similar in that realm, with an intention of eventually conducting surveys and workshops with fellow queer individuals and colleagues.

Tell us something about the natural world that you love and don’t want to lose.

“ ... a sunset of lolling, laughing trees ”

Tree imagery is incredibly prominent in my poetry. I use it as a way to express not only growth and connection but also revolution and anger. So I never want to lose the emotions that trees can help me convey. Furthermore, as someone whose memories have been lost to trauma, trees help me concretely cement points in time that I’ve spent with people. For example, swinging in a hammock with my sister between the two birches in our back yard.

What is your personal sustainability pledge to take action to leave the world a better place?

To take action in my own community, as that is where action is best taken. For me, it is working with my town council to create a community center out of the old school.

Sunflowers

My mom and I are growing sunflowers again.

Mammoths that waved their trunks in

our kitchen window,

an echoing chorus of swing sets creak,

as I pump legs, water,

Drip

Drop

I flop,

fold over,

curl

and land on my feet again.

You see,

talking with my mother,

is as easy as it is to balance dew

on a tipsy mint leaf,

it is a fight against gravity and inertia,

the feeling of falling, and already flying,

only to spit yourself stretching – down.

It is,

so damn hard to cut these weeds extinct.

As they too bleed green onto my bedroom walls,

“I wish I didn’t have to be here” but still, I am,

rooted to where I grew:

her.

Winding roots a crown,

of brown locks

she says I have my father’s hair

but I am nowhere near straight,

so,

I shave myself a chainsaw,

and create petals from bloody

woodchips, sawdust my seeds

as me.

Collaborating Curator (Architecture, Design & Society) · Illinois Institute of Technology School of Architecture · Josefina Guglielmone

What do you feel is the importance of the arts/creativity? And what experiences do you hope to have through your collaboration with The Creative Process?

Personally, I find ample value in the unique self-expression that art enables any individual, almost like a secret language. I find that art is the most genuine (and at times most valuable) form of expression and communication, as it displays the artist's imagination and conceptual ideas, often without using any words, which hold great emotional power. During my time of collaboration with The Creative Process, I hope to expand my understanding and appreciation of art through more mediums, as well as getting the opportunity to familiarize myself with new creatives and their ideas.

My recent projects are mainly architecture-oriented. Most of my work is created for my main class, architecture studio. In this class, I receive hands-on design education and experience that will hopefully pave down a solid path into a creative field. In the future, I hope to be able to translate my architecture education into video production and cinematography. 

What are your thoughts about the environment and the kind of world we’re leaving future generations?

There is no doubt that Earth has been a giving planet- providing us with everything needed to sustain our ecosystems as well as a beautiful exhibition reflecting life and hope. The importance of preserving our environment is as important as preserving our own physical health. More specific to my work, I strive to create designs that relate to their natural surroundings rather than have them be an exhibition planted in nature, competing for hierarchy.

Social Justice, Art & Society Podcaster · Syracuse University · Ava Council

From the moment we enter our lives, we get all our knowledge from some form of storytelling. Every story is a bond that not only acknowledges but celebrates our humanity, our connection to each other. I am a dual major at Syracuse University studying Advertising and Policy Studies. The significance of storytelling from the perspective of each major is different but equally important. In advertising, storytelling is essential to making an emotional connection with your audience so they have a reason to care for your brand. Without that your brand is invisible and business goes bust. The world of policy has a similar need for storytelling. You’re trying to get across key ideas to improve society, protect a community, or make positive change. That takes a story that can evoke enough of an emotional response for people to act. So any way we slice it, becoming a strong storyteller is critical to my future success.

Collaborating with The Creative Process, I am sharpening my interview skills, learning what questions to ask to get the best story, and gaining more experience with the podcast medium because I see great opportunities there. Last year was my first year working with Adobe Audition, and I love it. Always interesting, continued use will only improve the story. 

*

Syracuse University and Onondaga are rich with opportunities for content. While I’m studying here I want to take advantage of every opportunity to learn, grow, and share what’s unique about this community and the people who live here. 

One can’t ignore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastation it has wrought on the world. Most recently, I filmed and produced a short video documentary on small-scale farmers in the area and their experiences with COVID-19. My documentary primarily focused on farmers in the Syracuse area and two international subjects, the complications the farmers have faced, and ways they are showing resilience during this difficult time. While many stories have focused on COVID-19’s impact on an individual or larger corporations and businesses, I took an uncommon approach and highlighted the impact on a small agricultural business. It was a wide-open field and I felt that people should be aware of what was happening in this important part of our local community and our larger ecosystem.  

There are also other aspects of our community that I enjoy covering, many that I encounter through my involvement on the PR Board of University Union, a student-run organization at Syracuse University. In this group, I have had a wonderful experience as a blog writer, and I contribute weekly to University Union’s website. For the past three semesters, I've covered pop culture trends, offering opinions, commentary, and great recommendations on what to do and where to go for fun. One of my favorite experiences was meeting, interviewing, and writing a piece on popular rapper Yung Gravy. It’s great to get up close to a personality and dig a little deeper. It’s also fun to represent SU at press conferences. 

Along with other members of the PR board, I am looking to develop a podcast and final publication of all the blogs from each semester. Our board has been a consistent and active player in many press conferences, and I believe that a podcast would better showcase our experience and live event, for a more effective and shareable presentation.  

What are your thoughts about the environment and the kind of world we’re leaving future generations?

I live on the bluffs of a peninsula in Southern California, it is beautiful at any time of day, any day of the year. Whether exploring the wildlife in the tidepools at low tide, spending time with friends soaking up sun on the beach, or gathering with family by the firepits on the beach, we have many opportunities to enjoy nature. I remember heading down to the rocky beach to find an abandoned baby seal that had lost its mother in a rough storm at sea. I was there with my family and we were able to call animal rescue to help the baby seal. And just this past winter holiday, my sisters and I were at the tidepools noticing that the wildlife that used to be there—several types of starfish, sea urchins, and anemone—were no longer to be seen. This was as sad as it was sobering. I would like to continue to make memories here with my family and to share the joy of discovery and wildlife with my grandchildren and future generations. It’s important for all of us to work together to create change that can preserve and even restore the natural treasures of our world.

