Meet The Lead Artists

Chih-Jou Cheng is a Chicago-based movement artist and puppeteer originally from Taiwan where she studied Community Theatre & Theatre in education. She is dedicated to creating artworks that illuminate the challenges and joys of the human experience through collaborative physical theatre. She is the co-founder of Dawn Theatre Project and has performed with Drury Lane, Teatro Vista, and other Chicago theatre companies. You can find more of her work at chihjou-cheng.com

Natalia Cuevas is a Mexican American artist, educator, and mentor, based in the city of Chicago and actively working towards building community, bridging cultures, and supporting youth through art based learning. My creative practice is deeply rooted in my experiences growing up in Chicago with undocumented parents and draws from traditional Mexican iconography, folklore, and family stories of migration. Through interactive, immersive, and collaborative projects, I aim to cultivate spaces for community building and create platforms for storytelling as a form of celebration and healing.

Leyda “Lady Sol” Garcia is a proud XICANA and Chicago native who is globally recognized as a teaching artist, creative director, and street dance practitioner. She is a Co-Founder of Kuumba Lynx, Chicago's first all woman led Hip-Hip arts organization and a proud 3Arts Chicago Award winner. Lady Sol is a self- proclaimed “Professor of Practice” who has taught street dance workshops at Columbia College, Harvard U, Stanford U, and U of C.

Jewel Hale is an interdisciplinary artist from Chicago, Illinois. She obtained her BA in theater studies from Northern Illinois University, received her MA in interdisciplinary arts from Columbia College Chicago, and her MS in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University. She is a certified wellness, SEL, and yoga instructor. She has been writing and performing professionally since 2012.

As an international DJ, musician, composer, anthropologist, ethnomusicologist, label owner, videographer, Qi Gong instructor, humanitarian, pro-activist, healer, sound scientist and Audio PharmacologistTM, Shannon explores obscure territories, regions, genres, styles, and traditions through his work in the Healing Arts. Receiving a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Music as Wellness certificate from the Berklee College of Music, his work bridges the dualities of unconventional futurism and indigenous traditionalism using sound energy. His journey in the fields of art, music, science, and research spans four decades, six continents, and numerous cultural and spiritual traditions.

1st Gen Chicano and a Chicago native. As a CPS student, he discovered his passion for the Arts in afterschool programs such as After School Matters. Today he is a professional artist, activist, and photographer with a passion for teaching. He believes in the power of art for personal transformation and building community.

Nile Lansana is an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago. His work is centered around revealing radical truths and amplifying marginalized voices and narratives through a lens of Black imagination and visionary intention. He’s just trying to be even better than he was the last time!

Shalom is first and foremost a person. One who loves people and loves making art, specifically ceramics, she is also an abolitionist and invested in her community. One of the ways that she has used those passions is through becoming an art therapist and LPC at Chicago Torture Justice Center and working with people who have been tortured by the police.

Mecca Perry is a Certified Sound Meditation Facilitator, Founder of Elevated Mediation Studio, Wellness Podcaster, and Wellness Event Professional. She weaves her background in event production/culinary with modern and ancient wellness practices, all in the service of others. Mecca’s mission is to create bespoke sacred experiences that transform her clients' experience of themselves and the world. After a decade-long meditation practice, Mecca turned her passion into service. She completed over 300 hours of Sound and Meditation Training in Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Tempe, AZ and Auroville, India.

“I am happy, healthy and healed.” This mantra is the foundation for my work in my community, Chicago, and beyond. I am a motivator! I am an educator and I am a coach. Through physical movement, mindfulness and gratitude work, I touch, move and inspire young people and adults to discover their best selves so they can live happy, healthy and healed lifestyles. My name is Erica Marie Serrano or Coach Erica Marie! My certifications are in Yoga, Personal Training, and Wellness.

Asad Ali Jafri is a cultural producer, community organizer and interdisciplinary artist. Using a grassroots approach and global perspective, Asad connects artists and communities across imagined boundaries to create meaningful engagements and experiences. Asad has over two decades of experience honing an intentional and holistic practice that allows him to take on the role of artist and administrator, curator and producer, educator and organizer, mentor and strategist. Asad’s latest work includes directing the Words, Beats & Life Festival, co-founding SpaceShift Collective and producing Listening While Muslim.

