Tucson, AZ -- The FreshGrass Foundation and THE OFFICE performing arts + film have announced the artists selected for their Artists At Work (AAW) initiative’s 2025-26 cohort. Working in Albuquerque, Dearborn, Indianapolis, Los Angeles County, New Orleans, and Tucson, these 24 artists will receive salaried employment, benefits, and wrap-around support for 18 months. They began their term on June 1, 2025.
Artists At Work is a national workforce resilience program, in the spirit of the Works Progress Administration, that supports artists and their communities through artistic civic engagement. AAW leverages the creativity of artists to address pressing issues in their local communities—from substance abuse to youth welfare to public health, among others—and fosters new economic models of support for artists. AAW provides artists with W2 employment, health benefits, and access to retirement benefits; and supports local cultural and community organizations to host and work with those artists as key contributors to the well-being of their local communities.
AAW was recently able to grow thanks to $2 million in new funding this year from the Mellon Foundation to work with 20 artists in five urban centers, and a partnership with Herbert Simon Family Foundation to support four additional artists in Indianapolis. Artists At Work is also funded by the Hearthland Foundation, Fresh Sound Foundation, and the WLS Spencer Foundation.
The new funding supports the provision of salaries at a $40,000 annual rate (gross earnings totaling $60,000) for the 24 artists, fully employer-paid health benefits, and access to retirement benefits for an 18-month term; workshops on fundraising, financial planning, budgeting, PR & marketing, and holistic well-being, along with responsive mentorship and networking opportunities; artist-led public projects and initiatives aligning with local priorities such as community health disparities and climate resilience; ongoing and long-term evaluation to refine program design and maximize impact; and engagement with arts colleagues, policymakers, and local leaders to advocate for new economic policies and promote the value of artists as essential workers.
AAW collaborates with lead partners in each location, including local government, anchor cultural institutions, and hybrid cultural organizations/service providers. 2024-26 partners include, in Albuquerque, City of Albuquerque Department of Arts & Culture; in Dearborn, The Arab American National Museum; in Indianapolis, Herbert Simon Family Foundation; Los Angeles County: Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; in New Orleans, Ashé Cultural Arts Center; and in Tucson, Southwest Folklife Alliance.
In Albuquerque, in partnership with the City of Albuquerque Department of Arts & Culture, local AAW artists Ashley “Saywut?!” Moyer, Jade Cruz, Lynn Johnson, and Naomi Natale, will explore how creative practices and public spaces support dreaming forward, healing from collective/individual grief, and strengthening community connections/individual identity.
In Dearborn, The Arab American National Museum will connect with their parent organization, The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), to explore community initiatives with AAW artists Lubana Al Quntar, Raphique Barakat, Layan Srour, Kamelya Omayma Youssef, who will engage on impact areas related to community health and safety.
In Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture has identified recovery and resilience from the devastating 2025 wildfires as the area of focus for four local AAW artists. Two will partner with local nonprofit organizations (Alma Cielo in collaboration with Los Angeles Conservancy and Natalie Godinez in collaboration with Los Angeles Public Library/Library Foundation of Los Angeles) in areas recovering from the Altadena and Palisades wildfires to support and strengthen community identity, cultural preservation, and civic memory. Benjamin Morales will partner with Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory to explore arts-based environmental sustainability practices that contribute to community climate resiliency. Alexander McNab, in collaboration with LA Commons, will explore the role of the arts in health and wellbeing at the individual and community level.
In New Orleans, through Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Cherice Harrison-Nelson’s and Geer Mendy’s work will center around cultural preservation in collaboration with the Alliance for Cultural Equity. AAW artists Donney Rose and A.J. Haynes will work and be trained as Community Health Workers in the I Deserve It health and wellness program, with Rose focusing on the neighborhood and built environment as social determinants of health, and Haynes focusing on Black maternity health and reproductive rights.