One can’t grow up in California without a passion for the planet, ecology, and sustainability. As far back as I can remember, I have always been aware of the environment and the effects humans have had on it. Throughout elementary and middle school, California was in a drought. My teachers and parents taught me to take short showers, turn the water off while brushing my teeth, etc. As I got older, I continued to do these tasks and became more conscious of how I impact the world around me. I made a point to create other sustainable habits like composting, shopping second hand, avoiding fast fashion, and repurposing items. When I moved to the east coast for college, I noticed a sharp contrast in how my peers’ liberal use of plastic water bottles, unnecessary plastic bags, and drinking straws, etc. And now with the pandemic, we are using more plastic and producing even more waste than ever. Something must be done to educate and enforce more environmentally friendly practices. I believe the best way for me to create a better future is by holding my friends and peers accountable. Simply pointing out excessive waste and suggesting an alternative is a great place to start and can have a great impact if everyone participates.

Collaborating Contemporary Art Curator · Columbia University · Hanyi Yu

I think one aspect of the importance of the arts or creativity is that they spark conversation and facilitate the exchange of opinions. I enjoy sharing my artworks with my friends and listening to their interpretations. Their responses are usually unexpected and very different from my original ideas. Learning different modes of thinking and perspectives, I regard this interaction between artwork and viewers as an enriching process for artwork and a horizon-broadening experience for myself. 

Another aspect is that the arts and creativity help me to have a clearer image of myself. For me as a viewer, the investigation in each artwork is not only a fascinating intellectual practice, but also a perfect chance to deconstruct my thoughts and reflect. I always start my interpretation by deciphering my immediate sensuous impression on the artwork. As I dig deeper, I trace back the "archeology" of my impressions, trying to find the reasons why I would feel the way I feel. This process never fails to make me more aware of who I am and what I want. Sharing my thoughts with other people also makes me feel connected to the dynamic artistic discourse.

In my collaboration with The Creative Process, I am contributing to curating an exhibition to invoke conversations among its viewers. Having enjoyed and learned so much in the world art, I also want to be the initiator of an artistic discourse and share my pleasure with more people. Always desperately wanting to know about different cultures in the world, I am also excited by the international collaboration opportunity offered by the program. I cannot wait to meet a group of amazing people and form a new community where one can freely talk about art and constantly inspire others and get inspired. 

As a prospective art history student, I conducted my first curatorial practice last academic year. In the course Masterpieces of Western Art, I came up with the theme "Chamber," chose 5 artworks from the syllabus, including The Last Supper by da Vinci, Gare St. Lazare by Monet, Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright, Las Meninas by Velázquez, and Ann by Andy Warhol, and wrote an exhibition proposal. In the exhibition, I mainly focus on the relativity of space.

I am very interested in making art. Recently, I have been planning a performance art project, in which I learn to recite works of literature in languages that I do not understand, by mere oral communication with the language speakers. By doing so, I try to bring back the most ancient forms of information dissemination----like folk songs collected in the Ancient Chinese literature classic Book of Odes or Ancient Greek epic poems performed by bards----and combine it with nowadays technologies, which shares the temporal quality and lack of spatiality with the ancient form of communication. This project is inspired by an article that discusses the subtle difference between spoken and written forms of language by Wolfgang Ernst called "'Electrified Voices': Non-Human Agencies of Socio-Cultural Memory." 

I also have been planning an art project about "female gaze" in reaction to the previous intense discussion on women's freedom of dressing in China. I plan to collect as many photos of men's nipples as possible and construct an aesthetical evaluation system of men's nipples with a panel of women volunteers. 

In the near future, besides my coursework, I will assist a researcher at UChicago with her research on contemporary Korean photography in the upcoming semester. Hopefully, I can start my first independent art history research project in my sophomore year. After I graduate from college, I plan to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Art History.

I wish to put at least one of my art projects into reality. I have been talking with my friends to perfect my designs for the projects, and ideally will finalize them by October. Then I will be contacting people with different linguistic backgrounds/publicizing the call for volunteers for nipple pictures and the panel. 

A creative period of time I’m interested in is 1980s in China because young people of that time had the bravery, passion, and rebellious spirit that lack today. The avant-garde art community back then was unprecedentedly active, too. In the June 4th Movement, a group of students of Central Academy of Arts made a monumental sculpture of a localized version of Statue of Liberty and carried it on Tiananmen Square to declare their pursuit for freedom. It did not take long for the government to react----the sculpture was razed to the ground on the exact day it was erected on the square. A series of photos captured the moment of Statue of Liberty being crushed by a tank. When I saw the images, I suddenly feel thrilled by the young artists' spirits. Under their empowerment, I wish to have the courage to be part of a reckless, disobedient generation of young people that no longer exists in China.

Creative Writing Podcaster & Poetry Curator · University of Washington · Audrey Tinnin

Storytelling is important because it allows people to share about their lived experiences. Storytelling plays a significant role in shaping a culture, and it allows us to use our imagination while considering alternate worlds. Through this collaboration,  I hope to gain perspective and a greater understanding of the organization as a whole.

I am currently working on creating a blog to showcase my work. In the past, I have completed a variety of written works. I especially enjoy working on cento poems and flash nonfiction essays. In the future I am planning to combine my passion for music and writing, through engaging in songwriting and performing.

If I had one wish for the future, it would be that I complete two videos of my singing and musical performances by the end of this year. In order to achieve this goal, I think it is important that I set deadlines for myself. I also need to set aside a number of hours a week that I am willing to dedicate to working on the video and editing process. 

Cento Poetry - I took lines from letters that prisoners wrote to their family members during the start of covid, and I pieced them together to create a poem.

Harris County Jail, Houston Texas

Saturday April 4, 2020

told my girlfriend

I was feeling bad

no soap

no testing

no nothing

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

here.

placed in a tank

three dozen in quarantine

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

no soap

no testing

no nothing

they put me in quarantine tank

I am no public threat.

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

here.

me in quarantine

tank 4th floor

I am scared

Some guys in here

sicker than I

Fever up to 110

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

rushed out in an ambulance

medication, a shot, x-ray

no one informed us

no one tested us

only takes one guard

to spread like fire

no soap

no testing

no nothing

I am 54, bad combination

I can’t get the virus

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

here.

suffering symptoms

with our situation

What is going to happen?

no chemicals to clean.

