Summer Greetings Everyone,
I hope you are finding moments of respite and renewal and centering your own happiness during these troubling times. It’s been two whole seasons since our last newsletter and we are looking forward to engaging on a more regular basis in the coming months. On a few personal notes, my partner and I recently bought a house in my hometown of Detroit, MI and now live and work “bi-coastal” between the Bay Area and Motown! Whatupdoe!
Also, I am excited to be working with the Wallace Foundation in collaboration with Eastside Arts Alliance and the Black Cultural Zone to investigate Black archives and document sustainable models of POC led artist organizations across the United States.
Lastly, I am honored to join the Headlands Center for the Arts prestigious family of creatives as an Artist-In-Residence this Fall, where I will be transcribing interviews for my upcoming book.
Please enjoy this newsletter as we celebrate creatives who continue to respond to our urgent needs for joy, wellness and community and check out the recent updates to our website!

In Love,
Ashara

Isha (She/They) joins the Artist As First Responder team as a Curatorial Assistant. Isha is an Ayitian-American multi-sensory artist who creates worlds the way black womxn have always created: out of vision, love, and necessity. Isha is a community organizer and visionary director of the Black Freedom Fellowship, a movement she founded to generate spaces and resources for Black and Indigenous artist-activists to create vital futures.

Congratulations to Dr. Ra Malika Imhotep, AAFR’s Black Writer’s Resident whose book, Gossypiin, dropped in April.

Gossypiin is an offering towards the holding and healing of Black beings that exceed the confines of their own bodies.

Join us for the launch of this community fellowship experience series designed specifically for men-of-color that aims to foster an environment where fathers, brothers, uncles and sons can meet to connect, reflect, and build together for wellness.

Hosted by AAFR Social Economy Engagement Fellow Christian Walker and artist and community organizer Karega Bailey of Sol Affirmations.

Thursday, June 16 | 6 - 8:30pm
Studios Store, 3319 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland 94610

Collective Arising: The Insistence of Black Bay Area Artists is curated by Ashara Ekundayo and Lucia Olubunmi R. Momoh and features art by contemporary Black artists who have participated in interdisciplinary collectives which have served both the revolutionary and creative practices of Black, queer, and femme people across the African Diaspora.

Opening Day, Saturday, June 25th, 11a-430p FREE
Opening Reception, 5p, $10

RSVP HERE

Curator Tour & Artist Talk w/ Adrian Octavius Walker,
Sunday, June 26th, 2p, FREE w/ Museum Admission

Museum of Sonoma County - 425 Seventh St. Santa Rosa CA, 95401

On May 8, 2022, Artist As First Responder partnered with Black [Space] Residency and Black Feast to host a Mother’s Day Open Studio to share space, culinary genius and literary sustenance. Sponsored by the YBCA Artist Convening Grant.