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CAC Cohort 2019-20

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Previous CAC Cohorts
CAC Cohort 2019-20

 

CAC Cohort 2019-20

Renee Anderson

Renee Anderson is a Baltimore born artist who has been involved in community arts since their early teens. Renee started as a student at 901 Arts (a long-time CAC Host Site) in Better Waverly in high school, and graduated from Western High School. Once they were of age, Renee immediately started working at 901 Arts as a Co-Instructor for the 901 Arts Drum Line. They facilitated and produced the "Get Your Life!" video project at 901 Arts, which was featured at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2018-19. As a participant of the "Baltimore's Gifted" Program, they have developed skills in e-commerce as well as networking the Baltimore art community. They have also developed their own business selling wire wrapped jewelry using the knowledge they learned in Baltimore’s Gifted. Renee is currently serving in the CAC program at Open Works.

Open Works

Kimberly Boston

Kimberly (Kimmy) is a Baltimore based smartphone artist, graphic designer and General Fine Arts (GFA) graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art. In addition to working in an unconventional medium, Kimmy prides herself on being able to do a bit of everything, including web design, coding, watercolor, and digital painting and illustration. The ability to communicate visually in a number of ways, crossing cultural and linguistic boundaries is something that Kimmy is constantly striving for. She is interested in approaching topics of thoughts, feelings, and mental health in a way that is comfortable for her audience. Kimmy is currently serving her first year in CAC at Roberta's House.

Roberta's House

Dominique Butler

Dominique Butler is a painter who primarily works in gouache and oil. She grew up in a small farm town in northern Vermont and currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland. She received her Bachelor’s of Art in Drawing, Painting, and Art History from Drew University in 2017. Her recent work revolves around viewing nature through the eyes of a person of color. Her paintings are captured images of the environment that are often overlooked. These pieces touch upon the distinct disconnection between black bodies and the great outdoors; prompting the viewer to question why nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism are white dominated. Dominique is currently serving at Jubilee Arts.

Jubilee Arts

Jeneanne Collins

Jeaneanne is currently serving her first year in CAC at Union baptist church.

Union Baptist Church

Roberto Dyea

Roberto M. Dyea (Tsi YOO Nah in Native Laguna Pueblo) has come from a long way home from Barstow, California. He started in Barstow Community College for his general education, then in January 2017, he transferred to the University of Redlands, where he earned the San Manuel Excellence in Leadership Scholarship. During his undergrad studies, he used a variety of media, such as: painting, oil painting, charcoal, writing, charcoal, graphite, photography, graphic design, and ink. He dived into character design, manga art, mixed with his tribal heritage to create various pieces that show his tribal culture and personality. Roberto also served as an intern at New Americans Museum at San Diego, Calfornia. He gained the knowledge of immigrants who wishes to seek better opportunities and then became Citizens of the U.S.A along with Oral History when arriving in America. Additionally, he became an advocate for the Native American students and Indigenous students as he was Vice President for the Native American Student Union (NASU) and an intern for Native Student Programs. He belongs to the tribe called Pueblo of Laguna. April 2019, he proudly earned his Bachelor's Degree in Studio Arts at the University of Redlands becoming the first generation in his family who earned a BA degree. His dream is to become an art professor to advocate Native American, First-Generation, and the People of Color students. For now, Roberto is excited to learn the concepts of the community as he teaches manga art and character designs at his CAC Host Site, Refugee Youth Project. Ultimately, he will continue his journey to earn his Master of Fine Art in Community Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art and say... "I did it."

Refugee Youth Project

Ebony Evans

Ebony Evans is a musician, performing artist, arts instructor, lightworker, and radical activist centering her work around the freedom, agency, empowerment, and self-expression of Black Womyn and girls. Ebony holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Arts from Coppin State University. She is a 2019/20 Community Art Collaborative MICA fellow and continues to serve as resident artist and education coordinator at the Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric. With years of experience in cultivating spaces of spiritual empowerment and body positivity for Black Womyn, she fosters growth and healing in the face of unchecked misogyny; and in her years-long work as an arts instructor specializing in African Folklore and theater for children in grades K-8, Ebony continues the work of dismantling white supremacy in our most vulnerable populations.

