2023 Fellows - Mural Arts Philadelphia Mural Arts Philadelphia

Mural Arts’ fourth cohort of the Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists is made up of 15 artists showing interest in socially engaged public art and working collaboratively.

Meet the Artists

Odochi Akwani

https://www.odochiakwani.com/

Odochi Akwani is a film photographer originally from Omaha, Nebraska, but now based in Philadelphia. Odochi is a member of Diversify Photo’s Up Next collective. She uses the medium of photography to document the rhythms of everyday life. Her work is steered by a passion for visual storytelling through observation. Odochi holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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Shawn Alleyne

Self taught freelance Writer, Artist and Instructor. Head of Pyroglyphics Studio.

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Tamia Alston-Ward

https://www.tamia-aw-art.com/

I received my BFA in Illustration from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA in 2021, and was the recipient of the 2021 Fellowship Trust Award and the Conrad J. Linke Memorial Scholarship while at The Academy. I was an Artist in Residency with the Black Gotham Experience in New York City in October 2022. My most recent Solo Exhibition at Welancora Gallery in Brooklyn,NY which exhibited over 20 drawings and paintings done mostly in metalpoint, a drawing technique in which I use various metals to draw my works. Previous exhibitions include Silver, DFN Projects and New York Artists Equity, New York, New York 2021 and A Good Habit Formed: Examples of the PAFA Drawing Culture, Philadelphia, PA 2019 . I see myself as a scribe. The record-keeping between the subject and I is the act of artmaking. As a scribe transcribing the spoken word, I too have an obligation to depict each subject with a sense of urgency and respect given that my time with them is ephemeral. The purpose of my work is to encapsulate the ways in which we work within and against the societal, artistic, and material confines we inevitably find ourselves in. As a scribe, each piece is a documentation, and the medium a vehicle for communication. My current practice explores Black Material Culture, what brought Black bodies to their place today, who played a role in objectifying us, and how we objectify ourselves. After researching and educating myself on this Material Culture, my pieces serve as a visual marker of each subject. I hope that my work creates a dialogue around how far we have come and how much left we have to go in working through identities we never created, yet were created in. These pieces are a meditative act on my identity, with each line a conversation with the history of Blackness.

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German Ayala Vazquez

https://germanvazquez.com/about

German Ayala Vazquez is a photographer and visual artist originally hailing from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, raised in New York City and now based in Philadelphia. His artistic practice encompasses a diverse range of photographic styles, including fashion, conceptual, and photojournalistic approaches. Vazquez’s primary aim is to illuminate and uplift the narratives and experiences of BIPOC LGBTQIA+ individuals worldwide, with a particular emphasis on regions historically affected by colonization.
Notable among his recent clientele are esteemed entities such as Condé Nast, Apple, Barrons Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Shutterstock, and many More

His educational background includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in photography from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over the course of his career, he’s garnered awards and grants from renowned institutions such as Profoto, Nikon, the Shutterstock Creator Fund, Creative PHL Illuminate the Arts, and Wacom. Recognized as a 2023 DEAI Alumni Awards Recipient, and finalist in the 2022 Lens culture Portrait Awards have earned features in numerous publications, including PhotoVogue.

His personal artistic endeavors have been widely showcased through various exhibitions, most notably the 2024 Black Art Biannual , British Journal of Photography’s 2021 Home Exhibition, and the Humble Arts Foundation.

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Marian Bailey

https://www.marianbaileyart.com/

Marian Bailey is a self-taught contemporary artist whose work explores themes of memory, history, and identity through the use of mixed media, painting, and drawing. Bailey’s works are often characterized by her use of bold colors, gestural brushstrokes, and dynamic color blocking. At the heart of Bailey’s artistic practice is a fascination with the ways in which individuals and communities connect as a means to move through current time and into the future. Drawing on personal and collective histories, Bailey’s work investigates how memories and narratives are formed and transmitted across time and space. Bailey’s artwork often features images and symbols that reference her African American heritage and experiences. Through her use of visual language, Bailey seeks to disrupt traditional power structures and open up new dialogues around issues of race, gender, and culture. Ultimately, Bailey’s work is a celebration of the human experience and a testament to the power of art to inspire empathy, understanding, and social change. One of Bailey’s primary goals as an artist is to create art that is accessible and inclusive, welcoming viewers of all backgrounds and perspectives. She believes that art has the power to bring people together and to spark important conversations about the world around us.