Marion has the rare distinction of having written, directed, performed and choreographed on/for the Broadway stage. He is the current and long-time producer of the iconic talent competition Amateur Night at the Apollo. This live weekly show is the longest running talent competition in American history and still going strong. His theatrical works have appeared on Broadway, Japan, Network Television, PBS Great Performances, The White House, J.F. Kennedy Center, The Apollo Theater and around the globe on three continents. Marion is proud to return to serve his hometown of Gainesville with ONOP.

Sarah Hinds is a visual artist and community arts facilitator. She works as an artist at UF Health, creating art with hospital patients, hosting inpatient workshops, and supporting staff through creative engagements. She is a leader in the field internationally and is a faculty member of the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship. Sarah is a UF graduate with a degree in Anthropology, where she explored the human connections between arts, health, nature, and culture. Hand blown glass is Sarah’s primary medium of expression. She has been sculpting hot glass for over twenty years. Most recently, Sarah has been striving to combine her love of community and tactile materials, creating community engaged mosaic murals. This work has led her to both international residencies and inspiring projects at home. In 2024 she completed the HeART Wall, a monumental mosaic that combines the artistic passion of over 2500 Gainesville residents. 

Robert Gipe is the founding producer of Higher Ground, a community performance project based at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College in Harlan County, Kentucky. Gipe is the author of three novels and the retired director of the SKCTC Appalachian Program.

Kate Handzlik is the Creative Director for Higher Ground in Harlan, a community performance project based at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College in Harlan County, Kentucky. Handzlik also teaches theater and introduction to college classes at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College.

Nicole Garneau is an interdisciplinary performing artist. Her book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism was published in print in Spring 2018 by Intellect. In 2022, she narrated and released the audiobook version. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, where she teaches, makes theater, facilitates meetings, and throws parties. She is working with Higher Ground in Harlan as Artist in Residence in 2023-2024. Nicolegarneau.com

Ka‘ōhua Lucas is a cultural practitioner, photographer, and community activist who resides in Hawai‘i on the island of O‘ahu in the ahupua‘a of Kalihi. With her friend, Kim Moa, she formed ‘Ōiwi Lens - a photography group dedicated to storytelling through a Native Hawaiian lens. Her commitment to the Lāhui is to uplift kūpuna wisdom and practices by sharing traditional and contemporary stories through photography and art.

Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer grew up on the sands of Mokapu, Kailua and Hilo Palikū of Hawaiʻi. The Aluli family is a diverse group of scholar-activists who have spent their lives in Hawaiian education, justice, land reclamation, health, cultural revitalization, arts education, prison reform, transformational economics, food sovereignty, Hawaiian philosophy and most of all, music. She is dedicated to “Niu Now” - a cultural agroforestry movement helping plant uluniu – coconut groves – throughout Hawaiʻi.

Indrajit Gunasekara is a co-founder of NiuNow where his love and knowledge of the niu activates and nourishes a cultural-agroforestry-movement dedicated to the gene-banking of Hawaiian coconut diversity and the growing of uluniu – coconut groves to keep Hawaiian coconut genetic diversity alive and appreciated. Indrajit safeguards endangered niu varieties to activate cultural practices of food security, along with niu arts and knowledge to help Hawaiʻi recognize this vital and ancient ecological resource.

The 808 Breakers are a distinguished mixed plate of multi-disciplinary hip hop artists rooted in Hawaii. Their collective body of work spans global geographies and generational histories that revolve around creative perpetuation of hip hop’s foundational dance element, breaking. As ambassadors of culture, youth educators, global competitors and community activators, this eclectic crew strives to explore new boundaries in how this dance form is positively shared in local and global spaces alike.

Kim Kamaluokeakua Moa is a Kanaka Maoli photographer and photojournalist with a passion for social justice and visual storytelling through an indigenous lens. Born on Maui and raised in ʻEwa Moku, Oʻahu, she has spent the last decade documenting efforts across Hawaiʻi to mālama that which feeds our ʻohana and communities. Her work in the nonprofit sector uplifts those most impacted in her community and aims to empower them to tell their own stories.

