Symposium Presenters

March 29, 2025 from 11:20 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Critical Afro-Nostalgia (Panel: Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Terron Banner is the manager of Community Learning and Engagement for The OSU Urban Arts and Lectures in the Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy at The Ohio State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2019. 

Recently, he developed a course titled "Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism." Before attending OSU, he completed his undergrad (Studio Art) and graduate degree (MBA) from Kentucky State University, an HBCU. 

Banner's research focuses on the art-historical impact of past Black Arts Movements and the technologies, cultural policies, and arts management processes utilized by Black artists within those movements. His publication "Black Art Black Rage and Black Lives Matters: The Influence of The Black Arts Movement" explores these ideas in more depth. 

Most recently, Banner has led multiple grant-funded projects at OSU that explores ways of combining AI and Afrofuturism to increase arts and tech equity.

March 28, 2025 from 1:45-2:30 p.m.
Unity is the Solution: 1970s Black Film (Panel: Film Focus)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

Eli Boonin-Vail is a Ph.D. candidate in Film and Media Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. His work focuses on American cinemas, Hollywood and independent, in their relationship to incarceration. This emphasis on the carceral entails research into collaborations between the studio system and the Prison Industrial Complex, as well as into how the political economy wrought by mass incarceration affects and can be seen in independent filmmaking. A media historian and theorist with wide ranging interests, he has also published on queer theory and animation, race and American comic books, and French film production culture. His work can be found in the peer-reviewed journals Animation Studies, Inks, Film Criticism, French Screen Studies, The Quarterly Review of Film and Video, and Music, Sound, and The Moving Image, and in the edited collections Desegregating Comics and A Century of 16mm.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
The Voice of Freedom (Theatre Session II)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

Ashley Brooks Wise is delighted to serve as the collaborative pianist for The Journey again. She is an accomplished educator, entrepreneur, and an award-winning musician. She is a native of Jackson, Tennessee, and earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy from The University of Tennessee.

Brooks Wise is very active in her local school and music community. She has served on the executive boards of both the district and state levels for the Ohio Music Teachers Association as vice president of Teacher Activities and chair of conferences and was most recently appointed to the 2025 national conference planning committee for the Music Teacher National Association.

As owner of Wise Notes, Ltd., Brooks Wise teaches and serves throughout the city and beyond as a collaborative pianist, presenter, and talent coach. Alongside her husband, Ceylon, she operates The Wise Channel on YouTube, producing family and classroom-friendly content that resonates globally.

Their family music group, The Wise Channel, contributed to the GRAMMY®-Nominated Best Children's Album "All One Tribe" with the One Tribe Collective. Her commitment to

inclusion led Brooks Wise to co-found the nonprofit Parent Diversity Network with her husband, fostering a sense of belonging in local schools, and she serves as the Black Student Union advisor at Olentangy Berlin High School. Brooks Wise believes in the power of music and uses it as a vehicle to connect and promote positivity with those around her.

March 29, 2025 from 8:45-10 a.m.
Camp Delaware – The Story of the 5th USCT (Concurrent Session IV)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center 304

Mark and Francine Butler are performing artists by training, historians by necessity, and filmmakers by default. Both are SAG-AFTRA members who have worked background in several films. The story of how their production of local history, "Camp Delaware," came to be is inspiring and entertaining. Their arts non-profit, Community Arts Network, raises money for Ohio high school seniors who want to pursue a performing arts degree at an Ohio college or university.

Dr. Crystal Clark is a professor of English at Columbus State Community College. A Distinguished Teaching Award recipient and a Distinguished Full Professor Award recipient, Dr. Clark has taught creative writing, composition, and literature courses for more than thirty years. Additionally, she has served in several faculty fellow roles and as an assistant dean at the college's Delaware Campus. Dr. Clark holds a Master of Arts in English from The Ohio State University, a Master of Theological Studies from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from the University of Toledo.

March 27-29, 2025
The Chaotic Musings of a Caribbean Immigrant (Art Installation)
Location: TBA

Hasani Claxton is a visual artist, author, and educator from St. Kitts, West Indies. His love of art began in the first grade, but he did not initially pursue an art career.

