Curating Exhibitions & Experiences
It all begins with an idea. I have been blessed with vision and the ability to bring said vision to fruition. This factors into the visual art that I create and is present in my curatorial practice. My work is always meaningful. It serves to contextualize, interrogate, deconstruct, educate and provoke thought. This is a selection of curatorial highlights from my portfolio.
As always, please feel free to shoot me a message with questions or if you are interested in learning more about my curatorial services.
The From Benin to the Bay Series
From Benin to the Bay is a multi-day series of events held in the San Francisco Bay Area that celebrates the Afrodiasporic journey of thought, traditions and creative expression alongside of visions of a future where African culture, spirituality and people thrive in the mainstream.
Same Game Different Smokers
Same Game Different Smokers is an exploration of the troubling relationship the tobacco industry has had with the Black Community over the last 400+ years. A collection of archival ads and images are brought together to answer some extremely important questions. We interrogate the complex connection between increased demand for commercialized tobacco, the transatlantic slave trade, racialized advertising, targeted ad placement and the fact that 45000 African Americans die every year from tobacco-related illness. In recent times, the Nicotine Addiction industry has worked hard to create the next generation of smokers… shamelessly using social media and flavors to addict children. This is merely a page taken from Big Tobacco’s proverbial playbook as it has used menthol flavoring and strategic ad placement to attract and addict African Americans of all ages for more than 50 years. Same Game Different Smokers offers enriching food for thought which once fully digested, might bring about positive change in the lives of individuals and the community at large.
Take a gander at the KQED / NPR coverage of the exhibition
Fox Soul network’s coverage of the exhibition
Ancestral Souls Rising
This is the intro that I did for the global virtual memorial that I conceived, curated and project managed to fruition. I’m thankful to have received direction from the ancestors to bring it forward and for the important and life-changing/affirming lessons that doing so brought me.
Smoke & Mirrors
Co-Curated with Melorra Green and Melonie Green
Smoke & Mirrors investigated the impacts of the war on drugs campaign. By exploring the messaging, propaganda, and branding historically used to shift the narrative about cannabis and hemp, the exhibition worked to dispel the myths about an ancient, healing plant. Using written and spoken words, statistical data, and images in this interdisciplinary exhibition, artists created beautiful evidence that will share experiences of men and women of color who have been impacted by the war on drugs, the evolution of cannabis policies, and facts about the healing properties of marijuana. In an interactive installation, visitors were invited to share their own experiences with cannabis.
The exhibition hosted three public programming events: An opening reception, a Women of Color in Cannabis Talk and a Cannabis Conference - each educated and connected people of color to the cannabis industry and share numerous ways to be empowered during the green rush in the Bay Area and beyond.
Creativity Unbound
Videos of the two stages of the Skinned Coon Cap piece. The first is an excerpt from A virtual convo w/ Artivist Tracy Brown (Worldly Sistah) and Moddler's Jared Murnan about expanding creative options using 3D Modeling. The second video is the unveiling of the completed piece titled. This piece is an expression of anger, disgust, concern, dismay, confusion. It is also an interrogation of the phenomena of acting against one's own interest and the fetishization of capitalism and fascism by the marginalized.
Use As Directed
This was my portion of the presentation during the "Up In Smoke" webinar co-presented by The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Corporate Accountability, and The Center for Black Health and Equity.