The Curators
Aparna Bakhle
Los Angeles Curator
Aparna Bakhle (b. 1973, Bombay, India) received her BFA in Film (Emerson College, Boston, MA). She resides in Los Angeles and investigates the intersection of radical aesthetics, political agency and the construct of publishing as the Fourth Estate. She values empathy as an integral framework for the inner revolution that must precede radically shifting the material conditions that perpetuate inequity. A series of aesthetic investigations into self-publishing led to her role as managing editor of Fabrik, a contemporary art quarterly in print since 2008. Supporting grassroots activists and community organizers through mutual aid keeps her in perpetual motion.
Mel Gross
Baltimore Curator
Mel Gross is a multidisciplinary artist and activist from the DMV area. She has worked with environmental and social justice organizations over the last decade on campaigns ranging from canvassing and grassroots organizing with the Sierra Student Coalition to building schools and organizational development programs in Mali, Africa raising awareness about girls rights to bodily autonomy and education as a charter member of School Girls Unite (Filles Unies). She holds a BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art where she began developing a practice based around social justice and development, with a focus on linguistic and cultural infrastructures.
Lewis Lee
Milwaukee & Chicago Curator
Lewis is a leader working on community and restorative justice in his community. He coordinates Portals operations in Milwaukee and Chicago, as well as local outreach, and business development in the Amani neighborhood. Lewis has spoken to audiences at InfoComm, the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference and SXSW Education Conference on behalf of Shared_Studios. Lewis is a radio co-host and the founder of Oreesha Music. His previous work has includes Mentor work at the Voice of the Fatherless Child and Outreach Coordinator for the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative.
Tomas Ramírez
Mexico City Curator
Tomas Ramírez is an interpreter and translator who studied at the Instituto Superior de Intérpretes y Traductores in Mexico City. He is also a freelance booking agent and has worked with several entertainment agencies like Ache Entretenimiento, Filter Mexico, TAPE, Sicario, among others. He has produced dozens of concerts and performances through the Mexico City Portal.
Maryam Hosseinzadeh
Los Angeles Curator
Maryam Hosseinzadeh has spent her whole life getting to know Los Angeles. She is interested in the layered sites, memories, places and histories of all people in the every day, the micro to macro, the links connecting locations, the built environment, and spaces in-between. In addition to creating her own projects, she also has worked with many artists and LA based public and non profit arts organizations to create community-centered arts programming. She holds a BA in American Studies from Pitzer College and completed graduate coursework at USC in Historic Preservation with an emphasis on the political, social, and cultural histories of the city.
Ciela Herce
Mexico City Curator
Ciela Herce is from Mexico City and has a degree in Language Interpretation.
Samuel Ordoñez
Mexico City Curator
Samuel Ordoñez is a conference interpreter and art enthusiast, with broad experience in energy, SAP, and engineering assignments.
Georgia McCandlish
Baltimore Curator
Georgia McCandlish is a printmaker, illustrator, and educator who makes drawings, writes poetry and theory, tattoos people, and leads layperson workshops on cyber security and knowing your rights. They are 1/2 of the art collaborative BFFLOCUSTS, and organize around prisoner support and prison abolition with Baltimore Jail Support.
José Godoy-Reyes
Los Angeles Curator
José Godoy-Reyes is an eternal immigrant, musician and tech nerd that has moved around and lived/worked in five different countries. José speaks Spanish and has work proficiency in French and Arabic. He graduated from the Boston University School of Business with a concentration of Management Information Systems. José is currently living in Los Angeles playing with a few bands and recording his debut album in a studio.
Christopher Anderson
Baltimore Curator
Christopher Anderson is a Baltimore native with a history of activism. He marched in the Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray and Michael Brown protest in Baltimore.
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Dre Meekins
Chicago Curator
Bio coming soon...
Gilberto Bravo
Chicago Curator
Bio coming soon...
Fayemi Shakur
Newark Curator
Bio coming soon...
Tyler Jackson
Chicago Curator
Tyler Jackson, 25, works with Let us Breathe’s “Breathing Room”. He has worked with technology before in a Chicago based internship called ICSTARS where he gained skills and techniques in Business, I.T, & Leadership. He enjoys being a dad meeting new people and Beer!
Divad Sanders
Newark Curator
Bio coming soon...