He studied Business at Morehouse College (1999) and Law at Columbia University (2003). While working as an attorney in New York, he began taking evening classes at the School of Visual Arts. In 2005, he decided to pursue his passion full-time and enrolled in the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration in 2009 and a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Towson University in 2017. He is currently an assistant professor of Visual Arts at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

His artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, including the National Gallery of Jamaica. His art has appeared in Spectrum: Fantastic Art, Creative Quarterly, Caribe Art Magazine, and Afropunk.com. He contributed a chapter to the award-winning children's anthology, "The Antiracist Kitchen" (Orca Books 2023). He was a semifinalist for the Trawick Art Prize in 2017 and the Sondheim Art Prize in 2020. He was selected for the first cohort of the Brown Bookshelf-Highlights Foundation: Amplify Black Stories program in 202. He received an Individual Artist Award in Literary Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2022 and the Rubys Artist Microgrant in 2024 from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.

March 29, 2025 from 11:20 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Brilliant Homage & Resilience (Panel: Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Arris' J. Cohen (Sir'Ra) is a Cleveland-born, Columbus-based, classically trained visual artist working professionally since the onset of the pandemic.

His artistic vision is based in the diaspora and the story of his creative journey as an African American. Using vibrant colors and geometric shapes, his paintings reflect Afrofuturism and Afro Surrealism. Cohen was also the featured artist in the Irrepressible Soul exhibition at Urban Art Space in June 2023 and had been involved with community-related work with UAS for over a year prior to starting his community-artist-in-residency there.

His love for painting has expanded to murals, and his practice continues to diversify as he has been afforded the opportunity to teach. He looks forward to continued growth and the opportunity to inspire people to be symbols of life and positivity in a landscape where not much else can thrive, just like the Baobab Tree.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
The Voice of Freedom (Theatre Session II)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

Destiny Coleman is a creative director, writer, and classically trained mezzo-soprano celebrated for her dynamic contributions to arts and education. With a distinctive blend of creativity and leadership, she has mastered the art of program creation, management, and community engagement. As the director of The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business & Entrepreneurship at Ohio Wesleyan University, she fosters innovation and collaboration across disciplines.

Previously, Coleman served as director of Education and Artistic Administration for Opera Columbus, where she oversaw the production of annual performances and spearheaded the development of 12 groundbreaking educational programs and 25 community partnerships, engaging over 16,000 individuals annually.

As a mezzo-soprano, Coleman has performed with The Ohio State University, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Opera Columbus, and the Lincoln Theatre. She has also performed with artists Heather Headley and Andrea Bocelli.

She has received several awards, including the Next Up Columbus Award from the Columbus Young Professionals Club, recognizing emerging leaders making a positive impact on the future of Columbus, and the Sir William Osler, M.D., Award from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, honoring her leadership in the Columbus arts community and her commitment to bringing the performing arts to OSU medical center staff and patients. In 2023, "The Journey: Civil Rights," created and directed by Coleman, earned the Greater Columbus Arts Council's Columbus Makes Art Excellence Award, recognized for outstanding achievements in innovation, risk, and artistic excellence in a performance.

Coleman holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from The Ohio State University and a Master of Science in Business Management and Leadership from Western Governors University. She actively contributes to the arts community as a board member of Converging Arts Columbus, Greater Columbus Arts Council Navigator, and Culture co-chair of the Columbus Young Professionals Club Leadership Council. She is also an alum of the YWCA Columbus Leadership for Social Change Program, the Columbus Young Professionals Club Impact Academy, and Leadership Delaware County.

Margaret Cox was born in Carriacou, Grenada and grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She earned a Bachelor's in English at Baruch College, graduated with a Master of Arts in English from Brooklyn College, and obtained a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests are African American, Caribbean, and African literatures. A recipient of the NEH Spotlight on Humanities in Higher Education grant, she is developing the podcast "Conversations in Literature & Culture." Her documentary Zora and Janie of Eatonville examines major moments in the life of African American writer Zora Neale Hurston that inspired the creation of her acclaimed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Through interviews with scholars, creative writers, curators, as well as visits to historical sites in Eatonville, Florida, the film captures the spark that set the literary world on fire in the 1930s.

