Kanisha Dabreo
Kanisha Dabreo is a Caribbean-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, digital designer, and founder of Artistic Perception based in Brampton. During her free time, she enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures and ways of life. For her, community involvement is vital and a form of activism. Her aim is to inspire others by highlighting the beauty of diversity and culture through visual arts.
Jason O'Brien
Jason O'Brien, explores soulful, introspective themes of the human condition, celebrating love, spirituality, strength, vulnerability, connectedness, and human resilience. His work, a collection of personal thoughts and aspirations, draws from Black-Afrocentric culture, literature, music, fashion, and pop culture, is translated through heroic subjects to communicate his concepts. A graduate of OCAD University in Toronto, Jason produces large gallery canvas works using rich, vibrant acrylic paints and various drawing mediums. He also creates emotionally stunning digital works using his iPad, blending reality, the surreal, and Afro-futurism. Through his art, Jason invites viewers on a journey to examine his interpretations of what makes us "Beautifully Human," hoping they see pieces of themselves reflected back.
Jamera Dacosta
Jamera specializes in acrylic, oil pastel, and digital painting, exploring vibrancy of Caribbean heritage into her creative expression. She holds a Bachelor of Technology in Graphic Communications Management from TMU. Jamera's work explores ideologies, concepts, and culture using bold colors and intricate layering of organic shapes.
Jamera finds fulfillment in nurturing young minds and fostering creativity through art coordination, helping aspiring artists embrace their imagination. She aspires to engage audiences, provoke thought, and enrich the art world with fresh perspectives.
Komi Olafimihan
Komi Olafimihan, a Toronto-based visual artist who was born in Nigeria, works in the fields of painting, digital illustration, and mural art. His work has received praise for his skill in utilizing image, metaphor, symbolism, and cultural commentary to address ideas of decolonization through the lens of Afrofuturism, an artistic and cultural movement that examines African culture and its intersection with present and future technologies. He holds an M. Arch from Carleton University.
Mentees
A.Y. Johnson
A.Y. Johnson is a Nigerian artist based in Brampton, Ontario. Her artistic queries surround themes of afro-centric social issues, black feminist dialogue, and exploration of her Yoruba heritage. Johnson is a graduate from OCAD U with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. On this project she learned more about the logistics of public art installations and furthered her understanding of Afrofuturism connections to her family's history.
Denée Rudder
Denée Rudder holds a Master of Professional Communication with a solid background in journalism with skills in public relations, digital marketing, and multimedia storytelling. Her professional journey focuses on wellness, entrepreneurship, and social justice, particularly environmental justice.
Denée's achievements include being named among the "Top 100 Black Women to Watch," receiving the Black Diamond Ball Community Award, and winning the Associate Dean of Scholarly Research Award and the Penny Park Travel Journalism Award from Toronto Metropolitan University for her research and interactive map on environmental racism in Canada. During this project she learned more about project management for public art and different aspects that go into a sculptural fabrication process.
Rihanna Graham
Graham is known by her peers as a hard worker and creative burst of light. Rihanna, at the time of this project, was a student from Chinguacousy Secondary School with a special interest in art and the power of creative expression.
For this project Rihanna had the opportunity to be a jury member and a project mentee where she got to learn more about Afrofuturism and what kind of logistics goes into making a public art project.
Malachi Watson-Narcisse
Malachi is a Brampton based artist/creative. His art uses a visual vocabulary that includes contrast, colour and balance to highlight a diverse range of subjects with the hope of fostering a sense of community and connection. On this project Malachi sought to learn more about finding the right person or company in public art to work with.
Astrosankofa
AstroSankofa Arts Initiatives is a Black artist collective and federally recognized inter-art non-profit organization that strives to elevate Black creatives' visibility through accessible Afrofuturistic inspired art experiences, including public art projects, community programming, exhibitions, curation and cutting-edge integration of AR, VR, XR and rapid prototyping. Our motto is "ancestrally brilliant, futuristic bold - inspiring with forward movement while building on the past for all of our futures."
Each initiative we pursue is intergenerational and aims to reinstate the power of arts and the Black community's connection to their ancestral roots to improve the future.
For the Emancipation Park public art project, AstroSankofa stewarded and managed the project, hosting several community consultations and conducting the artist call which had over 50 applicants. In the later stages of the Emancipation public art project, AstroSankofa provided logistical and coordination support for the selected artist while providing various mentorship opportunities to other local aspiring Black artists.