Lise Michelle Suguitan Childers grew up in Kalihi Uka, Kona, Oʻahu and started their weaving journey in 2017 under the generous guidance of Lorna Pacheco and Mahina and Cheryl Pūkahi. Their commitment to practice has culminated in forms such as book, performance, and dream, as well as teaching and supporting foundational classes with community weaving program Keanahala. She is a book lover and incorporates modern materials such as nylon book packing straps into her weaving.

Sancia Miala Shiba Nash is a documentary filmmaker from Honuaʻula, Maui, currently based on Oʻahu. Her collaborative practice is guided by oral histories, archives, and acts of translation. Since 2020, Sancia has worked closely with Joan Lander and Hawaiʻi-based arts and culture organizations to preserve and share Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina’s work with audiences at home and abroad. Sancia is also dedicated to weaving relationships through the weaving of Hawaiian mats.

Hodari is the Chief Innovation Officer and a Partner at e4e. He holds a Masters in Education from San Francisco State University another in Educational Administration from Sacramento State University and a Bachelors in Political Science from UC Berkeley. Currently a Doctoral student at UC Davis in the School of Education. He has spoken and presented at conferences all over the world. He is a Futurist, working as a Foresight Essentials Faculty Member at IFTF.

Candice is the founder and CEO of e4e. She holds a Masters in Education from San Francisco State University and a Bachelors in Sociology from UC Berkeley. She has 25+ years of experience in the field of technical assistance, Professional Development, Youth Development and Anti Racist Practice. Candice is also an award winning artist who has toured extensively around the world. She is also a mother of two young boys.

Norma Dycus Pennycuff is an analogue photographer and cyanotype artist living in Eagle River, Wisconsin. A change of studio locations brought her to ArtStart of Rhinelander Wisconsin, where she is currently an artist in residence. Norma often draws on past experience working with families experiencing dementia or autism to influence the workshops and events she designs. She can be found on instagram at @artistic.norma

Witt Siasoco is a community-based visual artist living and working in Minneapolis, MN. Witt's practice is rooted in conversation and making art that catalyzes civic dialogue and collective action. Throughout his career, Witt has created community-engaged projects including This Home is Not for Sale, an Americans for the Arts' Public Art Award recipient; Drawing on Rice Street, a large-scale installation distilling over 200 conversations with St. Paul residents; and Carry On Homes Northeast, an installation focused on immigrant participation in the 2020 Census. You check out more of Witt's work at wittsiasoco.com.

Marc David Pinate is an indigenous Xicano making theatre in his ancestral home, the Sonoran Desert. He is the producing artistic director of Borderlands Theater. His passion for creative placemaking has led to his work developing and directing ethnographic projects focused on Southern Arizona narratives, most notably the Barrio Stories Project: a series of large scale, site-specific heritage festivals employing theatre to center the history and heritage of Tucson’s historic barrios.

Milta Ortiz, an award-winning playwright, was born in El Salvador and raised in the Bay Area, she now calls Tucson home. She’s developing Anita, a musical in collaboration with composer Quetzal Guerrero. Milta was a 2020-21 Projecting All Voices Mellon fellow at Arizona State University. Milta is Associate Artistic Director at Borderlands Theater, where a few of her plays, including Sanctuary (2018) and Más (2015) have world premiered.

Mel “Melo” Dominguez is an artist, muralist from Los Angeles who has lived in Tucson since 2007. Mel’s community outreach began at Self Help Graphics & Art in East Los Angeles where he was a Getty intern. Mel was the Summer Youth Coordinator that headed the community mural project with the youth from the neighborhood. Mel’s artwork is a direct expression of his Chicano/a culture, political issues, social issues and environmental issues.

Adam Cooper-Terán (ACT) is a native of Tucson, Arizona, born from a mixed heritage of Mexican, Yaqui, and Jewish roots. Known for their collaborations among various performance troupes, theater companies, musicians, and dancers, Adam’s work has featured across the globe as large-scale media projections, musical interventions, and installations of digital storytelling.