March 28, 2025 from 1:45-2:30 p.m.
Art Songs and Spirituals: Expressions of African American Cultures (Concurrent Session III)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

Dr. Rosetta Dingle, a professor of music education, teaches methods courses at South Carolina State University where she serves as the Coordinator of Music Programs and University Supervisor for music education candidates' field experiences. With research activities conducted in music integration, music aptitudes, creative-music thinking, teacher retention, and music partnerships, Dr. Dingle has made presentations at national and international conferences to include England, Austria, and Sweden.

In addition to her professional affiliations with the South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Dr. Dingle is also an active member of the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS). For purposes of rendering quality music teaching and learning experiences, Dr. Dingle has been awarded grants totaling over $500,000 to improve the music teaching and learning opportunities for teachers and students at the early childhood, elementary, upper elementary, and middle school levels. Furthermore, Dr. Dingle occasionally presents thematic concerts and other performances comprising music of varied styles and genres as a mezzo-soprano.

Dr. Dingle has been selected as Professor of the Year for the College of Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CEHSS) of SC State University; listed as a Who's Who among professionals and women; awarded the Billie S. Flemming Educators' Achievement Award (Manning, SC Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), and dubbed the "hardest-working member" of her academic college.

Dr. Dingle holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education from the University of South Carolina, Columba, SC; a Master of Music Education degree from Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education, choral/voice from South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC. Dr. Dingle believes that all students, at all levels, learn best when they are expected to achieve while being provided opportunities to think critically and creatively.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
The Voice of Freedom (Theatre Session II)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

A true multihyphenate — singer, dancer, musical theatre actor, educator, entrepreneur, and activist — Kenneth Eaddy has a 15-year history of performing in and around the Central Ohio area. In 2019, Eaddy traveled to the Senegambia region of West Africa to collaborate in an international exchange with Bakalama Danse to further their knowledge of dance, drums, language, and culture.

In 2024, Eaddy was a collaborator with the dancing troupe Brother(hood) Dance's production "Black On Earth," which premiered at the Wexner Center for the Arts. The production is an immersive and interactive work that integrates dance, agriculture, and technology to tell the history of Black farmers.

Eaddy currently serves as festival coordinator for the Columbus Arts Festival, produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council.

March 29, 2025 from 8:45-10 a.m.
Unspoken Colorlines (Concurrent Session IV)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Crider Lounge

Krisilyn Frazier, also known as Tony, is an acclaimed artist, educator, and storyteller who works at the intersection of dance, film, and digital media. She holds a Master's degree in Fine Performing and Communication Arts from Wayne State University and a Bachelor's degree in Dance from the University of Michigan. As a lecturer at the University of Michigan and a faculty member at Washtenaw Community College, she teaches courses in Hip-Hop History, Film and Dance Production, Composition and Choreography, and Dance and Social Justice.

Tony has performed on national stages, including the New Orleans African Dance Festival, and has taught at the International Contortion Convention while leading outreach programs in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Her groundbreaking documentary films focus on history and social justice, with notable works such as A Call To Action: The Holocaust, Justice In Motion, and her 2024 film Unspoken Colorlines, which examines race in America through the experiences of Black soldiers and veterans, blending contemporary dance with historical research. Her latest VR project, Hollow Ground, explores the complexities of mental health.

In addition to filmmaking, Tony is a sought-after independent content creator who specializes in storytelling and social media analytics. Through her work, she amplifies marginalized voices, pushes creative boundaries, and fosters meaningful community engagement across diverse audiences on social media.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
The Voice of Freedom (Theatre Session II)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

Karolyn Lee Gholston, soprano and adjunct instructor of voice at Kenyon College, has gained a stellar reputation in operatic and recital works in the central Ohio area. She is a native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in Music Performance. She went on to earn a Master of Music in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from The Ohio University.

Recent engagements include the 2024 soprano soloist in Brahms's "Ein deutsches Requiem" with Kenyon and the Knox County Symphony, soprano vocalist in William Todd's "Mass in Blue" at the 2023 Kentucky Blues & Jazz Festival with Capriccio Columbus, guest solo artist with the Capriccio Jubilee singers spring 2023 season, Opera Columbus's guest vocalist in both productions of "The Journey, The Voice of Freedom" and "The Voice of Freedom Civil Rights," where she performed her original work "Uncomfortable Conversations." Gholston has been a featured guest vocalist for The Black Opera Alliance's Gala, Capriccio Columbus's Shout for Joy Concert, and a soloist for Nathaniel Dett's The Chariot Jubilee.

