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The website banner is of a digitally drawn sunflower field. These sunflowers are a mustard yellow with orange highlights. The centers of the sunflowers are brown and black. The sunflowers fade into the background, leading to green and grey mountains with an abstract curly pattern at their bases. The mountains are rounded at the top, and fade into a whitish green. The sky is blue with white paint splotches and swirls as clouds. The graphic says: Sista Creatives Rising Presents: Art & Mind I Know Who I Am! Journeys of Women of Color & Femme-Expressing Creatives. Virtual Fundraiser & Film Event Zoom: October 5th 6:30 - 8:30 PM EST The Art & Mind logo is hand drawn white text with a black outline. It’s slightly curved. Green vines are intertwined into the logo, with two large sunflowers at either side of the logo.
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Image shows slightly faded digitally drawn sunflowers. These sunflowers are a mustard yellow with orange highlights. The centers of the sunflowers are brown and black. The sunflowers fade into the background. You can see the sunflower stems and leaves on the sunflowers near the front.

About The Event
Utilizing ProBono ASL, Open Captions & Auto-Captioning
Art by Amaranthia Sepia

"I Know Who I Am!" is a virtual Zoom event occuring on October 5th, @6:30 - 8:30 PM EST showcasing a collection of women of color and femme-expressing folks of color finding solace and healing in art.  Our five chosen artists, through narrative videos totaling to a 20 minute documentary, will discuss their lived experience with subjects around race, gender, disability, mental health, immigration and more, and how art serves as a healing tool for them. Artworks and videos will be showcased after the event on virtual interactive gallery platform, Kuntsmatrix.com and our YouTube Channel, Art & Mind Series. Alt text & image descriptions included.

 

In addition, co-founder Claire Jones will have a documentary showcase about her journey through cancer, titled, "A 50% Chance of Paralysis: Get Ahead of Life Before Life Gets Ahead of You!"

The event will focus on disability, health disparities amongst BIWOC & femmes of color, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on disabled, immunocompromised and chronically ill folks of color.
 
We are disabled and immunocompromised ourselves. As a result, we are still masking, and "Still COVIDing."

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Our show will also include talks from Black activists - immunocompromised COVID Conscious Therapist Speaker Amanda McGuire, MC and Therapist Journee LaFond, Disability Speaker Jacquese Armstrong and a feature showcasing our art direction team.

 

Speakers, artists & team members  will participate in a Q & A. 

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The Sistas Uprising Fund logo is a circular logo. Inside, to the upper left corner, is a stylized blazing sun overlooking pink and yellow lotus flowers and bright green Lily pads. To the upper right are two hands, inspired by Co-founder Claire’s hands wearing a silver frog ring and silver yin and yang ring holding a tiny metal watering can covered in multi-colored paint splats. Rainbow-hued water is inside the watering can. The can is pouring rainbow-hued water onto a brown hand below, holding two lotus sprouts in the middle of their palm. The background is a watercolor style of blue and white. Outside of the logo at the top is curved text that says “SISTA CREATIVES RISING PRESENTS.” Curved at the bottom, it says “THE SISTAS UPRISING FUND.”

We're using this event to raise funds for the Sistas Uprising Fund, where 100% of proceeds will become grants for women of color & femme-expressing creatives of color.

 

Our goal is to raise $1000 and distribute $200 to five artists!

Sponsored by Brain Arts Org, all five artists who were selected from our open call are compensated a total of $200 USD each. 

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Keep Scrolling To View Documentary Info, Speakers, Our Team & Accessibility Info

The Five Art & Mind Documentary Artists

Blue watercolor background

Documentary: "Get Ahead of Life Before Life Get's Ahead of You"

In addition, a 25-30-minute documentary will  showcase co-founder Claire's cancer journey. 

 

 

​Sponsored by Dancing Queerly Boston, Claire faces her trauma by navigating physical and occupational therapy to be one of the 1% that can walk again after high-risk surgery. This showcase reflects how stereotypes, misogynoir, and expectations placed on Black women of the diaspora can manifest as health crises. It will highlight the fear several Black women have of American healthcare.

FEATURING A PLETHORA OF ART:

- ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY AUSTRALIAN DISABILITY ACTIVIST MEL CHILIANIS

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- CLAIRE'S ORIGINAL SPOKEN WORD POEMS PAIRED WITH PERFORMANCE ART

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- VISUAL NARRATIVES AND INTERVIEWS BETWEEN CLAIRE & HER DAUGHTER, CO-CREATOR AMARANTHIA SEPIA

White sunflower outlines repeated on a navy blue background.

