Press Release Wednesday, August 6, 2025 Marcella Brown Leads moCa Cleveland Board as President Cleveland, Ohio— (August 5, 2025) The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa) is proud to announce the appointment of Marcella Brown as the new President of its Board of Directors. Brown, who first joined moCa’s Board in 2019 and has served as Vice President since 2022, brings deep experience in nonprofit leadership, philanthropic engagement, and values-driven strategy. A champion for community and creativity, Brown was instrumental in steering the Board committee that shaped moCa’s updated mission, vision, and values. She was recently announced as the incoming Executive Director for the Rainey Institute, a Cleveland-based non-profit community arts center dedicated to engaging Cleveland’s youth through dance, drama, music, and visual arts. Brown currently serves as Vice President of Development & Communications at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM), where she advances the agency’s vision of hope, fair chances, and stability. Her professional and volunteer leadership reflect a strong commitment to community empowerment and equity. She also serves as Board Member and Scholarship & Programs Chair for the Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation, Co-Chair of the Board Marketing Committee for BankOn Cleveland, and Board Member of the We Raise Foundation. Named one of Crain’s Cleveland Business 2024 Notable Black Leaders, Brown is widely respected for her collaborative approach and deep belief in the power of storytelling and service. “We are thrilled to welcome Marcella as our new Board President,” said moCa’s Kohl Executive Director Megan Lykins Reich. “Her energy, warmth, and strategic insight reflect moCa’s mission to be a radically welcoming and engaging museum for all. Marcella’s leadership will further strengthen our ability to push the boundaries of artistic excellence, community connection, and cultural experimentation.” Brown expressed her enthusiasm for this next chapter, stating: “moCa now lives at the intersection of art, progress, curiosity, and community. As board chair, I am honored and humbled to invite people from communities near and far to come out and experience contemporary art, whether they seek fun, fascination, or the unfamiliar. We want to see you at moCa!” She will be joined in Board leadership by newly appointed officers: Casey Monda as Vice President, Jason Smith as Treasurer, and Jonathan Kurtz as Secretary. Together, this team will work closely with moCa’s executive staff to guide the museum’s strategic vision and community engagement goals. moCa’s outgoing President, Steve Sokany, who completes a four-year tenure, reflects on his experience: “It has been an honor and privilege to serve as moCa Cleveland's Board President for the last two years. Megan's strong leadership, coupled with the staff's efforts and the board's commitment, have aligned around our mission Art Now, in progress , to create exciting momentum that Marcella will continue to foster.” In addition to its new leadership slate, moCa is excited to welcome three new Board Members: ● Grafton Nunes , former President and CEO of the Cleveland Institute of Art ● Susan Petersen , attorney with Petersen & Petersen ● Michael Weil , PhD , owner of Foothills Gallery These new board leaders will work alongside moCa’s active and emeritus board to creatively steward the museum’s vital program, partnerships, and cultural impact. ABOUT moCa CLEVELAND For more than 50 years, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa) has played a vital role in the city’s cultural landscape. moCa is a conduit and catalyst for creativity and inspiration, offering exhibitions and programs that provide public value and make meaning of the art and ideas of our time. Since its founding in 1968, moCa has presented the works of more than three thousand artists, often through artists’ first solo shows. Soon after its founding, moCa was the first in the region to exhibit the works of many vanguard artists such as Laurie Anderson, Christo, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Adrian Piper, and Andy Warhol. Recent artist commissions and solo exhibitions include work by Tauba Auerbach, Aleksandra Domanović, Michelle Grabner, Byron Kim, Ragnar Kjartansson, Tony Lewis, Catherine Opie, Adam Pendleton, Sondra Perry, Joyce J. Scott, Do Ho Suh, Liu Wei, Renée Green, Nina Chanel Abney, Finnegan Shannon, Manabu Ikeda, and Clotilde Jiménez, among many others. MUSEUM HOURS Thursday & Friday : 1-8PM Saturday & Sunday : 11AM-5PM Holiday hours available at mocacleveland.org 2025 Institutional Sponsors Leadership donors supporting moCa's mission include gifts to Art Now: Anonymous, Yuval Brisker, Joanne Cohen & Morris Wheeler, Margaret Cohen & Kevin Rahilly, Dealer Tire, Agnes Gund, Jan Lewis, Roy Minoff, The Robert H. Reakirt Foundation, and The Sunday Painter; Connecting Audiences: Dick & Doreen Cahoon, The Cleveland Foundation, The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation, David & Inez Myers Foundation, PNC, the Nord Family Foundation, and Nicholas & Erin Reif; and Sustaining Pathways: The Callahan Foundation, Grosvie & Charlie Cooley, Becky Dunn, Harriet Goldberg, Google.org , the Leonard Krieger Fund of the Cleveland Foundation, the John P. Murphy Foundation, Boake Sells, and Edward Smith. moCa Cleveland also receives lead institutional support in part from the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the continuing support of the museum’s Board of Directors, patrons, and members. Media Contact Matthew Dennis moCa Cleveland Tel: 216.399.0077 ex.817 Cell: 216.554.7310 mdennis@mocacleveland.org Previous Next