Past opera roles include La Ciesca in Opera Columbus "Gianni Schicchi," Annie in Opera Columbus' world premiere "The Flood Workshop," Kate Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly," Anna (Donna Anna) in Opera Columbus' ten performance production of "#UncleJohn," which is an adaptation of Mozart's "Don Giovanni." Gholston has also sung the roles of the infirmary nun in Opera Project Columbus' production of "Suor Angelica," Lucia in Nino Rota's "I Due Timidi" with Opera Project Columbus, Musetta in "La Bohèmé" with the first collaboration of Shadow Box and Opera Columbus's "Opera on the Edge," Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan tutte" in Firenze, Italy, with the Florence Voice Seminar/Westminster Choir College.

Along with her concert and solo work, Gholston has created her own music genre #Opsoul, a fusion of soul and contemporary music with operatic voicings. She is a published songwriter with a catalogue of over 40 published songs, online content creator, and music influencer.

March 28, 2025 from 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Scenes from Cane: A New Musical (In Progress) (Theatre Session I)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

BC Granger is an LGBTQ and BIPOC preacher's kid (PK); an actor/director/singer; playwright/screenwriter and musical theatre maker; performance/theatre and film scholar; lover of pizza, puppets, and interior design; a social justice/environmental/animal advocate; and a lifelong consumer/nerd of comic books, science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction. Granger is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre, teaching dramatic writing, film, and other theatre courses at Ohio Wesleyan University. They hold degrees from Kenyon College (B.A.), The Ohio State University (M.F.A.), NYU/Tisch School of the Arts (M.F.A.), and the University of California, Santa Barbara (Ph.D.).

March 29, 2025 from 11:20 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Love Jones and the Afrocentric Movement (Panel: Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Iyana Hill is a master's student in Art Education. She is an artist, curator, and community organizer from Columbus, Ohio. As an artist, she focuses on the liberation of Black people and the Black experience through the mediums of photography and ceramics. Her curatorial and community programming honors Black culture and thinks about accessibility, immersion, and arts equity to articulate and honor Blackness. She is the creator of Irrepressible Soul, a project, collective, and art-based model.

March 29, 2025 from 11:20 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
The Revolutionary Black Gaze (Panel: Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Ekundayo Igeleke, born to Nigerian and southern Baptist parents, is a popular educator, writer, photographer, Black Studies scholar, national strategist, and grassroots organizer with over 10 years of experience in these areas.

He currently is the Director of Education and Culture with Black Men Build, founder of Culture Dream Lab, and a Ph.D. Candidate in Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University. He serves as a member of the Maroon Arts Group and The Party for Socialism and Liberation. 

When he is not in radical action, he spends time with his family and village, watches anime and basketball, practices yoga, enjoys a variety of community arts, and reads 3-4 books at a time.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
The Voice of Freedom (Theatre Session II)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

Tifani K started singing and reciting poems at church when she was 3 years old while being raised by her grandmother in Springfield, Ohio. During her middle school years, she viewed creative expression as a positive outlet as she managed the emotional turbulence of having a mother with substance use disorder.

By the time she reached Springfield South High School, her love for music and theater had blossomed. Starring in high school productions such as "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The Odd Couple," and "The Wizard of Oz," she developed a love for performing.

While studying psychology at Ohio University, she began her award-winning spoken word career performing on stages across the country as part of a collective of artists named Positive United Real Expression. Over the past 25 years of residing in Columbus, Ohio, her performance highlights include being in the cast of the stage adaptation of the novel "Soul Matters," being featured in the Streetlight Guild's "Rhapsody and Refrain," Maroon Arts Group ROOTS Open Mic, performing at the Ohio Attorney General's Office Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Zora's House 2.0 Groundbreaking ceremony, and the Back Stage at the Lincoln 10-year Anniversary as a 2020 Artist Incubation Program graduate.