In Tucson, the Southwest Folklife Alliance will collaborate with AAW artists Harrison Preston, Shane Beeshligaii, Katrina Kerstetter, and Porfirio "Pilo" Mora through its Loom Market program, which connects heritage-based artists committed to strengthening their communities through traditional art. Preston will be working with a local Tohono O'Odham Pottery Collective, Kerstetter with Iskashitaa Refugee Network on their ongoing Refugee Garden Art Program (RGAP), Mora with the Regeneración (currently helping create a Center for Cultural Organizing) in Southern Tucson, and Beeshligaii with the living agricultural museum Mission Garden.
In Indianapolis, AAW artists will bring their skills and creative thinking to four local social-impact organizations, with community connections facilitated by Herbert Simon Family Foundation as a lead regional partner. These cross-sector partnerships, led by Ash Robinson, Andre Parnell, Bryn Jackson, and Mariah Ivey will focus on serving and activating the local community through artistic and civic engagement projects.
Chris Wadsworth, Founder, President and Executive Director of the FreshGrass Foundation, said, “The FreshGrass Foundation is thrilled to be expanding Artists At Work, a program driven by the belief that artists are essential to healthy local communities. Artists At Work aims to support them playing this crucial role by providing them with something all too scarce: salaried employment with benefits—and by engaging them to bring their imaginations and unique creative practices to the work of social impact organizations in the cities and towns they call home."
Rachel Chanoff, Founder and Director of THE OFFICE, said, “We are so excited to see what compelling endeavors these 24 new Artists At Work participants will create in their communities. their projects will serve as force amplifiers and joyous examples of the power of art.”
Since its inception in 2020, Artists At Work has provided artists and culture workers across 11 states with a salary and health benefits, in partnership with over 80 cultural and community organizations throughout the nation. After piloting the initiative in Western Massachusetts, AAW expanded nationally in 2021 with $3 million from the Mellon Foundation.
Funding Credits
Artists at Work is produced and administered by THE OFFICE performing arts + film with generous support from the Mellon Foundation.
Artists At Work is also supported by the Hearthland Foundation, Fresh Sound Foundation, and the WLS Spencer Foundation.
AAW in Indianapolis, IN is made possible by the support of Herbert Simon Family Foundation.
About the Artists
Raphique Barakat is a contemporary Arab musician who uses diasporic sounds in non-traditional ways. He is a Michigan-based creative who just released the 14-song concept album emergence by shrinq mountin on May 26th, 2025. He is also an electronic oud house indie experimental looper musician, under the name shrinq jabel—making music from scratch and layering sounds and beats and melodies to combine with more live music. Barakat is an uncle to two nieces and loves attending, coordinating and volunteering at community driven events. He has been dedicated to some style of creative craft, starting with music, for two decades now. Free Palestine, and I love my mom, of course.
Shane Beeshligaii is a silversmith, who learned the artform from his father, beginning when he was around seven years old. His designs range from traditional Navajo jewelry to a form of micro-inlay taught to him by his father. His family have been silversmiths since the Spanish first arrived in the Southwest. (His great-great-grandfather was named Atsidi iilneeh Beeshligaii, which means the maker of silver.) Growing up, most of Beeshligaii’s interactions with people from his tribe occurred during visits to Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, CA, where his mother still teaches pottery and traditional beadwork. When Beeshligaii was 17, he moved to Tucson and lived with his father, whose voice he still hears in his mind, critiquing his work—whether or not it’s polished enough, whether all the scratches are out, whether all the stones are set correctly. A primary focus has been learning the micro-inlay technique to create the checkerboard pattern that was a signature of his father’s own work. Beeshligaii makes jewelry as the main way to keep in contact with, understand, and embrace his cultural heritage.