Initiative Statement

Intergenerational dysfunctions linked to race, sexuality, and gender can subconsciously impact the lives of women of color and *femme-expressing folks of color, complicating our relationship with ourselves. The basis of several of these issues can be linked back to the chaos and destruction caused by colonialism. Confronting these issues through creative and artistic endeavors can catalyze us to embrace ourselves as whole, healthy beings.

 

We're developing a disability-accessible virtual gallery and virtual reception where creative women of color and femme-expressing folks of color can discuss their experiences with various social issues.  These stories show how art can be used to empower yourself and for emotional & spiritual healing. We hope our efforts to bring folks together to tell these triumphant, empowering stories will spark healing discussions across cultures and communities, resulting in solidarity.

Watercolor painted sunflowers on a mustard yellow background. Blue leaves are painted like they're floating around the flowers.

*Femme is a term used in LGBTQ+ circles that describes one's gender expression. It further explains how a person exists in society, such as a non-binary femme or trans-femme. 'Woman' describes gender identity, where 'femme' is a gender expression.

Learn More

soft green background with dark green vector style vines.

Our 2023 Speakers

Amanda McGuire, a darkskinned Black woman. looks past the camera. Her right hand is resting under her chin. Her hair is pulled back in short braids close to her head. She is wearing eyeliner and purple lipstick with large earrings. Amanda is wearing a low cut longsleeve black shirt. Her round photo is in a sunflower green vine frame mady by Amaranthia.

 

(She/Her)

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Supporting BIPoC, LGTBQIA2s+, women, children (6+), adolescents, and couples. Amanda recognizes we are living in uncertain times. As an immunocompromised person, she offers therapeutic support to those who are immunocompromised and navigating a new way of living.

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MA, CMHC

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Black non-binary person in their mid-30's with shoulder-length auburn locs is smiling at the camera. The photo is close-up, with a gray wall and green foliage visible in the background. They are wearing a denim jacket and a floral button-down shirt. Their round photo is in a sunflower green vine frame mady by Amaranthia.

 

(They/Them)

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Advocating for social justice and equity for marginalized peoples with a focus on LGBTQ & QTBIPOC youth issues. Teens, elders, young children and adults have the ability to address trauma, life transitions, sexuality/gender issues, relationships and more. Journee wants you to feel empowered and validated.

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MSW

Jacquese is wearing round black rimmed glasses. She is a 61 year old Black woman with a closed lipped smile, up close to the camera. She has tightly coiled salt and pepper short hair. Her right hand is resting under her chin. Her round photo is in a sunflower green vine frame mady by Amaranthia.

 

(She/Her)

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A graduate of Univiersity of Toledo with a B.A. in Journalism, Jacquese chooses to focus on self-care & emotional wellness workshops, using the arts as raw materials. She received the 2019 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award & 2015 Ambassador Award from New Jersey's Governor's Council on Mental Health Stigma.

 

Poet

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"Art & Mind" Event Page: Welcome
soft green background with dark green vector style vines.

Meet The "I Know Who I Am!" Team!

Select images to learn about each member

Accessibility

We will develop a disability-accessible gallery through Kuntsmatrix.com, a virtual gallery platform. We are utilizing guidance from Amaranthia Sepia's disability-focused residency Socially Distant Art.  Amaranthia joined the cohort in August 2022. ProBono ASL will be utilized for our live event.

Our team of change-makers, including activists from Indonesia, Australia, RI, CA, MA, and NH will accomplish tasks such as content warnings, open captioning, auto captioning, tech assistance during the Zoom reception, free mental health guidance/resources and more. All speakers will Self-ID before presenting. This is also included in our documentaries. Artist videos contain artwork descriptions as well.

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All featured videos will be captioned, and all gallery works will be accompanied with image descriptions and video descriptions.

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A pattern design showcasing vector art of disabled folks doing regular activities with their friends and family. Some poeple are in wheelchairs, playing with their kids while using objects of accessibility such as walking devices, etc. The colors are vibrant.
Two large women with sunflowers as heads worship the sun and sky. On the left is a woman with a yellow sunflower head facing upward. Her arms are upward like she's celebrating. Her right hand is amputated. Her body is a combination of swirls of yellows, golds and browns, and she's covered in green vine and leaf designs On the right is a woman with a red and yellow sunflower head. Her skin has similar patterns, but she has darker brown tones mixed with reds. Her hands are clasped together like she's praying. In the corner is the SCR logo.
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
"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

info@sistacreativesrising.com

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"Art & Mind" Event Page: Contact
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