Area needs sanitizing.

no soap

no testing

no nothing

inmates beg to see doctor

officers won’t even call them

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

I could use help

I have become homeless since

the pandemic started

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die here

Any information

Would be helpful

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

58 men in one room

beds 2 feet apart

frightening times

here at Harris County Jail

1100 inmates tested positive

literally living in bunks

no social distancing here

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

locked up with no fighting chance

basically it's like living on death row

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

I wake up in fear of my life.

Is there any help for us?

not all of us are guilty

take this letter seriously

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

everyone is concerned

they let some out

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

People's lives are in danger

keep us in your prayers

we will do the same.

sick on last friday

I don’t want to die

here.

This place focuses on money

High risk-we all still here

People's lives are in danger

keep us in your prayers

we will do the same.

Thank you for your time.

PS: I need a lawyer,

I have some money.

A special thanks to Paul Rayes, Ren Cheeks, E, Rich, C, Ken Greggory “Shane” Nevellis and other detainees from Harris County Jail who have written letters about their experience during the COVID pandemic. For these words are their own. The second poem I have included is written through the eyes of a detainees partner.

Sources:

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/01/letters-coronavirus-harris-county-jail/

Voices of Color & Sustainability Podcaster · Howard University · Kiara Patterson

To me, the importance of storytelling and creativity is to let my voice be heard and ideas seen. Creativity allows my dreams and images in my head to come to paper or through my words into my own reality. Storytelling shows history, adventure and various narratives. I hope to have new experiences in how to story tell, how to listen to others and how to trust the creative process with The Creative Process.

My recent projects and plans for the future: Recently, I was a Shaker Writing Intern at my high school where I wrote monthly blogs and interned as a tutor for the writing program at my school. Since being at Howard University, I have joined HUABJ which is the Howard University Association of Black Journalists and NABJ which is the National Association of Black Journalists. Through these two organizations, I plan on pursuing my Journalism career in more depth.

If I had one wish for the future, I would wish for the end of climate change and global warming. Our world is changing daily and it's becoming less inhabitable for humans to live in. The world we live in now is not just for us who are currently living in it. It's for generations to come and we must do our part to make it a safer, healthier environment. We could move toward achieving this goal by discussing it more on social media platforms and even in the news and other articles. People need to help in community service clean up the earth and start recycling.

Here is a link to the articles/blogs I wrote at the Shaker Writing Center.

Social Justice & Arts Curator · University of Washington · Sarah Casillas

I feel the importance of the arts/creativity lies in the opportunity for the expression of human emotion. Whether the human emotions that are reflected in the art are personal or connect with a wider community level feeling, the arts allow those across various communities and up-bringings to connect on a level that may be lost through translation. 

Through experience with The Creative Process, I’m gaining knowledge that can be missing through the education system of Art History. While many courses have been covering the aesthetics of art, my goal is to focus on art that has communicated through the expression of revolutions and times of change. In a time where the world is hectic, I look at art that has communicated through times like these in the past and has fought for a wider understanding of the experiences that people are living through to understand my own personal experiences.

My one wish for the future would be for a better understanding, an understanding of the knowledge behind climate change, an understanding of the basic needs for human survival, and that no one should struggle to obtain these. As well as an understanding that, especially in the United States, our knowledge is built upon the struggles of BIPOC folks and continuously oppresses them today. I think a deeper embrace of art as well as looking towards the feelings and thoughts of disadvantaged groups can help achieve a deeper understanding of the world we live in and we can then begin to work towards being more equal.

While I have not worked on any recent projects, my plans for the future focus on finding opportunities to work with local artists and museums to gain a better understanding of the work that goes behind curating an exhibition, as well as continuing my relationships with my professors for an understanding of their experiences and struggles. I hope that these will gain me an insight into my future studies as a graduate student.

Coordinator of Environmental Projects · Ioana Noemy Toma (Romania)

For me, storytelling and creativity are life components, more than professional issues. As a panarchist artivist, i tend to boycott the "pro" forms. I think Terrians should be more involved in improving their TerraLife, together and individually, more than trying to meet conventional, imperfect, even corrupted-corrupting standards. What is the gain for an artist if his/her tools are polluting the very Planet he/she tries to make better, or if his/her ecosociable work is applauded by a degrading society etc.? I think we should first care about protecting our world, and then about producing, in the most ecosociable manner. Shouldn't we start to think of making our terralives, our beings some artworks, more in the way of the plants, of the butterflies, who use less toxic, more moderate means to survive and express themselves?

The Creative Process is new to me. I hope we can dialogue, learn from each other, share thoughts and work together for a better Planet-Family throught sciarts. I hope for a better and more terraprotective Future. Taking into account the fact that terrian Time is finite, as anything in our finite Cosmos. We, humans, need to evolve as ecosociable beings.

I have made a few verses at the beginning of this year, with wishes that have not yet been accomplished.

"May Youth of Twenty-and-Twenty

Make Unity For Terra-Family

In Equity and Protectivity.

Eucracy builds Panarchy

Of Terra.Gods, for Heality."

In my humble opinion, all and everybody have to learn the unifying, integrative philosophy of CosmoRatioPantheism (a theory of existence as terrian gods=superior beings, in reasonable ways, in the Cosmic perspective), instead of sectarian, only-selfish philosophies. This king of globality-friendly philosophy should help us to improve the necessary, systemic TerraProtectivity, including selfprotectivity. "I hope, some day, you will join us, and the world will be as one."

My recent work is centered on ecosociable art. Art of word, music and image. I have published on my blog and different social media, facebook, instagram, twitter, linkedin, artivist reflections on the human condition as ederevolving beings dwelling, learning, protecting and healing in-on our mirable Terra-Family-Ship. Art is also a therapy for ecosocial wounds.  (https://ioananoemytoma.wixsite.com/ethicalterrahumanism/single-post/2020/09/16/terra-dreamy-song, https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyTerraPazArt/posts/3009908412569449, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/caring-ioana-noemy-toma etc.) For the future, i want to support support more the ethics in anthropic activities, including healthcare, and the ending of fake, toxic nutrimedication in our terrian lives.

