Welcome February Artists-in-Residence!

Meet this month’s artists-in-residence!

Residency session: January 31st - February 26, 2024

this month we welcome a cohort of all massachusetts-based artists.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR this session’s open studios:

THURSDAY, february 22nd FROM 5-7PM

Rob "ProBlak" Gibbs is a visual artist, organizer, and community builder from Roxbury, MA. He has transformed Boston's cultural landscape, focusing on beautifying Black and Brown communities and a commitment to youth education. Gibbs’ recent 5-part Breathe Life mural series received national acclaim, most recently as the first local and Black artist to paint the coveted Dewey Square Mural on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. As co-founder of Artists for Humanity, he devoted over 30 years to teaching creative skills to youth and partnering with institutions to offer real-time opportunities for emerging artists. He envisions graffiti and hip-hop as ways to educate young people. Gibbs has been recognized as one of Boston's most influential people and has received numerous awards, including the Boston Celtics' Hero Among Us Award and the MLK Drum Major Award. In 2021, the City of Boston proclaimed February 1 to be Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs day. He has been an artist-in-residence with Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and MassArt. In 2023, Gibbs was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. While grateful for the recognition of his work, it is Gibbs’ role as father to his daughter, and mentor to future generations, that drives his passion for creating images of beauty and resilience through murals and contemporary fine art. 

Shailja Patel

Amherst

Shailja Patel (she/her) is the author of Migritude, which was a #1 Amazon poetry bestseller, Seattle Times bestseller, and shortlisted for Italy's Camaiore Prize. Taught in over 150 colleges and universities worldwide, Migritude is based on Patel's highly-acclaimed one-woman theatre show, which generated standing ovations on four continents.

Patel's poems have been translated into 17 languages. Her essays and commentaries appear in the Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, and Internazionale, among others. She has appeared on BBC, Al-Jazeera, and NPR. Honors include a Global Feminist Spotlight from the Nobel Women’s Initiative, a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, a Sundance Theatre Fellowship, the Nordic Africa Institute African Writer Fellowship, the Jozi Book Fair Guest Writer Award, the Voices of Our Nations poetry award, the Fanny-Ann Eddy Poetry Award, and the BrittlePaper Anniversary Award.

Patel is a founding member of Kenyans For Peace, Truth and Justice, a civil society coalition which works for equitable democracy in Kenya. The African Women's Development Fund named her one of Fifty Inspirational African Feminists, ELLE India Magazine selected her as one of its 25 New Guard Influencers, and Poetry Africa honored her as Letters To Dennis Poet, continuing the legacy of renowned anti-apartheid activist poet Dennis Brutus. She represented Kenya at the London Cultural Olympiad's Poetry Parnassus. Her work features in the Smithsonian Museum's groundbreaking Beyond Bollywood exhibition.

Patel is the Public Affairs Editor for the Massachusetts Review. From 2019-2022, she was a Research Associate at Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, in Western Massachusetts.

Photo courtesy of © Marco Giugliarelli for the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, 2023

Marina Dominguez

pittsfield

Marina Dominguez, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her journey to the United States began seven years ago, when she arrived in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. Having spent her early career in the corporate world in Argentina, she acknowledged and felt deep gratitude that the minute she set foot in the Berkshires, a profound connection with art was sparked and an awakening and journey of self-discovery began.

During this time of solitude as an immigrant, she unearthed her deep love for music and embarked on a journey as a drummer in a Brazilian music group called Berkshire Batería. She also discovered her passion for dance, diving into classes and performances. Since childhood, photography had always held a special place in her heart. She seized the opportunity to work diligently, save money, and six years ago, she was able to own her very first camera.

Over time, she came to recognize both her personal need as an immigrant and the shared need of other immigrants also living in the Berkshires, to create a place of community where - as immigrants - could cultivate a place and sense of belonging. This community would serve as a platform for open discussions about experiences, emotions, and requirements to freely express themselves. Marina became determined to find this space of community; where she could express herself authentically, and she started to realize the possibility of amalgamating all her knowledge and insights into creating a collective space for mutual sharing.

She has experienced incredible personal and artistic growth through her affiliation with this creative community called Katunemo. They have helped Marina to explore different avenues and mediums. Although she primarily identifies as a photographer, she has ventured into a fusion of photography and painting. This fusion allows her to encapsulate intangible emotions and thoughts, translating them into tangible visual representations. Through her body of work, Marina strives to convey the energies, connections, and knowledge exchanges among people, as well as the unique vitality we infuse into the spaces we inhabit.

Calvin Gimpelevich is an NEA Fellow, the recipient of a Lambda Literary Award, and the author of Invasions (Instar 2018). His work has been recognized by Artist Trust, Jack Straw Cultural Center, 4Culture, CODEX/Writer’s Block and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts; it has appeared or is forthcoming in A Public Space, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, and The Best American Essays 2022. He is at work on several novels.

Headshot by Cameron Day O'Connell

DaNice is a Boston high school graduate. In 2023, she became a Mass Cultural Council Visual Arts Award recipient. She lives with her husband of 33 years, Ben and their dog Tigger, outside of Boston.

