Political Artist Archives - IndyArtsGuide.org

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Kayla Behforouz

Performing Arts: Music, Vocal; Political Artist

Kayla Behforouz is a singer-songwriter from the Indianapolis area. A student-musician and Indiana University, she works in both the Indianapolis and Bloomington music scenes as a pianist, songwriter, composer, and vocal performer.

Justin Brown

Artist of Color; Black/African American; Ethnic Art; Graphic Arts; Literary Arts; Media; Multi Arts; Performing Arts: Radio/Television, Spoken Word; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Architectural Illustration, Conservation/Restoration, Constructions/Collage, Earthworks, Film, Media and Visual Communications, Mixed Media, Murals, New Media/Technology, Painting, Performance Art, Performers and Writers, Printmaking, Textiles, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper

Justin Brown is a multidiscipline contemporary artist and curator. He is a native Hoosier and Cathedral graduate. Justin was an original founder and curator of Future Friends Holographic Magic Club in Fountain Square, IN. He is the founder and executive director of Hoy Polloy Art Gallery at 3125 E. 10th St, Indianapolis, IN. Justin was also the curator and director of Re:Public; a partnership between Indianapolis Contemporary and Hoy Polloy, which closed in April 2020 with the closing of Indianapolis. His visual work focuses primarily on federal and private surveillance data analytics, public and private scientific institutional research, federal and municipal law enforcement investigations, congressional investigation committees, historical documentarian texts, forced perspective, cognitive dissonance, and color theory.

Deonna Craig

Artist of Color; Black/African American; Ethnic Art; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Constructions/Collage, Functional and/or Decorative, Murals, Painting, Visual Arts Instructor

Deonna Craig is an Indianapolis based visual artist and the owner of Art by Deonna. She graduated from Cathedral High School and DePauw University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Sociology. Her eclectic spirit led her down various career paths from production assistant for the Jerry Springer talk show to Insurance. After spending 15 years in Corporate America, Deonna’s creativity and love for adventure caused her to pursue art full-time. As an entrepreneur, Deonna is able to pursue her passions of community building, teaching, public speaking, and visual art. She also serves as a mentor, a dance instructor, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

D. Del Reverda-Jennings

Artist of Color; Black/African American; Ethnic Art; Graphic Arts; Literary Arts; Media; Multi Arts; Performing Arts: Spoken Word; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Ceramics, Constructions/Collage, Crafts, Film, Functional and/or Decorative, Glasswork, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Jewelry, Media and Visual Communications, Mixed Media, Murals, Painting, Performance Art, Performers and Writers, Photography, Portrait, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textiles, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper; Afro Futurism (AfroFuturism), African & Latin Diaspora, Caribbean,

A native of Alaska, as a youth D. Del Reverda-Jennings resided in Chicago, Illinois., and was educated in parochial academy institutions. From that timeline, the Indianapolis-based interdisciplinary artist has since traveled a creative and an artistic journey influenced by a kaleidoscope of cultural nuance. Visually D. Del Reverda-Jennings, is known for producing a broad range of work inclusive of sculpture, mixed media, installation, painting, and interdisciplinary roles in the artworld as an award-winning published journalist, arts editor, author and poet. She is the Creator, Founder and Independent Curator of “FLAVA FRESH ! ” an Indianapolis based, Annual Juried, Multiple Exhibition Presentation Series of Contemporary Art. The multicultural series has been an acclaimed visual arts showcase for over twenty-three years, with the seven month long consecutive event venue having received a number of honors and awards. The versatile arts practitioner also works as an administrator, facilitator and free-lances in a number of arts disciplines throughout the Midwest and beyond. As a journalist, regional arts editor and author Del Reverda-Jennings has for over two decades researched, sought out and cultivated aspiring beginners, newly-discovered, emergent and early-career artists who reside and work in Indiana as well as regionally to expose their creativity through writing, photographic documentation and by exhibiting their work in professional commercial arts venues, exposing their creative life stories, events and achievements in Midwestern regional, national and international print and online media. D. Del Reverda-Jennings, has been involved long-term in grass roots arts efforts, the non-profit sector and community service in Indianapolis and is the founder of several groups and organizations. The invested activist and cultural worker is a regional arts grant panelist, adjudicator, a noted lecturer and is currently an Artist Ambassador for the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), and an Equity Ambassador for the Arts Council of Indianapolis. She is widely known for having acquired a well-earned reputation as being driven and making great things happen for underrepresented and/or marginalized artists and continues to be a vital force in the exhibition and scholarship of twenty-first century art.