Paulina Fuenzalida · Humanities, Visual Arts & Social Justice Curator · University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

Creation is the expression of the soul. The expression of a unique and unrepeatable life. Creating is our nature and is as necessary as breathing. Through it we are able to understand ourselves and others. The experience that I would like to have is collaborate with collective knowledge to build with others a more human world and centered in the human being and its spiritual needs. We live in a world struggling to free ourselves.

My wish for the future is continues making art. The art as a mirror, that reflects our life and our nature like a human been and works to discover what is our main objective in this life. For me, how can I move towards achieving this goal is creating. Spending time thinking and being conscious of our existence. And in this way, involve the viewer with my committed point of view. I want to show them what it means for me to live in this world. Let’s together pay attention to what’s happening and let’s think, with a human vision, about what moves us to have empathy that it is not unknown of human suffering.

As a textile artist I have been working with bodies, the imagen, and the gestures of them, modeled with wool. They speak of presence and absence. Fear and pain, in short, about our complex existence and the relation between our inside and the exterior world. They represent my body and of others and how we are interrelating in the fragile and sometimes imagined physical world. My plan is to continue working as a textile artist and to be able to teach what I have learned in my master's program.

Glint

My work as an artist is inspired by personal reflections about my relationship with the world, my circumstances, and my connection with the people. Human interaction produces in me curiosity and mystery. It involves aspects beyond rational topics. There is a first look, a quick reading of the gestures, of the body position — in short, a non-language scan.

This is what Malcolm Gladwell calls "adaptive unconscious,” in which rapid judgments are produced from little information. Many times, we block this mechanism and do not consider the instinct. In this work, I wanted to approach at that fleeting moment, that little flash, blink or glint in which the first impression happens. When we approach someone and our energies connect beyond our corporeality; we met, we recognize, or we reject ourselves.

Felted human bodies are represented as containers, like the shell of our essence, without color, gender, or special characteristics. We recognize them as human beings through shape alone.

We are like fireflies, small flashes in the dark.

Associate Podcast Producer & Interviewer · Fordham University · Julia Newcorn

I used to be really afraid to express myself creatively. I was bound by my insecurities and was appalled at the idea of breaking any rules. One of the main ways that I express myself is through fashion, and the day that I decided to dress like the people I looked up to was huge. I think that finding the courage to express yourself creatively is difficult, and that is why it is so important and beautiful.

Storytelling is important because it is a way to connect with other people. No matter the medium - art, voice, movement - storytelling allows empathy to grow between the storyteller and the audience. Through my collaboration with The Creative Process, I hope to help share other people’s stories so that I and everyone listening can learn new things, maybe shift our mindsets around certain issues, and develop an understanding and appreciation for whoever’s story is being told. I also hope to share stories significant to our current political climate and general state of the world (aka dismantle racism and bigoted ideas, spread useful, true information, and improve people’s moods). The Creative Process is a platform as well as a project, and it has potential to make an impact on a lot of people. 

If you had one wish for the future, what would it be and how do you think we could move towards achieving this goal?

My one wish for the future is to help out as many people as I can, whether that be through sharing their story when they feel they are being stifled, making someone happier, or teaching them something new.

I started my own podcast in April, mostly because I felt as if I had a lot of thoughts and nobody to tell them to. Through starting this project, I have started to develop my own voice and learn about my passions. Right now it seems to be pretty all over the place when it comes to the genre, but it seems to be about fashion, movies/ television/ books, and advice that nobody asked to hear. I have learned how fun it is to have guests because of how much the conversation can be opened up, so I would love to have guests become more of s central aspect of the podcast in th future! As for the future beyond this project, all I know is that I want to contribute to a better, safer, happier world with less misinformation. I also want to backpack through the entire Appalachian Trail.

Collaborating Soundscape Curator · University of Minnesota · Sammy Sherian

I think that arts and creativity allow for progress and change. A lot of the fundamentals of the arts, especially modern and contemporary styles, revolve around breaking boundaries, challenging the status quo, and defying stereotypes. With that in mind, the arts can be applied to our social life, as they can criticize or praise certain aspects of our society that the artist may deem as progressive or counterprogressive. Creativity in the arts can also allow for the blending of traditional ideas or concepts, which once again, can relate to cultural and societal ideologies that may have never been challenged until now. Experiences I hope to gain through my collaboration with The Creative Process would be to understand what goes into curating an art installation, how to get involved with soundscape curators/DJ’s in the art/museum scene, and how to pursue a professional future outside of America.

My one wish would be that everyone becomes more willing to learn. I think we can do this as a society by changing the way we react to those we perceive as “wrong”. For example, instead of ostracizing your friend who said something offensive to you, talking to them or giving them guidance towards more education is much more effective and positive in the end, even if it may be hard to confront someone who has unintentionally hurt or wronged you.

Recently I’ve decided to delve deeper into gaining a deeper understanding of the musical industry as well as music itself as I see myself working in the media industries in the future. With that in mind, I committed to learning Logic Pro X and Ableton Live, which are multitrack audio recording and production softwares, with the intention of making music, and since then, I have released a few demo tracks. I have also reached out to a friend of mine who recently started his own record label (Busy Bee Records), and was invited on board as a musical artist, which will help connect me to other musicians interested in the same genres as me. One career path that has especially interested me is being an A&R scout, and I hope that through Radio K starting up again soon (hopefully), I will further my experiences in the media industries. I plan on going back to school when September rolls around and becoming more involved in community outreach organizations that gravitate towards environmentalism and food sustainability.

A link to the most recent musical work of mine!

https://soundcloud.com/mnsammysosa/examhouse

Film & Social Justice Podcaster · Howard University · Darreonna Davis

In high school, I was a member of a rites of passage program for African American girls and women called Project Butterfly. Through that program, I learned how by watching certain films and listening to certain songs, I was engaging in hegemony. Growing up, I enjoyed Tyler Perry’s films, but I began to realize how these films were perpetuating degrading stereotypes about Black women. I enjoyed rap music, but I began to realize how this music was promoting violence against Balck women. Through it all, I learned how influential storytelling and creativity are, and that sort of power needs to be done with care. Although some may suggest that creativity should be limitless, one must always be aware of their audience and the meaning behind their message. Through my collaboration with The Creative Process, I hope to understand what drives other creatives to push forward in difficult times and what assures their creativity.