1ea9ee37-7c87-4c91-ae51-621509cf702a The Building Sat. Mar 16, 2024 9PM-1:30AM Vera Twins Connect to CREATIVITY Kick off an amazing night with a special talk with artists Kelby and Kelvin Vera. The brothers, who recently had their debuts at Miami Basel and NY Fashion Week, will unveil a new collection of paintings. The Vera Twins will share their unique "connect" and how they create art together. Then, hit the floor as moCa's iconic building turns into a dance club as DJs Ryan Wolf, Flaco Flash, and Yulissa spin 'til 1:30AM. $25 advance ($30 at door) Valet available SPONSORED BY GLOW Cleveland $25 advance ($30 at door) Valet available SPONSORED BY GLOW Cleveland $25 advance ($30 at door) Valet available SPONSORED BY GLOW Cleveland Host Committee Stina Aleah Michaella Angelo Drew Bobinski Shaun Crawford Thomas Fox Arnold Hines Original Artwork Raffle The Vera Twins have also donated a one-of-a-kind Vera Twins painting that will be raffled off onsite on Mar 16! Enter onsite by QR before 10:45PM. Artwork raffle details: In person QR raffle entries when doors open at 9PM. Must be present during the artist talk for a chance to win. Raffle entries end at 10:45PM. Original artwork valued at $3,500. GET TICKETS 2 ways to take home Vera Twins Art! Limited edition T-shirt Love is in the air! The Vera Twins strive for equality and unity which comes from their life experience and understanding that everyone they meet has lived through challenges. For that reason, in an often cold, divided world, the Twins choose to spread love. In light of spreading the message; The Vera Twins have exclusively curated this design for you as part of our moCa Connect Capsule Collection . Limited shirts will be available for purchase the night of Connect. 9PM: Doors Open 10PM: Artist Talk 11PM-1:30AM: Party! GET TICKETS About the Vera Twins When it comes to how the Vera Twins reach others, that inspiration comes in many forms. But if you ask them, the Vera Twins have a clear purpose. That purpose—this striving for equality and unity—comes from their life experience and understanding that everyone they meet is going through things. For that reason, in an often cold, divided world, the Twins choose to spread love. Connect ON THE FLOOR

Kelli Connell LISTEN ON APPLE LISTEN ON SPOTIFY LISTEN ON I HEART + more Kelli Connell’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, J Paul Getty Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, among others. Publications include Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis (Aperture and Center for Creative Photography, March 2024), PhotoWork: Forty Photographers on Process and Practice (Aperture), Photo Art: The New World of Photography (Aperture), and the monograph Kelli Connell: Double Life (DECODE Books). Connell has received fellowships and residencies from The Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell, PLAYA, Peaked Hill Trust, LATITUDE, Light Work and The Center for Creative Photography. Connell is a professor at Columbia College Chicago. + more Talks ↓ All Events moCa NOW moCa Saturday Parties Talks This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro. +more on the exhibition Kelli Connell: Double Life 52 min. Episode Guest: Kelli Connell Kelli Connell’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, J Paul Getty Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, among others. Publications include Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis (Aperture and Center for Creative Photography, March 2024), PhotoWork: Forty Photographers on Process and Practice (Aperture), Photo Art: The New World of Photography (Aperture), and the monograph Kelli Connell: Double Life (DECODE Books). Connell has received fellowships and residencies from The Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell, PLAYA, Peaked Hill Trust, LATITUDE, Light Work and The Center for Creative Photography. Connell is a professor at Columbia College Chicago. Episode Host: DJ Hellerman DJ Hellerman is the Deputy Director & Senior Curator at moCa Cleveland. A Northeast Ohio native, Hellerman holds an M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and began his career at the Progressive Art Collection. Prior to his work at moCa, he held the positions of Chief Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, PA, Curator at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, Curator of Arts & Programs at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York, and Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, Vermont. This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro. +more on the exhibition Kelli Connell: Double Life This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro. +more on the exhibition Kelli Connell: Double Life Artist Kelli Connell’s exhibition Double Life is at moCa Cleveland through January 4, 2026. In this podcast, Connell talks about the technical and compassionate aspects behind the making of her work, the relationship she has built working with long-time Double Life model Kiba Jacobson, and the way that a project's meaning can evolve over a 20 year timeframe. LISTEN ON APPLE LISTEN ON SPOTIFY LISTEN ON I HEART WATCH ON YOUTUBE LISTEN ON AMAZON