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Kendra Dandy

Based in Philadelphia, Kendra Dandy (b.1987) is a multidisciplinary artist known for creating colorful illustrations, cheeky, smile-inducing patterns and bold art featuring a variety of whimsical characters. Using familiar icons mixed with bold colors and patterns, she creates her own unique world that commands attention. Experimentation is at the forefront of Kendra’s creative practice and she fully believes in embracing imperfections, playing with odd combinations and using recurring themes in her work. Rotating between painting, printmaking and digital illustration on the iPad allows her versatility and freedom with mixing colors, ideas and forms.

Kendra’s unique creations have been sought after by top brands such as Marc Jacobs Fragrances, NYX Cosmetics, Anthropologie and Vans for collaborations spanning the categories of beauty, lifestyle, apparel and home decor. Drawing inspiration from all things vintage, nature, beauty, post impressionist art and her own moods, her genuine love for artistic playfulness shines through whether on a canvas or a perfectly designed product.

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Shanina Dionna

https://www.shaninadionna.com/

Shanina dionna (she/they) is a visual and performing artist, non-profit founder and educator, mental health advocate, and certified PCEA (Person-Centered Expressive Arts) facilitator based in West Philadelphia.

Since 2012, their arts advocacy has helped bridge the gap between local wellness institutions and marginalized communities throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. Exploring the visual and performing arts as healing modalities dates back to their childhood. Personal narratives regarding mental health diagnoses, hospitalization, and therapy treatments; self-care practices and holistic measures for psychological healing; relational dynamics and building community; diversifying creative practices, and finding harmony in everyday life add reference and value to their research on connection, accessibility, and the human condition.
As a passionate, self-taught painter, expressive movement artist, installation artist, photographer, and filmmaker, shanina dionna learned to build language and relationships to help advocate for mental health and wellness in underserved communities. Current influences in their work include metal welding and fabrication; glass, optics and light studies; and earth-based paint pigments.

In 2016, they created the youth arts program, @artbudsphilly, currently housed at the Urban Art Gallery in West Philadelphia. In 2018, they became one of twenty artists worldwide to receive the inaugural TDC20 Grant (The Dean Collection 20) presented by musicians and married art couple, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. With ongoing support from DBHIDS (the Department of Behavioral Health & Intellectual Disability Services) of their exhibition series centered around mental health, “embryo” (2012-2021), they helped provide free resources and professional support to attendees – the organization’s first partnership of its kind.
shanina dionna’s practice in the healing arts sector has since garnered the support of both national and international opportunities including: exhibiting for the Platforms Project Independent Art Fair at Nikos Kessanlis in Athens, Greece; presenting for A Conference on Social Determinants of Community Well-Being by the University of Southern California; performing at the Affordable Art Fair in New York City; facilitating for Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Women’s Re-Entry program serving previously incarcerated women; currently facilitating Expressive Arts Healing workshops at Fleisher Art Memorial; partnerships with the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Liberty Museum and Moore College of Art & Design; and earning their first fellowship with Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Black Artists Fellowship.

In a 2020 interview, Philadelphia Magazine recognized them as the “Philly artist creating a positive space for mental health conversations.” After receiving certification from the Person-Centered Expressive Arts Institute in 2021, they launched an independent “Expressive Arts Healing” practice – facilitating in partnership with local schools, non-profits, and cultural organizations serving children, teens, and adults in the Greater Philadelphia area and beyond.

Shanina dionna is currently a senior at Temple University with a study focus on art therapy and aspirations to study abroad for their master’s as it relates to the arts, humanities, psychology, and social change.