The Modell Lyric Performing Arts Center

Genifer Fraser

Genifer Fraser has been involved in the arts for several years. She has performed in stage productions, dance troupes, as a choral singer and musician; but first and foremost, she is a visual artist. She graduated with a B.A. in Art History, a second major in African American Studies, a minor in History, and a certificate in Community Engagement from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has displayed and sold her art at shows in Maryland, Virginia, and California. Finding beauty in the mundane, taking inspiration from daydreams, and appreciating the details in the world around her, she uses bright and expressive colors to authentically display them. Her work focuses on storytelling and illustrates aspects of human nature from a sociological perspective. She often contemplates about who we are and how we relate to one another and our environments. One prevalent theme is the timeliness of the beauty and joy that we experience in life. She desires to express the importance of memory, stopping to smell the roses and savoring these fleeting moments. Currently, she is studying Community Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art in their MFA program and serving in AmeriCorps as the Community Artist in Residence at Port Discovery Children’s Museum. She hopes to continue to expand her craft, pushing the themes of her work with the goals of meaningful social engagement and empathy building in mind.

Port Discovery Children's Museum

Jessie Houff

Jessie Houff is a nomadic artist who was born in Fairfax County, Virginia and raised in the Shenandoah Valley. She is a mixed media artist with focuses on book arts, papermaking, and installation. When she is not at home or in the studio, you can most likely find her buried in a vintage book store drinking a café au lait, dreaming of being in a Gene Kelly movie, and planning a fun evening with friends, snacks, and card games. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Art and Theatre at Bridgewater College in Virginia. After graduating she went on to be a full time volunteer through Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS). She received her Master of Fine Art in Community Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. She currently works as an AmeriCorps member as a Visual Arts Teacher at Access Art, teaching middle school youth in the Morrell Park neighborhood. She designs curriculum and teaches lessons engaging youth in a variety of collaborative art projects with a focus on youth development. She enjoys diving deeply into her spiritual roots living a peaceful minimalist life, buying only what is needed, reusing what she can, and spreading goodness wherever she goes. She looks forward to growing in her artistry by continuing to teach, travel, and make new connections. Jessie is serving for a second year in CAC at Access Art.

Access Art

Keyarra Johnson

Keyarra Johnson is a college sophomore who is currently working as the Program Assistant for Jubilee Arts' Youth in Business through the CAC AmeriCorps program. Being born in Baltimore and raised as an artist, Keyarra recognized the strong relationship between art and politics. She feels it is important to use the skills she’s learned as an artist to strengthen and improve her city. She spends her time she working on developing her skills as an entrepreneur, animator, and graphic design artist and collaborates with different organizations to help clean up the streets of Baltimore. She hopes to one day be able to give back and rebuild her community, and run a successful game developing company. Keyarra is serving in CAC for a second year.

Jubilee Arts Youth in Business

Maia Owen

Maia has lived many places but mostly calls Tennessee home. They earned their bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology at New College of Florida in 2017. As an artist, Maia uses a variety of mediums, including writing, printmaking, film, and photography. During college, they worked with various non-profits, museums, and grassroots organizations. Through their community work, they became interested in the intersection between art and social justice. Before their third year of college, they participated in a film course in Berlin, Germany, where they spent a summer collaborating on a film project with a theatre organized by refugees. Together they conceptualized and produced short films discussing what the future of Berlin looks like from non-citizen perspectives. Maia continued to work with the group and went back to Berlin the next summer to assist with a play the actors wrote and performed for an international theatre festival. During that time, Maia used photography to document the theatrical process and later wrote their undergraduate thesis about theatre and art as tools for storytelling, community building and empowerment. Before moving to Baltimore, Maia spent a year teaching preschool arts and music in Florida. Maia is currently serving at FORCE. When Maia is not making their own art or teaching, they like to discover new music, go camping, or take care of their plants. Maia is serving in CAC for a 2nd year.