In 2023, she narrated the 2023 production of "The Journey: Civil Rights." In October 2020, she turned her trauma into a TEDx Talk on the "Life Saving Power of Inspiration." As an artist, Tifani K publishes and performs work that expresses her authentic voice as a Black woman,

community advocate, and Mother rooted in love.

March 28, 2025 from 8:45-9:45 a.m.
A Slow Burn: Negotiating Black Art in a White Academic Setting (Concurrent Session I)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Robyn Lyons-Robinson has been teaching composition and literature at Columbus State since 1995. She holds master's degrees in English and Women's Studies from The Ohio State University and is the co-author of "Literacy, Economy, and Power: Writing and Research After Literacy in American Lives."

Lyons-Robinson was named Columbus State's 2019 Outstanding Woman Leader and was also a featured panelist at the 2019 Columbus Metropolitan Club lunch series "Africentric Education, It's About All of Us."

She is currently a doctoral candidate in Higher Education Student Affairs at Ohio University, where her research focuses on racial disparities in dual enrollment ecosystems.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
Polyrhythmic Life: AFRICA IN AMERICA (Theatre Session II)
Location: Merrick Hall 301

Kara Mack, a true "Southern gal," got her start in Columbia, South Carolina, her birthplace, performing for youth ministries, schools, and conferences as a singer/songwriter, dancer, and poet. Since her move to Los Angeles, she has developed into a beautiful, budding artist and a theologian earning her Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and her Master of Arts in Divinity due to her interest in depicting historical stories through film.

As a dancer, she has performed on stages including the NAACP Image Awards, the BET Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, American Idol, The Voice, and the Grammys. She has taught at the world-renowned Debbie Allen Dance Academy and continues to teach today at various dance conferences and colleges across the nation. This includes being a creative director for HBCU Alabama State University's premiere Dance on Screen Certification Program and an adjunct professor of World Dance at Hussians College in Los Angeles.

Placing no limitations on her God-given abilities, she has two albums out all over the world; her EP "Selah" and her debut LP "A Negroe's Spiritual." This singer/songwriter and spoken-word artist also currently sings background for Ghanaian superstar and Grammy-nominated artist Rocky Dawuni and is set to release a mixtape this year. During her trip to Senegal, West Africa, Mack premiered her first single "I Love You So" from the mixtape on its No. 1 network SenTV. 

Mack has performed with music and dance companies like Canne', a West African dance troupe, Swing Brazil, Viver Brasil (Afro-Brazilian and Contemporary Dance and Drum Companies), and Balandugu Kan, a Traditional West African Drum and Dance Troupe, for which she served as artistic director/choreographer.

Her choreographic works can be seen at Clive Davis' Pre-Grammy Party, Gwen Stefani's performance of her hit song "Misery" on The Voice, Kanye West's Easter Sunday Service for Coachella, Kendrick Lamar's historic performance of "Alright" on the 58th Grammy Awards, and Chance the Rapper's performance of "Zannies and Fools" on Saturday Night Live.  Her choreography is also currently featured on three international music videos, including Ghana's "African Reggae Fever" (Rocky Dawuni), "African Thriller" (Rocky Dawuni), and FIFA World Cup Official Song "Waka Waka" performed by Shakira.

Having trained in many African Diasporic styles with dance masters from Brazil, Cuba, West Africa, and Central Africa, her goal is to master as many styles as she can while showing the similarity within every movement though we are geographically spread apart. She showed how this could work by premiering two sold-out shows for her successful work, "The Essence" in 2012. Choreographed, written, and directed by Mack, "The Essence" is a unique approach to the retelling of the multiple realities of Africa. For the first time on a Los Angeles stage, dancers and drummers from West Africa, Brazil, Cuba, and the United States united for a single purpose.

Fifteen years ago, Mack made a strategic and radical decision to focus on music and dance styles from the African Diaspora after years of contemporary training in both respective fields. As she began to practice these different art forms, she recognized that in society these styles are seen as electives and hobbies artistically that, in turn, force them to fall short of being respected as technical styles. Mack wanted to change this reality and decided to create the trademarked brand, Africa in America® in 2014; a brand that serves as a primary resource for both professionals and participants of African Diasporic music, dance, arts, and culture in America.