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Akira Gordon

https://akgordon4.wixsite.com/studio

What I am most interested in as an artist is painting black figures and placing them in environments. Although I draw inspiration from looking at old masterworks, I’m upset when the people in those paintings don’t look like me or many of the people that I know. I hope to bridge that gap and give black people images that they can relate to in some way without it making an overt political statement; instead showing figures in leisure or doing the mundane and the ordinary.

I want my work to intrigue the viewer for its technical aspect and for its the content. I want my art to be meaningful and have layered narratives that people can dive into. I find the most authentic way to do this is through self-portraiture and referencing my own experiences. I use myself as a reference for my paintings because I know myself deeply and I believe it’s important to examine your own life.

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Shakira Hunt

https://www.shakirahunt.com/

Shakira Hunt is a multi-disciplinary artist and branding photographer based in Philadelphia, PA. With her Interior Design & Architecture Experience [BFA in Interior Design], Shakira owns and operates Shakira Hunt Creative Studio. SHCS provides creative services including digital content creation for businesses + creative entrepreneurs. During the pandemic, Shakira Hunt developed a photography series titled “Give Me My Flowers” a fine arts project exploring Black men’s exploration with masculine & feminine energies. The work has been featured in 2 solo exhibitions/installations as well as a large-scale installation at Essence Fest in Collaboration with Planned Parenthood in 2022, where she revealed the next segment of work “Soft Petals”, an exploration of the mother-wound. In the last year, Shakira has continued to document and develop the series, expand her work into the public art sector as an experiential curator, and strives to continue to build community and connection through her work.

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Jasmine Lynea

https://www.jasminelynea.info/

Jasmine lynea is a non-binary filmmaker, educator and futurist radically dreaming outside of this reality. Curious about what lives between truth and myth, through their vibrant imagination, lynea presents unconventional ideas that have the possibility of becoming attainable in a liberating future.

After graduating from Temple University, jasmine self-produced and directed two short films that screened at several film festivals nationally– Take 5 and Stay Black, Baby! In 2018, jasmine established a new relationship with film, becoming a high-school film teacher at Samuel Fels. There they were awarded the Leeway Art and Change Grant to launch the Root and Branch Arts Festival. During this time they were also awarded the 2020 Scribe Philadelphia Media Fund to continue their work as a film director and writer for their experimental short film How to Survive a Mourning, which screened at WWCC 16th Annual Juried Art Exhibition and was granted an Honorable Mention Award in 2021. As a 2022 fellow for BlackStars Inaugural Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, jasmine wrote, directed, and edited a new short sci-fi fantasy– The Love Machine. Since premiering at BlackStar’s Film Festival, the short film has been screened and is expected to screen at several film festivals both nationally and internationally. jasmine is a 2023 Mural Arts Fellow and a Flaherty Fellow participating in their Queer-World Mending program.

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Jordan Plain

https://www.jordanplain.com/

Jordan Plain is a Philadelphia based creative skilled in many mediums. He uses graphic design, poetry, and photography tell stories, set a scene, and influence thought. He covers topics, from masculinity to gun violence and is not afraid to tackle topics other men shy away from.

He release a book entitled “A Comic By Jordan Plain” which is a amalgam of thought, minimalism, humor and poetry.

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DeJeonge Reese

https://www.dejeonge.com/

DeJeonge Reese (she/her) is a black female, visual artist, educator and art advocate from Yeadon, Pennsylvania. She uses her art and creativity to stimulate new and on-going conversations on the various facets of identity within the black community. I am a visual artist whose passions led me to explore the various facets of identity, specifically the body and beauty ideals among women of color. My inspiration is drawn from my identity as a Black woman, especially regarding the past and present discourse surrounding Black hair and beauty expectations. When I started to re-identify myself through my natural hair, I became impacted enough to explore these themes and ideas through my art. I mine these themes through mediums such as mixed media sculpture, installations, and performances. By fusing themes and ideas from both the past and present; my art explores various connotations surrounding black hair and beauty expectations. Therefore, contributing to on-going conversations on cultural identity as African Americans.ighlights these intersections through her passion for experimenting with a variety of mediums and materials.