One wish I have for the future is social justice reform. One positive outcome of the pandemic is that it exposed the flaws in the healthcare, justice, education, and economic systems in the United States. The first area that needs change is the justice system because it is built on racism. To move forward towards achieving this goal, federal and local governments must work to remove flawed laws with the help of community organizations and social justice activists.

My recent project includes starting a website analyzing different sorts of media. The first thing that I have chosen to produce is a character analysis of Pop in the film Get on the Bus. The website’s goal is to explore and analyze films, books, television shows, music, and highlight phenomenal Black women in the world. My plans for the future are to be a screenwriter and film director. Being able to both critique others’ work and take from it will help me in building my career.

Pain

by Darreonna Davis

Does pain ever actually go away

Or do we just forget about it for a while?

We tell ourselves that we’re over it,

But all it takes is one triggering

Word

Touch

Smell

Sound

Photo

Video

Memory

For that pain to resurface again.

I wonder,

Does pain ever really go away 

Or is it lying in our

Bodies

Hearts

Spirits

Minds

Waiting for its return signal?

How?

by Darreonna Davis

How can you say you’re a follower of Jesus

When you lack compassion and love for people?

How can you love God

And hate others?

Shaming them,

Judging them.

There’s no way.

To be completely inconsiderate 

And elitist

And selfish

Is not of God.

You are not of God;

You are a hypocrite.

God,

People are using your name

To justify 

Hate,

Evil,

Spite,

Supremacy.

Forgive them,

Father,

They know no better.

Little Black Girl

by Darreonna Davis

Little Black Girl,

Don’t speak when adults are speaking.

Stay out of grown folks’ business.

Only speak when you are spoken to.

Only answer when someone asks you a question

And answer with your mouth, 

Not your head.

Little Black Girl,

Respect your elders.

Come when they call,

Listen when they speak,

Do as they say,

No matter the request.

Little Black Girl,

Fix your hair.

Don’t be running around here

Looking a nappy headed, 

Pickaninny ass mess.

Little Black Girl,

Take off that short skirt.

Stop showing everybody

Everything you got,

With your fast ass.

Little Black Girl,

You are only expected to do a few things in life:

Listen

Be silent.

Be obedient

Serve all who take from you

With kindness and care.

You are not to think outside of the box

That you have been placed in.

You are not to stand up for yourself.

You are not to be ambitious.

Little Black Girl,

Listen,

Be silent

Be obedient,

Serve all who take from you.

Associate Podcast Producer & Interviewer · DePaul University · Tea Preradovic

Albert Einstein expresses the essence of creativity when he says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” When we’re able to use our imagination to ignite a path toward actualization, we create a story that has the power to influence others.

We’re living in the decade of the 1960’s, where discussion over man landing on the moon is flourishing. While the move is political, the move is also radical. As average citizens, we can’t fathom landing on the moon because it hasn’t been done before and the mystery of space scares us. We live for our comfort on planet Earth. We debate conspiracies such as aliens helping build the Great Pyramids of Giza, because we can’t fathom humans building it themselves—rather, we can’t fathom building it ourselves. I will admit—the idea of extra-terrestrials helping build ancient Egyptian structures is a complex and creative theory to contemplate. However, I believe this conspiracy may be rooted in one’s own desire of a mental safety net. People might not want to believe massive structures could be built by human labor because it wouldn’t justify the magnitude of their own abilities. The mental and physical stamina of lower-class ancient Egyptians doesn’t justify the daily routines of today’s Westerners. Whether true or not, I don’t want to believe aliens helped ancient Egyptians build their intricate structures. I want to believe that it was the advanced, more-than-capable human mind that was forced to work with the technology and manual labor it had access to in order to worship their gods and leaders.

The creativity of conspiracy theories allows us to escape the banality of our daily lives and routines. However, creativity gets taken to the next level, with the opportunity to reach its full potential, when it is put into action. Fast forward to 2020—humans have walked on the moon, spacecrafts have landed on other planets, orbited other planets, flown past Pluto, and Elon Musk launched a Tesla Roadster into space. What’s next in space exploration? Is it appropriate to stop here? What would Elon Musk be up to if space exploration hadn’t reached the extent it has? Without the initial idea and belief of landing on the moon, we wouldn’t have landed on the moon. Contemplating the idea of a civilization on Mars would also be further from grasp than it is in 2020.

Every event, action, experience is a result of a single idea. The larger our ideas are, the more room there is for creativity in its actualization. The importance of storytelling and creativity lies in the uniqueness of each creative’s individual identity and perspective. Discussing creativity and the humanities is important in the way conversation can inspire people’s drive and jumpstart their journey toward their creative dreams. I believe that storytelling can be an incredibly selfless act because of how it spares people their own doubt and comfort, by providing evidence of the plethora of opportunities at their fingertips. Storytelling brings us to acknowledge the tiny moments we may not recognize as transformative. Storytelling brings us an external perspective to our own reality, planting seeds in our minds we otherwise wouldn’t have sowed. Without creativity, evolution remains stagnant, and new ideas struggle to reach their full potential. Creativity is what makes the radical possible. Storytellers make sure to remind us.

Through my collaboration with The Creative Process, I am exploring ways to celebrate the invisible arts, as some of the most influential people in my life were my high school teachers. I hope to have a fulfilling experience that allows me to collaborate with fellow students and creatives in rich discussion. In addition, I’m extremely interested in how The Creative Process is an international education initiative. I hope to be part of a learning process that offers insight into how creativity and the humanities are treated and viewed across the globe. I look forward to meeting and collaborating with passionate, openminded, and thoughtful individuals who share similar values and passions. I hope to find inspiration for my own creative work through the discussions I have and listen to. I believe that collaborating with The Creative Process will offer an incomparable petri-dish of perspectives that is priceless to explore.