Through Mack's work, she is determined to change the direction and rewrite the narrative. She utilizes a language, vocabulary, and rhetoric that is relatable in order to bring back a sense of visibility that will cultivate well-rounded artists capable of succeeding through any artistic expression they choose.

Mack believes that through her gifts she can stir up the gifts in young people; renewing hope in their hearts, inspiring them to reach for the impossible. Kara Mack is truly an artist you must personally encounter.

March 28, 2025 from 4:15-6 p.m.
The Voice of Freedom (Theatre Session II)
Location: Chappelear Drama Center Studio Theatre

DeMeeshia Marshall is a local artist and songwriter from Columbus, Ohio. She has been singing since age 5. Over the years, Marshall has been part of a variety of productions, shows, and events. She has traveled to different states to perform with various performance companies and productions. In 2016, she was crowned "The Voice of Columbus," sponsored by David Brown and Harmony Project and aired on NBC 4 News.

In 2017, she graduated from The Ohio State University, with a Bachelor's in Music Performance. Marshall has been blessed with the ability to use her voice across many genres, such as gospel, jazz, and classical opera, just to name a few.

Marshall enjoys expressing herself through music because it allows her to create a melodic picture and tell her version of the story through song. She captures the audience's attention with her melodic melismas, and through her soulful tonality and deep connection to the music, Marshall takes her listeners on a journey. Music is her passion, and she believes that God has granted her this gift to spread love and share it with the world.

March 28, 2025 from 1:45-2:30 p.m.
Visualizing Jazz: From Sound to Screen (Concurrent Session III)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

Stephanie Matthews is the executive director of A Tribe for Jazz, a visionary 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving jazz's legacy and advancing its future through education, performance, and visual storytelling.

As an arts administrator and advocate for interdisciplinary learning, Matthews harnesses jazz as a transformative tool for social and emotional learning, STEM integration, and emotional wellness. She created Jazz Lab™, an innovative program funded by the Battelle Central Ohio STEM Grant, that merges music and science. Through hands-on experiences like virtual reality, 3D-printed instrument assembly, and the physics of sound, Jazz Lab™ ignites creativity and collaboration in underserved youth. The program has been recognized by Congressional, Senatorial, and Ohio House Proclamations.

Beyond education, Matthews' leadership extends into award-winning film production. Notable projects include "Legacy Jon Irabagon: A Solo Tenor Odyssey," an internationally recognized film celebrating jazz's creative spontaneity, and "Exploration," a documentary and workshop blending jazz, mindfulness, and collaborative art to promote emotional wellness. "Exploration" was named an honorable mention at the Los Angeles Film and Documentary Awards as well as best short film at the Waterford International Film Festival in Ireland.

Matthews is also a driving force in arts advocacy, forging partnerships with COSI, Columbus City Schools, Columbus Recreation and Parks, and leading institutions of higher learning to expand access to jazz education. Her work has been recognized through multiple grants and awards, including the GCAC Thrive Grant.

Grounded in her faith and an unwavering commitment to inclusion and educational equity, Matthews has positioned A Tribe for Jazz as a globally recognized organization. Under her leadership, the organization is redefining how jazz is experienced—bridging disciplines, inspiring new generations, and ensuring that jazz's legacy continues to thrive through innovation and impact.

March 29, 2025 from 11:20 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Black World-Making: Heritage & Roots (Panel: Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Monte Murphy – an MFA Dance student at The Ohio State University – is an ethnochoreologist, choreographer, dance educator, filmmaker, screenwriter, healer, and artist-activist. He leads his work with the voices and stories of his ancestors. He engages youth, underserved, and communities through creative art mediums and various Indigenous wellness techniques. He is an archivist and preserver of Africanist cultural practices and traditions, a creator of safe spaces for artistic exploration through dance education, and an amplifier for inclusivity of the voices of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. 

Murphy is the founder of A Brotha's Luv in Motion: A Dance Project Inc. (est. 2020), whose mission is to uplift and share the stories of the Africanist near, far, past, present, and future through multidisciplinary afro-rooted production, with emphasis on engaging Indigenous/Black males, LGBTQ+ persons while embracing inclusivity in race, gender, class, and education.