Jade Cruz is a queer gender expansive Chicanx visual artist, muralist, teaching artist, and youth/cultural worker, based on Tiwa Pueblo land, aka Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their practice encompasses painting, digital illustration and murals, activated and emerging as a response to injustice, grief, and love. Rooted in the understanding that art serves as a form of radical storytelling, education, and collective healing, they honor their artistic and ancestral lineage to continue the legacy of creative liberatory practices. Incorporating symbolism drawn from flora and fauna specific to their environment and cultural lineage, their artwork features bold, vibrant colors that weave together themes of spirituality, gender identity, honoring life and death, and addressing social justice issues. Cruz works alongside various organizations, grassroots projects, schools, museums, and cultural art centers, primarily working with youth and people of color. Committed to using art as a tool for education, justice, and healing, Cruz continues to explore new ways to empower through creative expression.
Natalie M Godinez (she/her/ella) is a Los Angeles-based artist, educator, and community advocate raised in Tijuana, México. Godinez explores memories, identity, and relationships to places and language through textiles, printmaking, and collaboration. Godinez's work explores her experience as a transborder dweller and immigrant mother. She uses written language, visual metaphors, collaboration, and process-oriented art mediums. Godinez is a member of AMBOS Project (Art Made Between Opposite Sides), an artist-led organization for binational artists to speak on border and migration issues. She is also a teaching artist across Los Angeles and beyond. Her work has been exhibited at the Hammer Museum, the Sun Valley Museum of Art, the San Diego State University Gallery, Angel's Gate Cultural Center, the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, and the Vincent Price Art Museum. In 2025, she was the Mass Creativity Artist in Residence at The New Children's Museum in San Diego. Godinez holds a Bachelor's of Applied Design with Emphasis on Fibers from San Diego State University.
A.J. Haynes (she/they) is an interdisciplinary, interdependent, interdimensional Black and Filipina queer singer, songwriter, actress, educator, and reproductive justice practitioner from the South. She is the lead vocalist of the genre-expansive soul power band Seratones, which has garnered both national and international acclaim. Her creative work spans performance, songwriting, and immersive storytelling—infused with a deep belief that art is part of collective community care and that the body is a sacred site of resistance and pleasure. A.J. uses music and embodiment to explore autonomy, intimacy, and ancestral resilience.
Mariah Ivey. Muraled as a “Keeper of Culture” in downtown Indianapolis, Mariah Ivey is a writer, poet, musician, and curator deeply rooted in the city’s vibrant arts scene. A 2016 Art & Soul alumna, Ivey founded the genre-bending hip-hop/soul collective We Are TribeSouL in 2017 while continuing her work as a spoken word artist. She has performed at iconic venues such as The Vogue, The Jazz Kitchen, and the Madam Walker Theatre, and has been featured at signature events such as TEDxIndianapolis, Chreece Hip-Hop Festival, REV Indy, Butter Fine Art Fair, and more. Ivey has opened for artists including Arrested Development, Anthony Hamilton, and Beverly Bond, founder of Black Girls Rock. Beyond the stage, she is passionate about creating accessible, community-centered arts experiences. She has curated numerous exhibitions and events, including "The Re-Up: An Art and Wellness Festival", and the long-running "That Peace Open Mic". In 2025, she partnered with the Arts Council of Indianapolis to re-exhibit her latest body of work, Nourishing Well: Black Women and the Poetics of Sacred Space, at Gallery 924—highlighting nine local artists across disciplines to explore poetry and visual art as a practical response to harm and a pathway to connection. Ivey holds a B.A. in Africana Studies and Philosophy, an M.A. in English Creative Writing from Indiana University Indianapolis and was a 2023/24 Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) Fellow.
Bryn Jackson is a Filipino-American artist and curator based in Indianapolis. Jackson’s practice — grounded in ecological justice and institutional accountability — positions nature as a medium to confront complex histories and foster connectivity. As an interdisciplinary artist, he unites sculpture, photography, time-based media, arts administration, community engagement, and habitat design to produce works that address inequality in the arts, environmental degradation, and social injustice. Jackson received a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and his work has been supported by awards from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Lilly Endowment Inc., Central Indiana Community Foundation, Arts Midwest, Big Car Collaborative, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is an inaugural member of The Association of Art Museum Curators’ Professional Alliance for Curators of Color, and he currently serves on the Advisory Board and Collections Council for the Eiteljorg Museum and on the Board of Directors for Step-Up Inc.