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Jillian Rock

Jillian M Rock is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Philadelphia. Her current personal practice focuses on the exploration of place and placemaking. Specifically, the intersection at which the past, present, and future play on the narratives of Blackness; and how memory is used to illuminate and deepen the human experience. Her teaching artist practice is centered in creating curricula around social justice, identity, and creating an experience that deepens community and encourages expression individually and most importantly collectively.

Rock has been an Artist in Residence at The Museum of Motherhood in St. Pete’s FL, a Feminist in Residence at Project for Empty Space in Newark, NJ, as well as a concurrent Risography Resident at Print St. Pete’s. She is an alumni of the Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program. Rock has served as an inaugural member of the Board of Directors at the Newark Print Shop, where she developed her passion for community programming and outreach through printmaking. Rock is currently teaching with The Print Center, ArtWell, and has been a teaching artist at Studio Montclair, The Newark Printshop, The Yard Art School at The Montclair Museum of Art, as well as freelancing workshops and classes. Most recently, she became the STEAM Coordinator at the Da Vinci Art Alliance.

She is the owner of Rock Press, a Black woman run printing press aimed at amplifying access to the creation and dissemination of artists’ books, printed matter, and programming. As well as, a co-founder of Collaborative Rising, an arts organization centered in providing access to a variety of programming, across all mediums and abilities by nurturing exploration through the arts. Rock is currently a member of Philadelphia Collageworks and a fellow with Mural Arts Fellowship for Black Artists.

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Darryl Smith

https://www.dkbsart.com/

Born in Georgetown, D.C. in 1992, Darryl Babatunde Smith started making art as a way of interpreting foreign languages as opposed to translating them in English. He studied French, German, and Latin in high school and later began to learn Ancient and Modern Greek on his own. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he completed his BFA in Painting, and at the New York Academy of Art where he obtained his MFA in Drawing an Anatomy. Through Darryl’s knowledge of Latin and Greek he immerses himself in antiquity. He uses Greco-Roman symbols and traditional Renaissance techniques such as silverpoint drawing and egg tempera painting to connect personal narratives with Greco-Roman ideologies and philosophies.

His works have been exhibited nationally (Philadelphia, Hillsdale, New York City) and internationally in Reykjavík, Iceland and Athens, Greece. Darryl is currently based in Philadelphia where he is the first Artist-in-Residence at Studio Incamminati.

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Steven CW Taylor

https://www.ubuntufa.com/

Steven CW Taylor, also known as “The Time Thief,” is an award-winning visual artist and photographer based in Philadelphia. Having spent a pivotal decade in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (DMV), Steven initially ventured into the field as a youth correctional officer before making a dramatic career shift. He honed his skills as a software engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2005 to 2021, pioneering remote work since 2011. Despite his successful tech career, his undeniable artistic calling led him to pick up a GoPro and delve into photography in 2014 at the age of 32.

Steven’s transformative art captures the essence of his extensive travels and cultural experiences. His notable pieces like “Subway Surfer,” “Jetty Boyz,” “The OG,” and “The Isaac” bear testament to his craftsmanship. A three-time visitor to South Africa, the profound African philosophy of Ubuntu—meaning “the universal bond of sharing that connects humanity”—resonates deeply within him.

His work has not gone unnoticed, as he is the 2023 Mural Arts Black Artist Fellow and the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) Visual Journalist of the Year. Inspired by legends such as Peter Lik, Gordon Parks, and Ansel Adams, Steven sees mentor Donald Camp as a guiding light in his journey. It is Steven’s ambition to be remembered alongside these iconic figures as he documents his contemporary life for future generations.

In every frame, capture, and journey, Steven CW Taylor amplifies his life’s mission: Ubuntu To The World.

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Meet the Artists

Odochi Akwani

Shawn Alleyne

Tamia Alston-Ward

German Ayala Vazquez

Marian Bailey

Kendra Dandy

Shanina Dionna

Akira Gordon

Shakira Hunt

Jasmine Lynea

Jordan Plain

DeJeonge Reese

Jillian Rock

Darryl Smith

Steven CW Taylor

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