March 28, 2025 from 9:55-10:55 a.m.
Overlapping Pulse: Black Expression in Dance Performance (Panel: Dance Focus)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

Jalen E. Rose is an artist, educator, and investigator of historic context on modern movement practices. As a Baltimore native and child of music enthusiast parents, she grew up exposed to a wide variety of expressive arts. As an MFA candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park she is researching the sociopolitical context that frames modern African American culture and expression. She continues to explore her connection to the vast African Diaspora through movement in visiting countries such as Liberia and Haiti. Rose's choreography involves powerful, expansive movement that pulls from an eclectic pool of influences. Her work invites you to see beyond surface differences and recognize our shared human story.

March 28, 2025 from 1:45-2:30 p.m.
Memeing a Ma: A Racist Trope (Panel: Film Focus)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

Dr. J. Brendan Shaw is an Associate Professor of English in the Department of Humanities at Central State University. He also serves as the Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Studies program. He teaches courses in first-year writing, African American Literature, women's writing, and gender and sexuality studies. His research examines Black women's use of art as a means of resisting dominant cultural narratives. His most recent publications include "'& I'm still moving' The Joy of Black Lesbian Movement Time in the Poetry of Pat Parker" in African American Review and "Merging Past and Present in Lemonade's Black Feminist Utopia" in the edited collection Beyoncé in the World: Making Meaning with Queen Bey in Troubled Times. His talk "The Hall of Missy: Imagining a Black Women's Museum" was part of the Claiming Space Symposium housed on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. His talk at the symposium forms part of his current book project on narratives of Black women refusing the maternal role.

March 29, 2025 from 11:20 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Black Inheritance: Love, Liberty, and Identity (Panel: Black Art in America: Arts and Cultural Policies from Reconstruction to Afrofuturism)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center Benes Rooms

Sydney Summey is a graduate student in the Master of Arts program in Arts Policy. Summey graduated in 2022 from The Ohio State University, receiving her Bachelor's in Fine Arts with a focus in photography.

During her undergraduate studies, she cultivated her craft and perspective of the arts to not only be viewed but to challenge history and create change. This has led her to express these ideas in relation to the Black Experience through photography in shows at The Urban Arts Space and diverse engagement in academic settings.

Summey cherishes the vulnerability and transformation that the coming together of community and art can produce.

March 28, 2025 from 1:45-2:30 p.m.
Lovecraft Country and the Metaphysics of Fire (Panel: Film Focus)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

Anwar Uhuru is an assistant professor of African American Studies and Philosophy and an affiliate faculty in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Wayne State University.

Their work is primarily concerned with social power regarding gender, class, sexuality, and ableism and how it intersects with state-based violence due to social hierarchy. They have publications in the Journal of Hip-Hop Studies, The Journal of Philosophy and Global Affairs, APA Studies, Journal of World Philosophy, Philosophy Compass, and Radical Philosophy Review.

Their forthcoming book, "The Insurrectionist Case for Reparations: Race, Value and Ethics," will be published through SUNY Press.

March 28, 2025 from 9:55-10:55 a.m.
Keep on Keepin' on: Photographs of Melvin (Concurrent Session II)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center

I was raised in a family of artists with a deep aesthetic sense in a home where beauty was paramount. I studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology, then completed my bachelor's and master's at Philadelphia College of Art.

I taught elementary art, woodworking, and parent education for 40 years and advocated for social and emotional learning as well as bias-free teaching to decrease discrimination based on gender, race/ethnicity, disability, and family income.

I am inspired by others who share a commitment to changing the injustices in our society. I am one of the founders of the New York Women's Foundation, a cross-cultural alliance supporting women and girls in economic, gender, and racial justice.

I see and seek to capture the radiance and light in all that I photograph and want to share my joy and spirit so others can feel the magic and mystery that I experience.

March 29, 2025 from 8:45-10 a.m.
Behind His Eyes: A Journey Through Vulnerability & Identity (Concurrent Session IV)
Location: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center 312

Jadyn Wilson is an award-winning filmmaker and the founder of On the Outside Films. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago, her work focuses on telling emotionally resonant stories that explore identity, relationships, and personal growth. She strives to increase Black representation in film, creating narratives that highlight diverse perspectives and create meaningful conversations. Through her storytelling, Wilson aims to connect with audiences on a deep level and bring underrepresented voices to the front.