Lynn Johnson (she/her) is a theater maker, entrepreneur, and cultural strategist who has spent the last 30+ years amplifying the voices of folx who have been historically silenced. Along with her wife, Allison Kenny (Artistic Director), Lynn is the co-founder and Executive Director of High Desert Playback, a company that makes theater for social change in New Mexico and beyond. Their multiracial, queer + trans-centered ensemble uses playback theatre and devised performance to mobilize and amplify social issues toward collective liberation. As a life-long artist, Lynn’s mission has always been to create spaces for deep and radical belonging for both audiences and performers. Right after her graduation from Northwestern University, she developed a process of making plays with both actors and non-actors that blend performers’ real life experiences with outside documentary sources. Johnson has worked as a director, actor, and teaching artist with communities of all ages in Chicago, Boston, North Carolina, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Before moving to Albuquerque in 2020, Johnson and Kenny ran a well-loved program in Oakland called Go Girls!, where girls and gender non-conforming kids practice social-emotional skills through the creation of original plays.
Katrina Kerstetter was born in Louisiana and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She later spent 20 years teaching in South Korea, teaching English through mindful-learning skills and exposure to cultures and art from around the world. Kerstetter is a mixed-media artist who worked with refugees in Korea, helping them adjust to a new culture and environment, while encouraging and preserving their own culture through the arts. When Kerstetter returned to Tucson, she began a nonprofit library, Koru Multicultural and Diverse Library, with the same focus. At the same time, she began volunteering at Iskashitaa Refugee Network, which combines artistic expression, education, and community building to encourage refugees and asylum-seekers to maintain their heritable pride and courage while adapting to new environments, challenges, and cultures. Kerstetter enjoys bringing people together to share stories and experiences, giving voice to their communities through artwork. This has developed into becoming a resident artisan with Iskashitaa’s Refugee Garden Art Program (RGAP).
Alma Cielo is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator focused on community art projects and earth wisdom. As a ceramicist Cielo is inspired by the element of clay, its relationship to fire, and the significance of what survives through the ashes. She is a storyteller and improvising solo violinist who also plays the sarangi, an ancient Indian instrument. As an arts educator with Norma Coombs Elementary School for seven years, she created community projects including the large-scale mosaic "Tree of Exuberant Life." Cielo lost her Altadena home in the Eaton Fire and is currently living at the historic Zorthian Ranch with her husband Paul Livingstone, as they are planning the remediation of the land and home rebuild. She has a passion for teaching integrated arts with mindfulness, music, movement/dance, and the sharing of personal stories, and believes that the arts are an important path for healing, developing resilience, recovering from trauma and building community. Cielo is a graduate of Yale University in Anthropology with heritage studies in the Philippines.
Alexander McNab is a screenwriter and director telling stories rooted in African diaspora folktales. As a USC film production MFA, he created a range of Black-folktale-inspired shorts using green screen, motion capture, Unreal Engine, generative AI, and stop motion. He has written six feature-length folktale films and organizes a weekly screenwriters’ group modeled after USC’s feature writing classes. His work has screened at the Micheaux Film Festival, the SCA Generative Imaging Film Festival, and the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival. His first short film was featured in Downtown Community Television Center’s Best of PRO-TV 2019. In his current practice, he draws on his background in journalism and training in narrative filmmaking to tell grounded, semi-documentary stories. His films adapt the cultural and familial tales he wishes he’d grown up with—making Blackness visible and making himself seen.
