CONSTELLATIONS FELLOWSHIP COHORT
“This work is to heal and transform the legacies of colonization, genocide, and patriarchy, and to do the work our ancestors and future generations are calling us to do.” - Cece Carpio
Charmaine Minniefield (she/her) is firmly rooted in womanist social theory and ancestral veneration, and draws from Indigenous traditions as seen throughout Africa and the Diaspora, to explore African and African-American history, memory, and ritual as an intentional push back against erasure. She currently splits her time in residence between Atlanta and The Gambia and will be working with The Historic District Development Commission during the fellowship to bring her work of Remembrance as Resistance: Preserving Black Narratives to a national audience.
Website
CHARMAINE MINNIEFIELD
ATLANTA, GA
HISTORIC DISTRICT
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Artist Disruptor & Culture Bearer
Keala Kahuanui (she/her) is an educator and a cook aboard Hawaiian voyaging canoes. Based in Kamuela, Hawaii, she will be working with Nā Kālai Waʻa, whose mission is to protect, perpetuate and honor the Indigenous Hawaiian traditions and practices of wa`a (canoe) culture through the Makali`i voyaging canoe programs, for the past, present, and future generations.
KAMUELA, HI
NĀ KĀLAI WA’A
Culture Bearer
KEALA KAHUANUI
Leonard Bruce (he/him) is a member of the Gila River Indian Community and a graduate of Arizona State University. His work is focused around his homelands at Gila River but also touches other Indigenous spaces on the urban periphery. His main focus has been delving into decolonizing employment, increasing social and economic mobility, and finding ways that Indigenous peoples can leverage technology to build resilience. He will be working with Three Precious Miracles, using his time in the fellowship to develop materials that are at the intersection of technology and local historical knowledge.
Website
GILA RIVER INDIAN COMMUNITY - SACATON, AZ
THREE PRECIOUS MIRACLES
Artist Disruptor
LEONARD BRUCE
Nansi Guevara (she/her) is a textile/rasquache-based artist, illustrator & teacher based in Brownsville, Texas. Her work focuses on growing border community networks of resistance and support, crafting spaces of reflection and solace, and shifting false narratives of the South Texas border. She will be working with Trucha, an independent multimedia platform dedicated to the people, culture, and social movements of the Rio Grande Valley, centering queer and migrant communities of color.
Website
BROWNSVILLE, TX
TRUCHA
Artist Disruptor
NANSI GUEVARA
Katie Ka Vang (she/they) is a Hmong American playwright and writer of scripts based in St. Paul, Minnesota. As an Artist Disruptor and Culture Bearer, her work magnifies the nuances of communities and cultures and explores diaspora narratives. It is grounded in the heart and aims for systems change. Katie will be partnering with Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, an organization that provides artist residencies and cultural workshops to preserve and promote the Mexica Nahuatl Indigenous arts and traditions.
Website | Instagram | Twitter
ST. PAUL, MN
INDIGENOUS ROOTS
Culture Bearer
KATIE KA VANG
Mariah Gladstone (she/they) is a Culture Bearer residing on the Blackfeet Nation on the Rocky Mountain front. She is dedicated to preserving and re-imagining traditional Indigenous food knowledge and will be working with Fast Blackfeet to reconnect Indigenous people with the stories of our food systems.
MARIAH GLADSTONE
BLACKFEET, CHEROKEE - BABB, MT
FAST BLACKFEET
Culture Bearer
Cece Carpio (she/her) uses acrylic, ink, aerosol, and installations, to tell stories of immigration, ancestry, collective movements, and narratives of resilience using acrylic, ink, aerosol, and installations. She paints everyday people who have been invincible in order to share their thriving presence and to show the dignity and power of their existence. Based in Alameda County, California, she will be working with Sogorea Te’ Land Trust throughout the fellowship.
Website | Instagram
CECE CARPIO
ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA
SOGOREA TE’ LAND TRUST
Artist Disruptor & Culture Bearer
Jason Pereira (he/him) is a graphic artist and muralist of Samoan and Portuguese descent, currently residing in Orange County, California. He serves the Pacific Islander community through Visual Arts and will be working with Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum during the fellowship to uplift the decolonized stories of our Pacific Islander relatives.
Instagram
JASON PEREIRA
ORANGE COUNTY, CA
PACIFIC ISLAND ETHNIC ART MUSEUM
Artist Disruptor & Culture Bearer
Adam Perez (they/he) is an award-winning independent photographer and filmmaker, based in Exeter, CA. His work centers on intimate stories that reveal the nuances of race, gender, identity, and culture. Previously, Adam was an Emerson Fellow working on a photo and video project about how the pandemic has devastated marginalized communities in California's Central Valley, which produces one-fourth of the country's food. During the fellowship, he will be working with The Central Valley Empowerment Alliance.
Website | Instagram
TULARE COUNTY, CA
CENTRAL VALLEY EMPOWERMENT ALLIANCE
Artist Disruptor
ADAM PEREZ
Amy Stretten (she/they) is a bilingual, Chickahominy, Black/Indigenous, queer Femme, journalist, and creative entrepreneur. Known as The Chief of Style, Amy creates cultural fashion content and encourages people of all shapes and sizes to love themselves and their bodies exactly as they are. She is based in Los Angeles County, California, and will be partnering with United American Indian Involvement throughout the fellowship.
Website | Instagram | Twitter
CHICKAHOMINY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA
UNITED AMERICAN INDIAN INVOLVEMENT
Artist Disruptor
AMY STRETTEN
The four fellows above are supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov