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Sista Creatives Rising (3000 × 3000 px).png
The Sista Creatives Rising logo is a circular yellow logo. Inside is a large Black woman meditating. Her hands are cupped with a sprout inside. Her head is a pink lotus. Behind her is a drawing of a stylized sun with rays shooting outward. Above the sun says “SISTA CREATIVES RISING.” Art by Amaranthia Sepia
A photo of Claire (sitting on the right) and Amaranthia (standing on the left). Claire is a bald older black woman holding a canein front of her. Amaranthia is a young Black woman with long locs. She is holding the Sista Creatives Rising logo above Claire's head. The iamge is in a handdrawn sunflower and vine frame.

Mission

"To help creative marginalized women and marginalized genders gain accessibility and visibility in the arts to facilitate personal healing."

- Claire Jones and Amaranthia Sepia

Mother-Daughter Team & Creators of Sista Creatives Rising

 

A Black Disabled Women Owned Project

About

Sista Creatives Rising (SCR) is a project and concept founded by Black, invisibly disabled mother-daughter duo Claire Jones (age 60) and Amaranthia Sepia (age 23). Together, under SCR they develop disability-accessible events focused on marginalized women and marginalized genders called "Art & Mind." We are a grassroots project, not an organization or non-profit

SCR seeks to strengthen our community by increasing the visibility of these artists and providing them with affordable and accessible resources. At the same time, we're working to address the lack of payment artists receive when accepted by open calls. One way we're doing this is by developing our Sistas Uprising Fund!

If our work resonates with you, we'd love to present your artistry!
 

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Home: About
Despite the fast-paced rise of diversity in America, marginalized creatives are still underrepresented in the arts.
“Female museum employee hires rose 2% in 2015. Women in museum leadership roles rose from 57% in 2015 to 62 percent in 2018. There is still a long way to go regarding ethnic/racial diversity in these leadership roles in large museums.”- “Museums Are Becoming More Diverse, but There’s Still Work to Do,” Benjamin Sutton, Artsy.net, Feb 8th 2019
“A study found that 85% of artists in U.S. museum collections are white, and 87% are male.”William H. Frey, Brookings.edu, March 14, 2018 (Study: Diversity of Artists in Major U.S. Museums by The Public Library of Science, 2019)

Sponsored By

Brain Arts Org Logo
Dancing Queerly Logo

2023 Recipients Of

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View Our Intro Video Below

Learn more about our work!

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Art & Mind Sunflower Logo with green vines interwoven.
Art by Amaranthia Sepia. The background is watercolor salmon and mottled pink fading into white in the upper right hand corner. Standing in varying positions are Black and brown people. Their bodies are styled in a abstract mosaic of swirls of greens, browns, yellows. Their heads are represented by flowers.

Awareness, Education And Inclusivity Through The Arts

Woman 2 (Middle): A light skinned woman with an icy blue flower head is shown. Her body is decorated in swirls of hand painted designs of light and dark blues and purple.
Woman 1 (Left): A brown skinned woman with a purple flower head is shown. Her body is decorated in swirls of hand painted designs of fuchsia, purple and pink.
Woman 3 (Right): A dark skinned woman with a soft pink flower head is shown. Her body is decorated in swirls of hand painted designs of light and greens.
SCR develops a grassroots charitable art event and virtual gallery art show, "Art & Mind," which supports creative marginalized women and marginalized genders to share their journeys. This event uses short films, documentaries, entrepreneur features, and speaking engagements from professionals such as therapists and activists to raise awareness about social issues these creatives face.

These shows are in collaboration with Brain Arts Org & Dancing Queerly Boston, which supports

marginalized creatives in Boston.
Share your experience with COVID-19 as a Black COVID Cautious Person with NAACP Seacoast (
"An experience of collective pain does not deliver us from grief or sadness; it is a ministry of presence." - Brené Brown

Call For Black & Still COVIDing Stories

As part of our work for Sista Creatives Rising, we advocate for virtual and hybrid spaces for disabled, chronically ill/immunocompromised people, along with people who aren't disabled but want to stay safe. We are disabled and immunocompromised ourselves. As a result, we are still masking, and "Still COVIDing." With mask mandates fading,  especially in healthcare,  many of us are restricted to our homes. Since Black people are disproportionately affected by COVID, we're looking for Black people to share their stories. The slideshow containing these stories, titled "Black And Still COVIDing: Stories of Separation, Isolation, Disability and Hope," will be continuously updated. It will be shared with organizations focusing on Black social justice issues, BIPOC experiences, marginalized identities, disability, mental health, health and wellness, and artist organizations. 

 

Claire Jones

CREATIVE, WRITER, DV SURVIVORS ADVOCATE, CANCER SURVIVOR

In one week in March 2022, days after launching Sista Creatives Rising with her daughter Amaranthia, Claire lost her mobility by the hour. Enduring emergency surgery to remove a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma from her spine, she let go of all delusions and illusions about her health. Claire is now within the 1% category to walk again after such surgery. Now in remission, Claire redetermined to help marginalized women gain inner strength by accessing their artistic side.

 

A Buddhist and Frances Perkins Scholar, Claire's journey to scholarship began during her childhood in Barbados when she sought relief from the chaos of living under domestic violence. Claire uses her creative works and writings to encourage women trauma-survivors to utilize art for self-improvement. In the 1990s, standing at The Door of No Return in Senegal, where enslaved people last saw their homeland, she reaffirmed her purpose: to overcome intergenerational trauma.

Claire Jones, a brown-skinned older Black woman shown in a circular portrait with a bald head, red large, funky glasses, silver and red garnet nose ring and gold eyeglass chain. She has a relaxed, slight smile, and is wearing a black top with a zebra print scarf.
Home: About

Amaranthia Sepia

ART COORDINATOR, CREATIVE, MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE

Amaranthia Sepia, a brown skinned Black woman with long locs looks at the camera with a slight smile.

Amaranthia Sepia feels it's critical to use her voice to facilitate representation of marginalized women. As a Buddhist Black, invisibly disabled woman with C-PTSD, panic disorder, and agoraphobia, she highlights unconventional experiences through art.  Currently she's a resident of Socially Distant Art, a residency focusing on disabled creatives.

 

Returning to America after spending her childhood in Japan, Sepia was severely bullied. Creating works based on fond memories of Tokyo taught her the healing power of art. Since 13, she's coordinated art events on anti-bullying advocacy, BLM, disability, and women's mental health. Now 23, she provides these groups tools for utilizing their creativity to gain confidence to make a difference in their communities.

Home: About

Meena-Serenity

FEEL-GOOD AMBASSADOR, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL (ESA)

A photo of a domestic shorthair white cat with gorgeous green eyes. She is lying down under a thin white blanket.

Meena-Serenity is a four-year-old white rescue cat who's fueled by cuddles, kisses, hugs, and playtime. She loves to race around the house and gallop while playing chase. She is Amaranthia's ESA, but Meena also deals with anxiety and PTSD symptoms. Meena and Amaranthia have the same birthday. Meena loves to sit in windows and often invites her Big Momma, Claire, to watch. Claire has to pretend she is excited about seeing nothing as Meena purrs contentedly while sitting on her stool. She loves to cuddle with Little Momma, Amaranthia under the blankets every morning.

 

Meena is a rescue we found online through Rutherford County Humane Society in 2019.

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Claire (on left) and Amaranthia (on right) are both holding a collaborative work, "Curls and Curves" showing three dark-skinned Black women with stylized multi-hued hair.

Testimonials

Home: Testimonials
Brain Arts Logo

The 2021 Art & Mind project generously chose our nonprofit as a beneficiary. They gave us a chance to get back to our community, and I'm so grateful to Amaranthia, Claire and their volunteers for that. The documentary and video work was excellent and showcased all different and super talented artists. 

"Curls and Curves"a digital painting. Three voluptuous Black women with thick natural hair.

Contact

General Inquiry
Art  & Mind Inquiries
Virtual Workshop/Presentation Inquiries
Virtual Speaking Engagements
Virtual Media Interview

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