Greer Mendy is an independent scholar of African, Caribbean, and New Orleans culture, with a particular focus on the study of dance traditions, languages, and literature. She is the author of Black Dance in Louisiana - Guardian of A Culture, an exposé of the traditions’ social and political environments, and Naked Appearances, a collection of essays, poems, and short stories addressing art and identity. She creates to proclaim the humanity of Blackness, brilliance, and foibles. She believes that art should be held as a public trust for the benefit and service of communities. That service is, foremost, a source of education and inspiration. She firmly believes that African American cultural heritage, its artistic practices, and humanities are the fabric that preserves and defends her existence and spirituality. She holds a Jurist Doctorate from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, a diploma from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in music (bassoonist) from Xavier University in New Orleans. She remains a licensed attorney.
Porfirio "Pilo" Mora is one of the leading artisans in the celebrated pottery tradition of Mata Ortiz, a small village nestled in the northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Known for his exceptional craftsmanship and intricate designs, Mora has earned a reputation as a master potter, helping to preserve and innovate the ancient art form of Mata Ortiz pottery. Born and raised in Mata Ortiz, Mora was deeply influenced by the revival of pottery in the region during the 1970s, a movement initiated by the legendary Juan Quezada. Inspired by the ancient techniques of the Paquime (Casas Grandes) culture, Mora began to develop his own style, blending traditional methods with his unique artistic vision. Each of Mora’s pieces is hand-crafted using traditional coiling techniques, without the aid of a potter's wheel. His pottery is celebrated for its intricate geometric patterns, delicate brushwork, and the use of natural pigments. Mora’s designs often draw from the rich cultural heritage of the region, incorporating symbols and motifs that reflect the history and spirit of Mata Ortiz. Today, Mora continues to work the Mata Ortiz art in Tucson, AZ, where he remains committed to his craft. Through his art, he honors the legacy of his ancestors while pushing the boundaries of what Mata Ortiz pottery can achieve.
Benjamin Morales is a Chicano painter whose work is rooted in cultural expression, healing, and community empowerment. With over 20 years of teaching experience, Morales is deeply committed to engaging lifelong learners through the transformative power of the arts. His creative practice is guided by the belief that art is a vital tool for cultural affirmation and personal healing. Motivated by Chicano aesthetics and community narratives, Morales uses painting and public art to inspire reflection and pride in cultural identity. He is currently leading youth in Boyle Heights through the mural-making process as part of the Mural Workforce Academy, where he fosters the next generation of artists and change-makers. Whether in the studio or the streets, Benjamin Morales continues to uplift communities through accessible, culturally grounded art practices that celebrate resilience, history, and imagination.
Ashley “Saywut?!” Moyer is a trailblazing, award-winning beatboxer and educator based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the past 19 years, she has used her unique voice—literally and artistically—to build community, challenge norms, and uplift youth through Hip Hop. One of the few prominent women in the beatboxing world, Ashley has performed internationally as the touring beatboxer for CocoRosie across Europe and shared the stage with Doug E. Fresh at La MaMa Theater’s North American Human Beatbox Festival in NYC, while teaching workshops extensively throughout New Mexico.
Her work bridges music, education, and social change. Ashley has facilitated programs for schools, treatment centers, detention facilities, and Indigenous-led initiatives throughout the state. She was featured in Tom Tom Magazine’s exhibitions at MoMA PS1 and the Brooklyn Museum, highlighting the Oral History of Female Drummers. In 2024, she was named a “Knowledge Keeper” by Dream Diné, teaching Hip Hop’s five elements to students in Shiprock, NM.
Ashley’s voice has appeared in major publications including The Albuquerque Journal, Tom Tom Magazine, Trend Magazine, and The Weekly Alibi. She continues to perform, record, and serve her community—while running her business, Beatbox Beauty Co.—from her hometown of Albuquerque.