Jarrod Dortch

Black/African American; Literary Arts; Political Artist

Dr. Jarrod Nicholas Dortch is part of a movement of Black artists and curators who are hosting exhibits and creating work that shines a light on Black culture. He has been affiliated with Big Car as a community artist and as community gardener at the Tube Factory artspace. Dortch serves as both a professor of communication and a business owner. He owns and operates Solful Gardens, a natural produce provider in Central Indiana that brings quality food access to urban areas that are underserved with an overall focus on food equity. With their roots in art, community, and education, Solful Gardens is leveraging these disciplines to help promote personal and communal growth one naturally-grown-vegetable at a time.

Angelita Hampton

Artist of Color; Black/African American; Literary Arts; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Crafts, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper

My main creative work is as a mixed media artist. In the styles of contemporary expressionism or surrealism, I primarily treat subjects of social justice, employing imagery and text, while combining digital paint with hand drawn paper sketches, photography, watercolors, and collage. I enjoy the process of creation through experimentation and layering, and prefer producing prints created as a series of the same base image, reimagined in a variety of expressions, as part of an examination of the concepts of wholeness and separateness. I create art designed to challenge perceptions of race, gender, sexuality and social status through black portraiture and female figure in conjunction with popular images and ideology from American history and Black culture. A large portion of my work is created as public art, which I describe as being in a style of protest posters, designed with the intended effect of empowerment and the issue of a call to action. I often use traditional colors of American red, white, and blue, juxtaposed with images of brown and black people and images of social injustice. I also create using warm and rich earth tones with bright yellow and orange accents, as well as art with vibrant pinks, blues and greens.

Andrea Lott Haney

Performing Arts: Actor/Actress, Theatre; Political Artist; Director, Playwright

Andrea Lott Haney has pursued a career in educational theatre since graduating from IUPUI with a degree in Theatre and Classical Studies. Andrea honed her craft working with and performing for students on stages including The Lily Theatre at The Children’s Museum, Children’s Theatre Institute, Greenwood Shakespeare in the Park, ComedySportz Indianapolis, and American Cabaret Theatre. As a teaching artist, Andrea has worked with thousands of students per year in conjunction with the NCAA’s Stay In Bounds Character Education program before coming to The Sapphire and taking over its Arts for Learning Indiana catalog programs including Bullying: A Play on Conflict Resolution and Creating Courage. Having trained in Improvisation at The Second City Training Center in Chicago, and with over 15 years of professional improv experience, Andrea trains participants of all ages in improvisational techniques for the stage and applied improv for business and communications skills. In her experience as Drama Director at Center Grove High School, with a population of over 2500 students, Andrea coordinated full-year programs with administrators and parents to produce student plays and musicals. As Education Program Manager for The Sapphire Theatre Company, Andrea develops and presents arts integration programs for both students and educators with high acclaim from partners including the Department of Education and Indiana Afterschool Network.

Cora Magere

Black/African American; Ethnic Art; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Jewelry, Mixed Media, Murals, Painting

I am a self taught artist. I feel it is important to express myself through art about racial injustices. I want to create art to show beauty in people and in life around us. Im always learning and growing and trying to express how I feel and what I see throgh my art.

Jes Nijjer

Artist of Color; Asian/Asian American; Media; Multi Arts; Political Artist; Portrait; Visual Arts: Photography

I’m a first-generation Indian American woman who has been residing in Indiana for 16 years. My love of photography and identity as a visual artist were found here in Indianapolis. I have dedicated the last seven years to cultivating a career in photography and creating art through all I do.

Leif Ostara

Literary Arts; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Constructions/Collage, Media and Visual Communications, Photography, Portrait; LGBTQ, transgender, neurodivergent

My name is Leif Ostara (they/he) and I’m a transgender photographer, writer, and journalist based in Indianapolis, Indiana. I specialize in portraiture, photojournalism, and architectural photography. As a trans and neurodivergent person, I have a gift for relating to and putting my subjects at ease. I capture vulnerable moments with tenderness and provide a safe atmosphere for artistic expression through understanding and non-judgment. My work is direct, emotional, and prolific. I am constantly creating. I edit fast – turnaround time is between one to two days for full albums.

