Professionals

Tionenji Aiken (Tio Aiken) is the Vice President of Communications for Artspace Projects Inc. Recruited to Artspace in 2016 as the Communications Manager, Aiken has slowly shifted the Artspace brand to focus on multi-format storytelling with a deep desire to highlight the intersectionality of Artspace's diverse residential communities and partnerships nationwide. In 2017, Aiken became the Director of Communications. She also became the Program Director for the Rafala Green Fellowship program, a two-year fellowship that promotes equity and inclusion in non-profit real-estate by training the next generation of POCI emerging leaders working at the intersection of arts, real-estate, and community development, funded by the Ford Foundation. Outside of her formal roles at Artspace, Aiken is a practicing poet and a champion of anyone using their creative expression to make space in the world for positive change. She currently sits on the advisory boards of Made Here MN and Giant Steps MN, and the Board of Directors for the Twin Cities Jazzfest.

Carolyn Johnson (“C.J.”) is currently the CEO of the Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation, which was incubated by and is now a proud partner of the East Oakland Black Cultural Zone Collaborative, which strives to elevate their community through arts and cultural preservation and innovation. C.J. joined the East Oakland Black Cultural Zone Collaborative in 2019 with thirty years of experience in entrepreneurship and business management, non-profit operations, finance and commercial real estate. She is a native of Oakland, California and brings to the Collaborative her homegrown knowledge of East Oakland, where she was born and raised.

Public Artist in Residence Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya partnered with the NYC Commission on Human Rights to create the series "I Still Believe in Our City". The series features murals and paintings around New York City - in bus shelters, subway stations, and on the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn - in response to increased Asian American discrimination and hate since the start of the pandemic. Phingbodhipakkiya has made these works freely downloadable on her website.

astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak astria suparak Astria Suparak is an artist and curator based in Oakland, California. In addition to her curatorial work, having formerly served as Director and Curator of Carnegie Mellon University's Miller Gallery, as well as a curator for The Warehouse, Syracuse University's first contemporary art gallery, and the Pratt Institute Film Series astria suparak , Suparak also produces artwork that explores themes related to science fiction, race, and feminism. astria suparak  astria suparak astria suparak Recently, Suparak released Virtually Asian, a short video essay commissioned by the Berkeley Art Center that explores and critiques how white science fiction filmmakers depict futuristic landscapes marked by Asian cultural signifiers while remaining devoid of Asian characters.

Nicole Brewer is the creator of Conscientious Theatre Training (CTT). CTT is dedicated to equitable anti-racist representation in all areas of theatre through disrupting harmful erasure present in traditional theatre training through purposeful inclusion of marginalized groups contributions to the cannon of theatre, fusing together cultural competency, self care practices and anti-racist theory to create an embodied experience where participants learn to utilize their sphere of power to disrupt white supremacy culture. Brewer has authored four articles about the need for the theatre industry to shift from racist and oppressive models to anti-racist and anti-oppressive. Brewer has provided Anti-Racist Theatre Now (ART) workshops for The Globe and Cambridge University, is a board member of Parent Artist Adovacy League (PAAL), where she works to shift how the industry can become more proactive to the needs of caregivers, and is one of the four producers of the COVID19 freelance artist resource website, freelanceartistresource.com . The COVID19 freelance is a producing collective that also partners with HowlRound to produce six weekly webinars that center the needs of freelance artists impacted by the pandemic.

Ronald Jackson is an artist who primarily paints portraits of members of the Black community. However, he does not consider himself a portrait painter. Through his artwork, he aims to tell people's stories and dismantle preconceived notions about the Black experience. He hopes to elevate value, beauty significance among those who may have felt marginalized in the past.

Danielle's work stresses the importance of loving your neighbor and bringing awareness to the value and importance of Black lives. She also hopes to inspire justice and encourage faith through her art. She posts her artwork on her Instagram, @ohhappydani.

Nina Chanel Abney has made many artistic pieces that raise awareness for modern racial issues. Her exhibition, Always a Winner, featured abstract depictions of racial injustice as a result of police brutality.

Jay Katelansky is an experimental artist who creates and sells t-shirts with designs that celebrate Black communities and support the Black Lives Matter Movement. Some of the proceeds from her latest design will go to the Black School which empowers Black students to inspire change through the arts.