Denise Shanté Brown didn’t always know that her life’s work would be at the intersection of well-being and design. Through her thesis work in Social Design for her Master’s degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art, she saw not only the ways that Black women are excluded from decisions about their own health and well-being, but that Black women were able to create their own structures of healing and community. The research process became a healing process for her, as well as a way to explore manifestations of both systemic inequality and resilience in its face.

Things are growing at Crenshaw Dairy Mart. When we spoke with two of its three founders, alexandre dorriz and noé olivas, they had been gardening and building some new work benches at the space and the sunflowers were blooming. There’s new growth happening all over and around the Mart, located in Inglewood in Los Angeles. It is a gallery, community space, and shared studio space for artists.

Donkeysaddle Projects is hard to pin down. It’s an art collective and a group of organizers working locally and globally. Donkeysaddle Projects creates plays and films; its members organize events and create environments for participatory co-creating. The Donkeysaddle Projects team has experience in journalism, poetry, theater, community organizing, social justice education, and human rights activism.

“The Glassblower’s Daughter: An Original Musical” from Lightning House Players was originally set to premier at a theatre in Boston in October. Of course, that’s not happening any more. But in true creative and theatrical spirit, Zareh Artinian, Jr. and Kelvyn Koning and their team of collaborators and actors are putting together an ambitious virtual performance for their audience. In October, they will be sharing Act I and II of the musical virtually, and are currently running a fundraiser through Fractured Atlas to support their work.

Unlike music for big symphony halls, chamber music is meant to be intimate. It is written for between two and eight musicians and designed to be enjoyed up close. Q Concerts is a chamber music series based in Charleston, SC that uses creative programming (even virtual programming) to create meaningful, intimate experiences. Their work seeks to demonstrate that chamber music is important and that it can be for everyone. Q Concerts is dedicated to bringing people and ideas together through the power and beauty of music.

Ballet dancers Rachael Gnatowski and Emily Orzada met while they were both dancing for the Fort Wayne Ballet in 2017. After dancing together for several years at several companies, they decided that by starting their own company, they could seek to remedy some of the issues that they saw in the dance world, while performing top-notch pieces. So, in winter 2020, New England Ballet Theatre was born.

Michael Lawrence-Riddell is an experienced educator. During his 20 year career, he has taught middle school math, social studies, and language arts. He has taught in elementary, middle, and high schools, and is the recipient of the Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Fellowship for Entrepreneurship in Education from Mount Holyoke College.

Rev. Moose is well-connected in the music industry nationally and globally. As the co-founder and managing partner of Marauder, a boutique music marketing firm, he helps artists and cultural export offices break into the US market. He helps them book shows, conferences, and festivals and gain radio airplay. As he describes it, “Most of my role is being able to not just talk to people about how the American market works, but also try to help connect people in ways that are going to be beneficial for their career. So a lot of times that's utilizing the relationships that we already have and trying to build new relationships with different people.” Marauder also runs Independent Venue Week in the U.S., which is an annual marketing campaign to highlight independent music venues. As Marauder was gearing up for Independent Venue Week 2020, South by Southwest cancelled. Then all venues started shutting down.

Art can shape public opinion by giving an audience insight into different lives, cultures, experiences, and viewpoints. That’s why Michael McCray includes a film festival as part of the annual, Washington, D.C. gathering for whistleblowers and their allies: the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival.

Yaminah Legohn’s vision is expansive. Through her multimedia arts and entertainment company, Art of Legohn, she works to inspire, entertain, and educate her audience through performances, arts education, and community engagement. Based in both New York City and Los Angeles, Art of Legohn works to represent Black culture and people of color while providing services to both youths and adults.