“I am an artist who believes that people are more alike than we are different. My name is DaNice D Marshall (pronounced Duh-NYSE) I’m a born writer, who became a visual artist in 2016, after being stricken with Granulomatosis with Polyiingitis, a serious and rare disease. After 28 days in the hospital, I was sent home, unable to walk without a cane, unable to concentrate to write, and partially deaf.
Doctors told me to do nothing, which I translated to mean paint. I started to paint abstracts, mostly to watch the paint dry. Eventually my work evolved to the portraiture art that I make today.

I paint portraiture art as much to record ordinary activities of life, as much to show the viewer that we all laugh and have moments of joy. These moments are a source of light, a familiar thread, a human story that acts as a reminder that we are more alike than we are different. I hope my art makes the viewer smile just a little, at least on the inside.”

Tammi Jean Fedestin (she/her) is a visual artist based in Massachusetts whose practice includes printmaking, collage, and mixed media work. Her surreal and vibrant pieces explore the beauty and humor found in what's strange, grotesque, frightful, and sometimes downright traumatic. She holds a BA in Arts Management from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). While in school, Tammi studied under the letterpress artist  Melanie Mowinski and gained a love of bookmaking and printmaking.

As a queer Haitian woman, many expectations were thrust upon Tammi by loved ones, the education system, and society as a whole. As she shifted and changed to become the “perfect, dependable, strong black woman,” she lost her sense of self and discarded her own thoughts and feelings as incorrect. Through her work, Tammi is unveiling and becoming re-acquainted with the hidden aspects of her identity.

Tammi hopes her work will make others feel seen and understood, especially other Haitian girls who may find themselves shifting and changing for the world. She hopes that others will see her work and take on the challenge to find beauty in what they have hidden within themselves.

Headshot by Jen Vesp

Felipe Shibuya

Brookline

Felipe Shibuya is a Brazilian ecologist and visual artist. His journey began when he completed his PhD in Ecology and Nature Conservation at the Federal University of Paraná. Subsequently, he chose to delve deeper into the visual aspects of his research, moving beyond just the scientific perspective. He also holds an MFA in Studio Art from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he worked with pigmented bacteria, intending to understand how the colors they synthesize could be communication signals for humans. Being a scientist-artist enables Shibuya to explore different forms of life, from bacteria to trees, using various methods, from microbiological culture to videos. However, all of his work involves aspects of his own identity, and he always emphasizes the visuality of nature. Shibuya's unique blend of art and science has gained international recognition, exhibiting his work around the world. He also has had citations published in magazines and journals such as National Geographic, Citylab, and Ecology.

“As a visual artist and scientist, I delve into the enthralling nexus of art and science, focusing particularly on biology and ecology. My work aims to reveal nature's visuality in its colors, shapes, and patterns. By converting intricate scientific data into digestible content, I aim to democratize knowledge and pique curiosity, thereby encouraging a more enlightened, engaged and just society. In my work, I harmoniously blend different forms of media with scientific methods, which includes elements like sculptures, videos, bacterial cultures, and biomaterials. This fusion of art and science, made possible by my wide-ranging background, encourages a holistic approach that transcends "traditional" disciplinary boundaries.”

Lily Xie

boston

Lily Xie (she/they) is a Chinese-American artist and educator whose socially-engaged work explores desire, memory, and self-actualization for communities of color. In collaboration with local residents and grassroots organizers, she facilitates creative projects with a focus on public space, housing, and racial justice. The work they create together often takes shape in illustration, print media, video, and installation. Lily is a City of Boston Artist-in-Residence and she holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT.

Karmimadeebora McMillan is an interdisciplinary artist working in painting, printmaking, sculpture, animation, installation, and public art. McMillan has an AFA from Peace College, received her MFA and Post Baccalaureate Certificate from SMFA at Tufts and received her BA from her hometown in Fayetteville, NC, at HBCU, Fayetteville State University.

After graduate school McMillan worked with street artist Swoon as her business manager and helped start her non-profit Heliotrope Foundation.

McMillan has shown extensively on the east coast and in 2021 received the Now + There public artists grant and is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. She has performed with her mentor Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Queens Museum in New York, and the Havana, Cuba Biennale 15.

Karmimadeebora is a working artist in Cambridge, MA and the Director of the Post Baccalaureate Program with SMFA at Tufts University. She is currently pursuing an Interdisciplinary PhD through Tufts University focusing on Black Women of Power.

Headshot by Melissa Blackall.

Sharon Amuguni

worcester

Sharon Amuguni is a poet and creator whose practice includes papier mache, fiber arts, craft, and paper arts. Her artmaking is an extension of her poetry and is often fueled by play, experimentation, and flights of fancy. She was featured in Mass Poetry’s Raining Poetry project and was an Assets for Artist Worcester Business of Art 2023 cohort member. She has an MA in Civic Media Art and Practice (Media Design) from Emerson and has worked as an arts administrator for several years. In addition to working on her own practice, she also offers grant application support and other creative practice support services to fellow artists, community organizations, and nonprofits through her sister site, sharonmakes.work.