If I had one wish for the future, it would be an accentuated importance put toward building cultural competency and accountability from a young age. Initially, when contemplating the concept of cultural competency, in the forefront of my mind was international communication, and how we can better understand and coexist with different cultures across regions and continents. However, in recent months this term has taken up a completely different role in my mind—the role of internal cultural competency. How can we learn to coexist internationally, when we still aren’t coexisting justly within our own country? While I learned United States history in school, and the horrific injustice and oppression that people in power have created and instilled, what I failed to learn was how it is still taking place today in different forms. I failed to learn about housing discrimination, redlining, privilege, intersectionality, and the continuous oppression of black and indigenous people. I was taught to praise Christopher Columbus for his “discovery” of the land of the free. I was completely ignorant of the genocide of Native Americans that took place to do so until I entered high school. I was completely ignorant of the simple fact that I lived on stolen, exploited land until I became an adolescent. There is a great hole in the US history curriculum that must be filled with accountability. As an adult, this demands a conscious deconditioning and unlearning of prior beliefs, which requires confrontation with the psyche and unconscious sentiments. While I acknowledge the privilege I have to learn about racial injustice instead of experiencing it myself, I believe this is work that our school systems, textbook writers, leaders, and general citizens all must conduct and hold accountability for within themselves. 

If I had one wish for the future, it would be for accountability to be taken seriously by people in power. This can start in our education systems from the local level; I believe it’s especially important to educate vulnerable minds with a more honest curriculum, rather than hiding the truth to spare our youth from emotion or guilt. If I had one wish for the future of the United States, it would be for the U.S. to take ownership for its past and acknowledge its faults loudly. For too long, issues of inequality have been left on the backburner to ignite at a later date, only to be once again mended with a band-aid solution. Once U.S. leaders open their doors to take an active stand against systemic racism, we could look forward to a more just, inclusive, equal, and authentic future.    

My recent projects have involved gathering and editing my creative writing works, specifically those that I wish to incorporate on my own website. The mission is to create content that promotes curiosity, empathy, and discussion toward outside perspectives on the world. I’ve found extraordinary peace in travel journaling, whether this be traveling across borders, within my own mind, or through listening to the experiences of others. My most recent final project incorporated film photographs I took in Egypt in the summer of 2019. In addition to the academic vision of the project, which was to discuss how photographs haunt and emit trauma, my personal vision was to create a sense of reflection in the mind of the reader, to accentuate the importance of compassionate awareness in circumstances of cultural difference. I believe it’s extremely important to acknowledge our own identity and perspective in any conversation or situation, because it affects the way we observe, react, and behave toward the situations we exist in every day. It’s important to question ourselves and our actions, which I believe is especially prominent in the current conversation around racial injustice and systemic racism. My future projects will lead with accountability and imperfection, as I grow with those around me in a fight towards justice, self-awareness, and cultural competency.

As for my plans for the future, once I graduate from DePaul, I look forward to continuing my journey toward cultural competency by completing a TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate to teach English abroad. After a few years of traveling and gaining experience abroad, I’d like to return to school for a master’s degree in Political Science or International Affairs. I feel determined to bring my international insight, experience, and education to a position in the U.S. Department of State.

Examples of my Creative Work

“Painting Moments Permanent”

Published by THE SOJOURNAL, operated by DePaul University’s study abroad office.

https://sojournaldepaul.wordpress.com/2020/02/07/painting-moments-permanent/

“Defining Home: A Reflection of Spring Break in Ireland”

Published by THE SOJOURNAL, operated by DePaul University’s study abroad office.

https://sojournaldepaul.wordpress.com/2020/02/07/defining-home-a-reflection-of-spring-break-in-ireland/

Dance & Performing Arts Curator · University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · Katherine Johnson

Skating from a young age I have learned to express myself through my body movements and become creative with how I express music through my body. I think art is so important for the soul and keeping one in touch with their emotions and the world around them. Art has the ability to connect people, someone can look at a painting and feel like they know the artist intimately. Creativity allows for people to say how they feel in a way that others can relate to. I hope to be able to connect with others who also feel a deep connection to art. I also hope that I have the ability to learn from artists and they enhance my own creativity. I want to have experiences with institutions and people in order to expand my knowledge on art and the world in general.

2020 has been a rough year so my wish for the future is to not be stressed out all the time and feel like more bad things are happening then good. I also feel like I cannot write because of this, so I would love to be able to reconnect with why I love writing. 

I have been figure skating for 16 years, which is an art form in its own and did ballet to help with skating. I also write poetry and do photography. I was involved in photography in high school and had my photos displayed. My future plans are to present my poems and become more involved in writing since starting college. 

One of my double exposure photos

Activism & the Future Podcaster · Northwestern University, Qatar · Jiwon Seo

I grew up without knowing that I am a third culture kid. I recently learned the term, third culture kid, in my junior year of high school. The term is used to describe individuals who are raised in a culture different than their own and their parents’ or the culture of their nationality, and also live in a culture that is significantly different in their child development years. I was raised in 6 different countries starting from Singapore, South Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Venezuela, and Canada. I now know who I am and that was when I realized the power of storytelling. Our world is growing diverse every minute and it is only getting easier to connect with people from different backgrounds. That is when I started to have a dream of becoming a storyteller.

I believe storytelling and creativity are inseparable; one cannot achieve one thing without another. Without creativity, storytelling would lose its impact on others. On the other hand, without storytelling, creativity would go into waste. Having the power to work with storytelling and creativity is omnipotent because it is the best way to present a story that empathizes with a diverse audience. As more people are able to sympathize with the story, the creativity to present the story in the best way possible becomes fathomable.

Experiences I hope to have through my collaboration with The Creative Process are gaining storytelling skills with creativity, learning to listen to others’ stories without prejudice, acquiring interpersonal skills (active listening, asking the right questions), and most importantly, understanding others. These are essentially my goals to strive for throughout my collaboration with The Creative Process and it will be an ongoing project of mine in my life.

My one wish for the future would be the eradication of COVID-19 and the development of a vaccine for the pandemic. Everyone’s lives have been affected by the pandemic in every possible way. COVID-19 allowed us to see the true sides of many things from healthcare services to poverty. It is a constant struggle against the new virus that we don’t have the cure for and those who are fighting in the front line are the healthcare workers. The behind-the-scenes people make it possible for us to learn more about the virus and ways to take caution. As TCP is multidisciplinary and that it is actually a “portrait in words,” it is crucial that we use this platform to tell their stories and to help them raise awareness of the virus. The TCP is a powerful tool where there are no boundaries between multiple disciplines. Hence, it will be easier to tell stories that sympathize with everyone from different backgrounds.