FORCE

Laura Sligh

Laura L. Sligh, performer, teacher, director and visual artist, has a degree in performance from Morgan State University and has worked extensively in the Baltimore Washington area for over 20 years. Laura has worked as theater teacher for many years. She has worked as a private coach and with organizations such as Eubbie Blake, Baltimore Cultural Arts, Arena Players, Y.A.T.T.S and Baltimore city and county schools. As a director, Laura’s credits are numerous. She has directed musicals such as Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wiz, Oliver, Once on this Island and Sussical. Laura was an Allen Lee Hughes stage management fellow at Arena Stage, and has worked extensively in the Baltimore area as a stage manager. Laura is also an experienced wig and makeup designer and has worked with the Baltimore Opera and Catholic University Summer Opera in wigs and makeup. Laura has also worked in local theaters such as The Arena Players, Eubbie Blake and Coppin State University were she designed wigs and makeup for Dreamgirls, Checkmates, Longtime Since Yesterday, Bubbling Brown Sugar and Carmen Jones, Laura also does the wig, makeup and costume designs for all of the shows that she directs. Laura’s newest venture into the arts is visual. Her mediums are oil, acrylic, wood, fabric and photography. She is now working on and looking forward to her first showing. Laura is currently serving in CAC at Single Carrot Theatre for a 2nd year

Single Carrot Theatre

Susan Tuberville

Susan is an interdisciplinary artist who loves exploring new media and sharing art-making experiences with others through teaching and collaborative projects. Susan was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and completed her BFA in Studio Art and Art Education at Birmingham-Southern College. With experience teaching young people from preschool through high school and teaching English to adults, she left the U.S. to enter the field of international education. First teaching in Botswana and then South Korea, Susan further pursued her passion for connecting with others around the world! Susan moved to Baltimore to pursue her MFA in Community Art while serving in the CAC-AmeriCorps program at Maryland Institute College of Art. She served at Refugee Youth Project as Community Artist in Residence for two years (2017-2019), facilitating art programming with elementary, middle, and high school students. In her third year as a CAC Member, Susan is thrilled to join Access Art as a Site Coordinator supporting after-school programs in Morrell Park, Baltimore.

Access Art

Sarah Edelsburg - CAC Program Manager

Sarah Edelsburg has served as Program Manager for the Community Art Collaborative (CAC) AmeriCorps program at MICA since 2015. She is an artist, organizer, and educator originally from New York City, but she has been living in Baltimore since 2009. She is an alumna of the CAC program, and the MA in Community Arts program at MICA (class of 2010). Before coming to MICA, she taught art classes to elementary school youth at Jubilee Arts (one of CAC’s long-term partners), and worked with a local artist/community organizer on two city-wide community arts initiatives, Autumn Leaves (a series of intergenerational storytelling events) and the New Day Campaign (an initiative to use art to address stigmas of mental illness and addiction). She also worked as the office manager at Repair the World, a volunteering program focused on education and environmental justice, and at the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, where she planned cultural arts events for public space in downtown Baltimore. It has been an extreme honor for Sarah to work with all the talented and committed Community Art Collaborative members that serve in the program each year. She is constantly impressed and inspired by their creativity, and their dedication to the youth and adults that they serve. She is also honored to partner with many incredible community arts organizations around town, who are working tirelessly with community members to use art as a tool for activism, advocacy, and personal growth. Many of these organizations are led by CAC alumni who are not only colleagues, but also friends. Sarah is grateful to be part of a community arts family in Baltimore (“The Greatest City in America”), that has been established by CAC, by the MFA Community Arts program, and by MICA.

Community Art Collaborative Homepage

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