The further you dig into QVLN’s continually evolving music catalog and expanding international presence, the more you understand why he’s considered a Global Music artist. With his genre-less approach to music creation and curated collaborations, QVLN has been able to make notable inroads in various music scenes.

Anita Chavarin has a background in social media management and digital marketing. Anita began her marketing career working for Hydrant, a Tucson-based Marketing Agency. Since then, she has worked as a freelance creative as well as for-profit businesses. She has more than three years of experience in developing multi-channel content strategies, copywriting, and digital analytics. She is passionate about creating educational content that promotes awareness for social and environmental matters.

Hailing originally from the border town of Yuma, Arizona, Jonathan Heras is a seasoned actor, singer, and musician with a career spanning over two decades. With a passion for storytelling and a deep connection to the stage, Jonathan has become a multifaceted artist currently contributing in the Tucson area. Jonathan is in his 4th year as Musical Director at Salpointe Catholic High School.

Remi has made Washington, D.C., a hub for cultural engagement through events and unique experiences, leveraging her skills in curation, production, and strategic partnerships. A Howard University alum, she's dedicated to fostering community ties and drawing diverse crowds with innovative programming and marketing. Remi has significantly contributed to notable events and partnerships, including Franklin Park Block Party, Rock the Park DC, Jazz & Blossoms, and collaborations with the Smithsonian and National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Omrao Brown has over 17 years of experience in artistic direction, production, marketing, and operations, spanning festivals to intimate events across various genres. He led Words Beats & Life, Inc., a non-profit utilizing hip-hop for youth arts, and directed Friends of JCMC, honoring John Coltrane. As Publick Playhouse's Managing Director, he founded Shine On Me Productions, producing notable events like Dave Chappelle's Juke Joint. His tenure at Bohemian Caverns redefined it as a premier jazz venue, attracting global talent. Brown has received multiple awards for his contributions to the arts and community service.

Holly Bass, a versatile artist, writer, and director, excels in community-engaged art aiming for liberation, examining societal norms on gender, race, and class. Recognized widely, she received grants and fellowships, including the 2023 MAP fund and Dance/USA Fellowships. Her art spans photography to performance, showcased at prestigious venues like the National Portrait Gallery and the Venice Biennale. A published poet and Cave Canem Fellow, she also led arts programs for youth and directs Turnaround Arts at the Kennedy Center to reform public schools through the arts.

DJ/Producer Dominic Painter relocated to Washington D.C., after making a name in the Los Angeles area. Social organizing became a passion in high school starting with the D.A.R.E. program. While attending the University of Maryland, College Park, his civic engagement took off, working with the Black Business Society and the national student coordinating committee for the Million Man March. Years later he helped to create the Hip-Hop entrepreneurial nonprofit, The Midnight Forum Inc., and rose to the executive director position during his 10-year history with them.

Donney Rose, a Baton Rouge native and Maryland-based artist, combines performance poetry, advocacy journalism, and teaching to explore the Black American experience through THE AMERICAN AUDIT. This project merges history, poetry, and research in multi-media presentations. With a career starting at Southern University, Rose has achieved national recognition, encouraging others to find their voices. His work as a teaching artist spans all ages, emphasizing confidence and cultural impact through spoken and written words, particularly valuing youth expression.

Mazi Mutafa is the founding Executive Director of Words Beats & Life, a hip-hop non-profit established in Washington D.C in 2002. Mr. Mutafa received his Bachelor’s degree in African American studies from the University of Maryland and became a Brother of Phi BetaSigma Fraternity. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, and George Washington University and, in 2019, was an adjunct professor at American University, co-teaching a course about international hip-hop, called “Whose Hip-Hop Is It?”

Andrea is an international award-winning photographer, educator, and experiential designer who uses her platforms of academics, activism, and art to witness and leverage the stories of communities devastated by mass violence to assist in rebuilding efforts.

Schooled as an expert on policy, culture, education, and religions of the Middle East, she worked as a diplomatic advisor, professor, researcher, and artist. Her research specialties include the project of justice after mass violence, through which she used photography and the documenting of oral histories for education and evidential purposes. Using her research from post-genocide Rwanda and South Africa, she sought venues for establishing transitional justice structures in the Middle East. Her residencies include the Elaine Museum and Richard Wright Civil Rights Center and Out of the Circle in Cairo.