Naomi Natale is an Albuquerque-based interdisciplinary artist whose socially engaged practice centers on collective memory, grief, and the responsibility of belonging. With over 18 years of experience, her work operates at the intersection of social and environmental justice, community collaboration, and large-scale installation. Natale’s projects invite deep reflection on how we come together—in times of crisis, mourning, and longing—and how art can serve as both witness and catalyst. Natale is the founding artist of One Million Bones, a global art installation that mobilized over 150,000 participants from 50 states and 30 countries to handcraft more than one million bones. The project culminated in an installation of 1,018,260 bones on the National Mall in 2013, raising awareness about mass atrocities in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Syria. Her current work, Of Grief & Dreams, is a socially engaged installation exploring grief as both personal and communal terrain, centered around a large-scale, interactive ship constructed in the desert. She is a recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s Artist as Activist Fellowship, a TED Senior Fellowship, and the Arts and Healing Network Award.
Cherice Harrison-Nelson is an educator, narrative visual artist, Maroon Queen, performance artist, and arts administrator. As the co-founder and curator of the former Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, she was the co-editor of 11 publications and coordinated numerous exhibitions and panel discussions focused on African inspired cultural traditions. Her creative expressions have been performed, presented/exhibited throughout the city and world. She performs annually at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the Guardians Institute’s Donald Harrison, Sr. Museum. She contributed to original hand-beaded Carnival Day attire acquired by the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Museum in Washington, DC. Her production credits include: a DVD documentary, music CD, original plays, and the award-winning narrative short film, “Keeper of the Flame.” She is the recipient of several honors including: Fulbright Scholarship, 2016 United States Artist Fellowship and a 2020-21 Joan Mitchell Artist-in-Residence award. She approaches her art as a cognitive provocateur, with the specific intent to engage observers through imagery and performance that simultaneously explore classism and other limiting/confining norms. Her work is primarily autobiographical as well as simultaneously ancient and contemporary. Currently, she has a solo show, Maroon Queen Reesie, at the New Orleans African American and appears as a contemporary Plague Doctor character in performance installations at sites of injustice.
Andre Parnell is a community activist, mentor, muralist, youth arts educator, and designer dedicated to using art as a tool for transformation. His work blends public, fine, and commercial art to create spaces that foster connection, healing, and cultural pride. Through murals and creative programming, he sparks dialogue, amplifies community voices, and inspires collective growth. As an educator, Parnell empowers youth to see themselves as artists and leaders, encouraging creative expression with purpose. His projects go beyond aesthetics—they serve as platforms for collaboration, storytelling, and reclaiming space. With every brushstroke and lesson, Parnell brings vision, equity, and heart to his mission: to build stronger, more vibrant communities through the power of art and authentic engagement.
Harrison Preston. Wa:k O’odham artist Harrison Preston is a potter and basket weaver who creates both traditional and contemporary work, all the while trying to preserve and respect the traditions therein. He was raised and currently lives on the San Xavier Indian Reservation (Wa:k), a district of the Tohono O’odham Nation, south of Tucson, Arizona. While attending high school, Preston began learning traditional Tohono O’odham basketry from the noted Tohono O’odham artist and activist, Terrol Dew Johnson. Under Johnson’s tutelage, Preston would go on to win several awards at Native American art markets at the Heard Museum and the Arizona State Museum. After high school, Preston attended the prestigious Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. Preston also attended Pima Community College in Tucson, where he studied metalsmithing and sculpture. In 2017, Harrison began learning Traditional Tohono O’odham pottery from Kathleen Vance of Sells, AZ, and has collaborated with her and others to reinvigorate O’odham pottery traditions. Harrison can be found demonstrating and displaying his work at regional markets and events across southern Arizona.
Donney Rose. Baton Rouge native Donney Rose is a New Orleans-based performance poet, advocacy journalist, and teaching artist. He is the creator of The American Audit, a multimedia spoken word project that examines the Black American experience by infusing history, creative verse, and qualitative research into the performance text. His work spans two decades on stages and in classrooms, guides others in their creative journeys, and brings nuanced and colorful perspectives through spoken word and other creative outlets. Donney is a past Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow and a recipient of the 2022 Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist Award for Literary Arts, among countless other noteworthy accomplishments in arts and community organizing.