I have a great interest in investigating stories from a social point of view. My recent projects include producing a podcast examining the social changes in Qatar comparing the experiences of working in Qatar between expatriates and Qataris. Another project that I participated in was a news package on the topic of the Kafala system in Qatar and how it is impacting the lives of workers. I plan to continue learning different storytelling techniq­ues and methods in order for me to tell stories that are less focused on mainstream media.

Podcast Project for Northwestern https://sites.northwestern.edu/thephoenix/podcast/

News Package Project https://northwestern.app.box.com/s/7npxowa09t7xztyqzhg2nrrrkpdqcx0n

Performing Arts Podcaster & Artist Spotlight Curator · George Washington University · Dahlia Haddad

Storytelling is, of course, a way to make sense of and provide insight into difficult situations, but it also makes them attractive. Like, a New Yorker article can be stone-cold sexy. And believe it or not, a lot of this year has yet to be even a soft smirk from a guy in a bar who clearly doesn’t call his mom, let alone stone-cold sexy. So, in mid-March when presented with the task of becoming an infectious disease pseudo specialist while also being sent back to Missouri from the Big City™, I found myself reading about people. I read and talked and listened to experts explain the nitty-gritty of the situation, but I also consumed hours of people worrying and praying about their mom, or their dad, or their school or their city. And while it may be a poor man’s shot at empathy, I find myself more inclined to wear a mask and keep my distance with the narratives in mind rather than the science. To act on principle alone is difficult and narrative creates opportunities to attach ourselves to principles in a more personal way.

Through collaboration with The Creative Process, I hope to create content with which people can relate and empathize. Beyond entertainment and information, story expands our ability to connect and act.

I wish that the binary thinking which surrounds our relationship with global warming would expand to include progress despite continued failure. It is necessary that both the powers that be and the individual work towards the larger goal. Sometimes it takes the ball rolling before the big structural change will be supported or realized. If COVID-19 has taught me anything it’s that to sit and watch the world burn is a hellish fate.

In the past year, the largest portion of my creative work has been for and with my sketch comedy and improv group. I’ve written both sketch comedy and stand-up as well as performed in long-form improv shows. This fall I’ll start my tenure as the group’s president and will run practices, editing, and staging. As well, I co-hosted Tap Water Teens, a pop culture and personality-based radio show and podcast, through GW’s radio, WRGW. The show ran for a semester on-air and has a limited series streamed through Spotify.

In addition to these projects with my peers, last summer I worked as a research and production assistant for a podcast revolving around the history of cannabis in the United States. The nature of the content was academic but also presented the morality and psychology, or lack thereof, which led to the current systems of perception, incarceration, and use.

Currently, I’m working with my former boss to produce a limited series podcast which presents the early 20s in an interview narrative form. Each episode consists of a casual interview in which college students dive into their best and worst of the past year. The goal is to create an authentic and story-based representation of a set of years often lost in the swell of late-teen-coming-of-age and mid-20s-whirlwinds content. While the range of perspectives and stories is immense, not dissimilar to The Creative Process, I want to create a platform that can both provide a breadth of experience and maintain a level of intimacy and depth.

Writing & Performing Arts Podcaster · Northwestern University · Alex Barnett

Storytelling today is essential in an arts world defined by corporate creativity, or by content that endlessly promotes itself in capitalistic structures. Stories told by Zadie Smith, George Saunders, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Paul Schrader and Andres Serrano, for instance, exist in diverse disciplines, but together ring a bell in the reader or observer's mind that reverberates long after the initial act of reading or observation. Such stories are at odds with a corporate creativity designed around commerce, designed to repeatedly sell one something. The storytelling I enjoy concerns itself with difference, conflict, refutation, resolution, and education, promoting, in essence, the humanities. 

Through collaborating with The Creative Process, I am learning from and engage with a multiplicity of disciplines, artists, and educators.

I have great concerns and hopes about environmental sustainability. I believe that continued and heightened emphasis on education through the humanities (in fundamental collaboration with STEM fields) will yield widespread appreciation of human stewardship. 

My final quarter at Northwestern was held online; in the case of an analog/experimental methods photography class held online, I had no access to a darkroom, film, or an enlarger. I still wanted to engage with an analog process, so I began making my own cyanotypes by painting the proper chemicals onto watercolor paper, creating digital negatives, and allowing the sun to finish the process.

I've also continued to write and revise a series of short stories — literary realism and speculative fiction — begun in my senior creative writing sequence. A story called "Sacrifice Fly" was just published in Northwestern's literary magazine, Helicon.

I plan on applying to international graduate programs that begin in the fall of 2021, ideally interdisciplinary Master's programs through which I can further my scholarship and artistic pursuits simultaneously.

Arts, Design & Sustainability Curator & Social Media Coordinator · University of Texas at Austin · University · Gracyn Smith

Throughout my life, I've always been drawn to the arts. Although it may ring as cliché, I feel that the arts provide us with an outlet to take the experiences of being human and express them in deeply meaningful and connective ways. The arts allow us to transcend from ourselves and gives us the chance to create something "bigger". One thing I really love about the arts is the diversity of mediums that emotion, experience, and the psyche can manifest into: whether it is a song that seems to hold a special place in your memory, or an abstract painting you once saw in a gallery and haven't forgotten about since. Creating and consuming art is the glue that holds us together as a species capable of existential thought and search for deeper meaning. It empowers us as individuals and unites us collectively. 

Taking part in The Creative Process allows me to gain both professionally and personally enriching knowledge. On one hand, being part of a company that lives and breathes everything having to do with the arts would be a huge step towards laying the foundation for my upcoming career goals. Being behind the scenes would allow me to gain a practical understanding of how a creative business operates and what that actually looks like from a firsthand point of view. I believe I would gain experience that would be game-changing when applying myself in future endeavors. On the other hand, being part of a company that is oriented around forming and supporting a community of artists is something I find very desirable on a personal level. I haven't had many opportunities to be part of a community like that and it's something I've wanted for a long time. Having the opportunity to learn from and interact with other creatives is both energizing and exciting.