She is currently based out of Rochester, New York, where she teaches and works collaboratively with artistic communities on issues of social justice, indigenous truth-telling, and anti-racism work.

Faye Duncan Daniel was born in Phillips County, Arkansas, and came into adulthood in Las Vegas, Nevada. They attended Adult High School, Clark County Community College and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Following, she became the first Black Policewoman in Nevada, the First African-American female Hotel Manager and a number of administrative first in Nevada. Faye eetired in 2006, returned to Arkansas and became an AmeriCorps volunteer. She is an avid reader and traveler and environmental advocate.

Hollerin Space (2015) conducts public space takeovers, walks, coumbites, hush harbors, and impromptu happenings. muthi reed is an electronic musician and media maker from Lenapehoking, Philadelphia. Angela Davis Johnson, a lifelong sojourner from Phillips County, Arkansas, renders symbols through paint and song. We live, work and travel as Afropolitan soul shakers thinking about social arrangements of care, world building for a future now. Collective dream culture, channeling personhood through fellowship.

Faisal Mohammed (he/him) is a Dance Artist and doctoral candidate in the Heritage Studies Program at Arkansas State University. He has a decade of experience of using dance as a creative tool for community development and immersion programs in three Continents. His field of study integrates cultural anthropology, performance, and heritage studies to interrogate methods for fostering community resilience and sustainable heritage promotion in rural and underserved towns of Arkansas, U.S.A.

Simone Cottrell (Northwest Arkansas) is a multi-hyphenate creative and owner of Rachhana Creative Consulting, LLC. Her durational protest performance art Where is Justice? enters its third year of exploration in 2024. Simone’s contracted projects have included the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Jonathan Gonzalez’s Perejil, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s Creating Connections. Other 2024 projects include One Nation, One Project - Phillips County, and Theatre Squared’s Cambodian Rock Band. She is a board member for NWA Girl Gang, as well as the National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial. Simone is the recipient of the Arkansas Arts Council Individual Fellowship Award - Community Engagement, Sipp Culture’s Rural Artists Award, Artists 3 60 Grant, Interchange Grant, and Innovation Grant.

Jeff Dyer has been blessed to live the majority of his life near the banks of the Mighty, Muddy Mississippi River. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and his master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Arkansas State University. Jeff is a published poet and in years past has been an active contributor to an open-mic forum made available at The Grounds, a used bookstore sponsored by Habitat for Humanity.  As an artist, he has also been involved with local theatrical groups as an actor, singer, and stagehand.

Lucy Love is from Holly Grove, AR. She performed on American Idol which sprung her into national fame. She is a versatile singer of many types of music. Her band hails from Dallas where she resides at times.   

Dr. Kyle Miller, Director of the Delta Cultural Center, has over 20 years experience in Higher Education as an instructor, director and consultant. His background includes elementary and secondary education, as well as bridging partnerships between secondary and post-secondary institutions. His entertainment business, Positive Images in Christ, is a theatre, music, TV and film production company. He has directed 8 shows over the past 10 years, including 4 hit musicals for which he wrote, composed, produced. He has two feature films GOD’S PURPOSE and THE BEST THING!, receiving national and international distribution.

Vera Randell Rodgers (White) is a well known Gospel Artist who debuted as a Blues Singer at the There's No Place Like Home Festival. A native of Phillips County and descendant of the 1919 Elaine Massacre, Vera has sung in Gospel Groups and solos in many places, but her favorite was with her family, supporting her father and other gospel artists of First Baptist Church of Elaine. She has two young grandsons.

James Morgan is a local Blues Singer who has an annual Blues Festival named for him, is the voice of KFFA radio and its Blues programs. He is a frequent musician on the King Biscuit Blues Festival stage.  James grew up in Phillips County and returned home to sing, work, and enjoy his family. Vera and James' band, Just Groovin' Experience, is known and appreciated in Memphis as well as Arkansas.