Lubana Al Quntar is an internationally acclaimed Syrian opera and classical Arabic singer, renowned for her powerful voice and unique fusion of Eastern and Western vocal traditions. Born into a musical family with ties to the legendary Asmahan and Farid Al-Atrash, Al Quntar’s musical journey began in childhood, showcasing her talent through complex Arabic compositions at regional festivals. She became the first Syrian woman to professionally pursue opera, earning international acclaim with awards such as Fifth Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium and the Audience Prize at the Belgrade International Competition. Her illustrious career includes performances at prestigious venues in Europe and the U.S., such as Lincoln Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, where she starred in Salomé, blending Arabic and operatic styles in a groundbreaking theatrical form. Now residing in Dearborn, Michigan, in collaboration with the Arab American National Museum, Al Quntar founded the Jawqa Choir, a pioneering initiative blending Arabic and Western choral traditions. She continues to perform and teach, collaborating with the National Arab Orchestra and cultural institutions across the U.S., furthering her mission to promote and preserve the rich heritage of Arabic music.
Ash Robinson, born in 1985, is an American multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Indianapolis. Trained as a furniture designer and maker, she earned her BFA from Herron School of Art & Design in 2010. While attending San Diego State University for graduate school, Robinson realized that functional objects could no longer solely be a vehicle for her artistic expression and began experimenting with a wide range of mediums and concepts. Known for her reflective portraits, her work is inspired by the resilience, beauty, and complexity of the Black community. With boldly vibrant textures, Robinson considers her multi-media approach as a representation of an eclectic Black society. Robinson has been featured in numerous exhibitions including Cause & Æffect: Art that Speaks Out, Indiana State Museum, The Simplicity of Being: Identity & Personhood in a Complex World, New Delhi, India, as well as the Butter Fine Art Fair 2 & 3, Indianapolis, IN. She also was selected and exhibited her work at ArtPrize 2024, in Grand Rapids. Among her top accomplishments are the Beckmann Emerging Artist Fellowship and the Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
Layan Srour is a Detroit-based Lebanese curator, conductor, and researcher whose work explores cultural memory, identity, and connection through music. In Beirut, her sound was shaped by the folk love songs carried through the streets and the vibrant energy of the city's underground music scene. Srour’s work moves between performance, education, and community building, shaped by her cross-cultural experiences with organizations such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Jazz Festival, and the Arab American National Museum. She is the founder of Fusha (سحةُف(, an ensemble and creative platform grounded in the Arabic word for “space.” With no fixed members, it invites collaborators from all backgrounds and genres into a shared sonic environment that centers improvisation, voices, and stories. Srour also hosts “40 Minutes With,” a weekly interview series highlighting Arab American musicians and their experiences at the intersections of music, identity, and tradition. Through these conversations, she builds a growing hub and archive of Arab American sound.
Kamelya Omayma Youssef is the author of A book with a hole in it (Wendy's Subway 2022), which won the Carolyn Bush Award and later earned an Arab American Book Award for Poetry. She is a text and performance worker who teaches, edits, performs, and organizes events in Detroit, NY, and elsewhere. Her work is published by 1080Press, Mizna, Sukoon, the Margins, Poem-a-Day and elsewhere.
About FreshGrass Foundation
FreshGrass Foundation, a 501(c)(3), is an award-winning, nonprofit organization focused on sustainable solutions for the artistic community. They support artists by cultivating their creativity and sharing their creations with the world and partner with world-class institutions to bring innovative performing arts experiences to life. More information is available at freshgrassfoundation.org
About THE OFFICE performing arts + film THE OFFICE performing arts + film is an independent performing arts and film curator and production company based in New York and London that works in ongoing partnerships with festivals, venues, and institutions to create cultural programming that is unique and mission specific. They produce events locally, nationally, and internationally, and consult on programming with organizations ranging from museums to universities to libraries to performing arts centers to philanthropies. THE OFFICE works in both the non profit and commercial arts worlds, and has a special focus on making art happen that has a positive impact on society. More information is available at theofficearts.org.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
KEY ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS
Southwest Folklife Alliance
The Southwest Folklife Alliance (SFA) builds more equitable and vibrant communities by celebrating the everyday expressions of culture, heritage, and diversity rooted in the Greater Southwest and U.S.-Mexico Border Corridor. Nationally, SFA amplifies models and methods of meaningful cultural work that center traditional knowledge, social equity, and collaboration. SFA accomplishes this by:
● producing festivals and public programs that increase understanding and respect for folklife practices;
● providing direct support to heritage-based artists in the region; and
● documenting folklife and amplifying the voices of artists and cultural workers engaged in folklife practices.