Alexandria Powell

Graphic Arts; Literary Arts; Performing Arts: Actor/Actress, Spoken Word, Storytelling; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Ceramics, Constructions/Collage, Crafts, Functional and/or Decorative, Glasswork, Illustration, Jewelry, Media and Visual Communications, Mixed Media, Murals, New Media/Technology, Painting, Performers and Writers, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textiles, Visual Arts Instructor; Soft Sculpture, Fibers

Currently, I am a MAAT student at SMWC. This a several leaps and decades from my BFA in 3D Computer Animation at SCAD. I have tapdanced in musicals, sang in jazz clubs, programmed in Houdini, instructed art in public and private schools in the US and Italy, run a party planning business, and done freelance with some interesting companies. Currently, I run three blogs and an online art group via Zoom. I have a husband, two small dogs, and a 13-year-old daughter. I also do stand up. Like you didn’t know…

Dana Powell Smith

Artist of Color; Black/African American; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Mixed Media, Painting

Dana Powell-Smith is an abstract artist originally from New York, who honors her family and lineage through her process. As a wife, mother, and grandmother, Dana understands the power of art in generational healing and in attaining freedom. As the Granddaughter of Harlem Renaissance artist Georgette Seabrooke Powell, Dana was immersed in the art world from a young age. Her sweetest childhood memories were in joining her grandmother in DC as she activated in public spaces and in painting alongside other children, on the sidewalk and in the park. Dana continued to paint in private for more than a decade but never imagined her work would travel beyond her own home. After a traumatic brain injury almost thirty years ago, Dana laid her brush down for many years when Doctors told her she would not be able to work again. Rather than acquiesce to their limitations, Dana pushed herself to regaining her normal life, relearning how to walk again and even pursuing a new collegiate degree. Dana was never one to be told what she can and cannot do.

Megan Reed

Graphic Arts; Multi Arts; Political Artist; Portrait

Designer, illustrator and artist. Owner of Rolling Rook Studio.

Emma Schwartz

Political Artist; Portrait; Visual Arts: Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting, Portrait, Works on paper

Emma Schwartz recently graduated from Herron School of Art + Design with a BFA in Drawing & Illustration with a Minor in Art History. She is currently a first-year MFA candidate at Syracuse University.

Mechi Shakur

Black/African American; Political Artist; Portrait; Visual Arts: Murals, Painting, Portrait

A 90s baby, Mechi Shakur is an Indianapolis raised and based artist. His influences include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Leonardo da Vinci, Bosch and Kehinde Wiley. Painting for six years now and Self-taught, Mechi Shakur believes your art is a reflection of you and loves to blur the lines of reality and the imagination through an assortment of color all while diving into social and political issues touching many subjects all at once

Claude Smith-Kenny

Political Artist; Portrait; Visual Arts: Ceramics, Constructions/Collage, Crafts, Functional and/or Decorative, Illustration, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Painting, Performance Art, Portrait, Textiles, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper

I am a Queer and Trans artist interested in dismantling colonialist and patriarchal ideals of fine art by exploring and blurring the boundaries of Queer Aesthetics, Fine Art, and Low Art/Craft. By intentionally making art that is accessible to people who are not wealthy art collectors, I seek to empower myself and other marginalized artists as not only the creators, but also as the consumers.

Brishen VanderKolk

Graphic Arts; Media; Multi Arts; Performing Arts: Dance; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Crafts, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Media and Visual Communications, Murals, New Media/Technology, Performance Art, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture

I am a (mostly) digital artist who loves to translate my work into the physical space. I utilize the never ending digital library that we all have access to, and craft new pieces using contemporary technology. My work plays with color & scale, and juxtaposes new technology with tradition.

Beatriz Vasquez

Artist of Color; Hispanic/Latino/a/x; Performing Arts: Theatre; Political Artist; Visual Arts: Constructions/Collage, Crafts, Murals, Sculpture, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper; Contemporary Papel Picado Inspired Art

Beatriz Vasquez About Me Beatriz Vasquez Contemporary | Papel Picado Inspired She, Her, Ella Artist Bio Beatriz Vasquez is a visual ARTIVIST, whose work experiments with the conceptual use of Papel Picado, a Mexican Folkloric Art. With the manipulation of paper she transforms layers of intricate cut paper into murals, creates wearable sculptures, and exhibits large scale installations. Her work focuses on her Mexican-American ancestry, cultural memory, border culture, and current social issues on immigration, human rights and climate change advocacy. Vasquez received her BFA in 2006 from Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design.

Maxine Wallace

Artist of Color; Black/African American; Media; Political Artist; Portrait

Maxine Wallace is a visual storyteller based in Indianapolis. She believes that good storytelling relies not only on technical skill but creating an emotional connection with her subjects and collaborators.

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