Regardless of where life takes us throughout the remainder of this year, I really want to push myself to stay in tune with my creative passions. I want to keep both my long term and short term goals of being a social media manager/content creator and ultimately creative director in my near-sight. I want to work on staying consistent with some kind of creative outlet, whether an internship, a class, or various personal projects. By the time I graduate in December, I want to look back and say that I wasn't pulled away from my creative passions for any reason.

Since the lockdown happened, I have tried to take advantage of the unexpected downtime by working on a couple personally enriching creative projects. Because social interactions are limited, I have been passing the time with my core group of girlfriends. I've been shooting a lot of film photography of our times together (hence how I gained my reputation in the group as the designated photographer). I've been working on practicing nighttime "event" film photography and to capture 'candid' in-the-moment type shots. I have also collaborated with my sister as an amateur 'art director' and done a couple digital & film photoshoots of her which turned out really beautiful and fun. I started learning to shoot film about a year ago, fell in love with it, and have since been building my photography portfolio. Additionally, I've been doing some digital art/graphic design pieces for my personal social media accounts. I'm newer to Photoshop, but working on these has really helped me get familiarized with it in a fun way. I'm very interested in fashion, streetwear-influenced designs in particular, and have been working on putting together mockups for graphic tees with my original designs.

As for the future, I have a semester left of school and plan to graduate this December. I was previously supposed to take part in a work study program through my university and spend my last semester in LA. However, due to the circumstances of COVID, I will remain in Austin. After this semester, I hope to make a move to a 'creative-hub' city either here in the states or internationally. After visiting Berlin, Copenhagen, and Paris last summer, I've planned to eventually make the move out to one of those cities in the next 1-3 years. I've been studying German and working on increasing my fluency (Berlin has a very special place in my heart). As for the immediate future, I hope to continue developing and diversifying my creative portfolio. I plan to learn more Adobe Creative Suite programs such as InDesign and Illustrator. Improving my hard software skills will enable me to execute my creative visions more seamlessly. I also want to keep pursuing fashion design as a hobby and learn to use a sewing machine. 

Because I have a variety of creative interests, I went ahead and attached three samples of some recent works. The first is one of my first graphic design collages that I made from a test shot I took on my digital camera when I first got it. I ended up taking a picture of the camera's photo preview on my phone and really liked the way that looked. I found an old Gucci ad on Pinterest and chopped that up to make a digital collage with a self portrait/fashion editorial feel. The second is a mixed media motion graphic gif that I made more recently. I used an analog photo I took while at a Tame Impala show and chopped up some stills and motion graphics I found posted by other users on Pinterest as well. I really liked the idea of incorporating some kind of looping flow of movement into this piece because it represented the inspiration I drew from the feel and energy of the show. The third is a photo I snapped on my film camera in the subway the first night we arrived in Paris. I wanted to include that one because it's one of my favorite photos I've taken since I first started shooting film. It's simplistic and captures an otherwise ordinary or mundane routine-activity in a unique tone and mood due to the turnout of the lighting. 

(Link to the looping gif): https://vimeo.com/439658107

Sustainability & Community Podcaster · Howard University · Ua Hayes

I’m heavily motivated by simply telling a good story. Even if the story I tell is only to my mom over the phone, I walk through life looking for good stories to make my family and friends laugh. Storytelling is about challenging narratives. Out of the 100 HU students to go abroad, I was one of three who went to Africa. I wanted to help future students overcome their fears of the unknown, for a lot of students, Europe feels like the “safer” option. Yet it was in Senegal that I was offered a creative job within 3 weeks, in Senegal that I was embraced by my host family, in Senegal that I got to speak with Ibrahima Traoré and Amadou Mbow, the two break out stars from film Atlantique , directed by Mati Diop, the 1st Black woman to compete in the Cannes Film Festival with her feature film debut.

For me, storytelling is about feeling good and feeling seen. There’s been many moments in my life that I felt my own story was too different or too white. The reality was that I’d yet to see my stories represented authentically. I think it takes creativity to explore the dangerous options, it takes creativity to be different and pursue new experiences. Storytelling is what makes people feel seen, Black people aren’t a monolith; our experiences come in different forms and they deserve to be represented.

Collaborating with The Creative Process allows me to tell unique stories on a new platform and use a medium I haven’t had the chance to explore. I’m also hoping to meet new artists and creatives! Storytelling makes people feel good. In 2019 I interviewed a Vintage Brand called COWPRINT. I loved writing that piece, but what I loved more was how happy that brand felt to have their work celebrated. Simply put, I want to create and celebrate art for, by, and about Black people.

I wish I knew how to grow my own food. There’s been so much uncertainty in 2020, but the only way to survive uncertainty is to control what you can. While there is both corporate and individual responsibility to heal the earth and environment, corporations are capable of making monumental changes. Capitalism ensures that they don’t make those changes. Individuals are much better off educating themselves for a time when the environment is unhealable. As environmental disasters continue to grow I want to recommit myself to sustainable living solutions. I would love to interview Black farmers and spread information about growing food from home and building sustainable living communities.

It’s been interesting trying to stay creative these past few months. Before COVID hit I was studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal, gaining new stories and life experiences everyday. I had just been hired to be the Assistant Creative Director for a fashion show, only for my program to be cancelled in the span of 3 days and to find myself on a plane back to Pittsburgh, PA. The midwest. The total opposite of everything I’d just begun to experience on the great continent. In the weeks and months that followed March 2020, I’ve spent much of my time in isolation. I’ve started new shows, I’ve rediscovered old songs that I didn’t realize I still knew the words to, I’ve developed new recipes.

An ongoing project of mine is my work with m K Collective, an art collective and production company I started 2 years ago with a cohort of Howard University creatives. As a collective we do a combination of art workshops, photoshoots, articles, animation, and behind the scenes content. These days we focus primarily on community engagement via social media; we share tips for safely protesting, articles on defunding the police, and facetime photoshoots. I’m currently setting up an interview with a young baker in Pittsburgh. She’s a Black girl who’s turning her love of baking into a cupcake catering service. In addition to being interviewed for m K Collective, we’re collaborating to develop a brand identity for her company and create a photo campaign.

Long term I’m hoping to create video content for m K, complete a screenplay and TV pilot, and achieve a Fulbright grant to study pottery and ceramics in Accra, Ghana.