Arab American National Museum
Since opening its doors in 2005, the Arab American National Museum (AANM) continues to serve as a touchstone that connects communities to Arab American culture and experiences.
Located in Dearborn, Michigan, amid the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States, AANM presents original exhibitions, cutting-edge art, film screenings and performances in Michigan and in major cities across the U.S., and continually documents the history and experiences of Arab Americans.
AANM is one of seven Michigan-based Affiliates of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. AANM is a founding member of the Detroit-area arts collective CultureSource as well as the Immigration and Civil Rights Network of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience and the Michigan Alliance for Cultural Accessibility, and is a member of the National Performance Network. AANM is an institution of ACCESS, the most comprehensive Arab American community non-profit in the nation, founded in 1971.
AANM is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout Los Angeles County. It provides leadership, services, and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations, countywide arts education initiatives, commissioning and care for civic art collections, research and evaluation, pathways to the creative economy, professional development, free community programs, and cross-sector creative strategies that address civic issues. For more information, visit lacountyarts.org.
City of Albuquerque Department of Arts & Culture
The mission of the Department of Arts & Culture is to enhance the quality of life in the City by celebrating Albuquerque's unique history and culture, and providing services, entertainment, programs, and collections that improve literacy, economic vitality, and learning in state of the art facilities that enrich City life and increase tourism to Albuquerque.
Albuquerque thrives as a vibrant cultural hub, thanks, in part, to the dedicated initiatives of the City's Department of Arts & Culture. With a portfolio that includes 19 Public Library branches, two museums, two performance theaters, a zoo, aquarium, botanic garden, public access cable channels and community-use studio, community partnership projects, work with individual artists and arts organizations, and thousands of public art installations, our city offers an abundance of attractions for both residents and tourists. We welcome our community and visitors alike to immerse themselves in a tapestry of family-friendly activities, explore a diverse collection of public art, wander through the historic plazas of Old Town, and indulge in the excitement of large scale events like Summerfests and the Twinkle Light Parade. With these exceptional offerings and more, our department is committed to elevating the quality of life in Albuquerque to unparalleled heights for everyone who calls this city home or visits its enchanting landscapes.
Ashé Cultural Arts Center
Ashé Cultural Arts Center is a dynamic hub for art, culture, and community engagement in New Orleans. Rooted in the traditions of the African diaspora, Ashé fosters creativity, social justice, and economic development through a wide range of programs, performances, and partnerships. The center features over 10,000 square feet of gallery space and 20,000 square feet of performance space, hosting more than 350 events annually, including music, theater, dance, and spoken word. In addition to its artistic and cultural initiatives, Ashé is deeply engaged in shaping both local and global policy, advocating for equity, cultural preservation, and community wellness. Through strategic collaborations and leadership in public discourse, the center continues to serve as a catalyst for artistic expression and collective empowerment, ensuring that the rich heritage of New Orleans remains vibrant and accessible to all.
Herbert Simon Family Foundation
Established in 1999, Herbert Simon Family Foundation has been providing support for organizations in hopes of creating more equitable, sustainable and vibrant communities with an emphasis on Indianapolis and Indiana. Herbert Simon Family Foundation works in partnership with Central Indiana Community Foundation to support the foundation’s grantmaking and community involvement. The foundation grants to organizations in the areas of: Arts + Culture, Basic Needs, Environment + Climate, Equity + Justice, and Jewish Causes.
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