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more February 7, 2026 Family Canvas: Art in Nature 12-2:30PM at moCa Cleveland free for all SIGN UP This monthly program welcomes Metroparks naturalists each month at moCa as they facilitate interactive workshops focused on nature-based themes. Each session features three nature stations inside moCa and outside our front door in Cleveland Metroparks’ Mobile NatureTracks, alongside an immersive artmaking experience led by Wave Space Studio. Observe, reflect, and create while exploring the shared ground between ecological systems, contemporary art, and everyday experience. The program is connected to the exhibitions currently at moCa Cleveland, with a strong thematic anchor in Ohio Now: State of Nature . Participants are encouraged to consider how artists and naturalists alike use observation, experimentation, and curiosity to understand the world around them. Developed in partnership with moCa and the Cleveland Metroparks. Support for this program:

Erykah Townsend LISTEN ON APPLE LISTEN ON SPOTIFY LISTEN ON I HEART + more Erykah Townsend, also known as E.T., is a conceptual artist from Cleveland, Ohio. Her art boldly confronts and questions the role of pop culture in our lives. She states, “I use pop culture as a medium itself—exploring the spaces it fills in our lives and the inquiry of how real are the imaginary." Through reflective and humorous narratives, Townsend references art history and critiques consumerism and western culture, using characters, cultural icons, and objects as allegories for her criticism. In addition, her work includes elements from their original sources, providing the audience with a fresh and sentimental encounter. Townsend received her BFA in painting from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 2020. + more Talks ↓ All Events moCa NOW moCa Saturday Parties Talks This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro. +more on the exhibition Erykah Townsend: "Happy" Holidays 45 min. Episode Guest: Erykah Townsend Erykah Townsend, also known as E.T., is a conceptual artist from Cleveland, Ohio. Her art boldly confronts and questions the role of pop culture in our lives. She states, “I use pop culture as a medium itself—exploring the spaces it fills in our lives and the inquiry of how real are the imaginary." Through reflective and humorous narratives, Townsend references art history and critiques consumerism and western culture, using characters, cultural icons, and objects as allegories for her criticism. In addition, her work includes elements from their original sources, providing the audience with a fresh and sentimental encounter. Townsend received her BFA in painting from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 2020. Episode Host: DJ Hellerman DJ Hellerman is the Deputy Director & Senior Curator at moCa Cleveland. A Northeast Ohio native, Hellerman holds an M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and began his career at the Progressive Art Collection. Prior to his work at moCa, he held the positions of Chief Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, PA, Curator at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, Curator of Arts & Programs at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York, and Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, Vermont. This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro. +more on the exhibition Erykah Townsend: "Happy" Holidays This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro. +more on the exhibition Erykah Townsend: "Happy" Holidays Artist Erykah Townsend’s exhibition "Happy" Holidays is at moCa Cleveland through January 4, 2026. In this podcast, Townsend talks about the pressures of the holidays, the significance of handmade experiences, and how pop culture reveals the parts of life we sometimes ignore. LISTEN ON APPLE LISTEN ON SPOTIFY LISTEN ON I HEART WATCH ON YOUTUBE LISTEN ON AMAZON

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more 12-2:30PM Sat. April 4, 2026 Family Canvas: Art in Nature SIGN UP at moCa Cleveland Free to all This monthly program welcomes Metroparks naturalists each month at moCa as they facilitate interactive workshops focused on nature-based themes. Each session features three nature stations inside moCa and outside our front door in Cleveland Metroparks’ Mobile NatureTracks, alongside an immersive artmaking experience led by Wave Space Studio. Observe, reflect, and create while exploring the shared ground between ecological systems, contemporary art, and everyday experience. The program is connected to the exhibitions currently at moCa Cleveland, with a strong thematic anchor in Ohio Now: State of Nature . Participants are encouraged to consider how artists and naturalists alike use observation, experimentation, and curiosity to understand the world around them. Developed in partnership with moCa and the Cleveland Metroparks. Family Fun supported by PNC. Support for this program:

Studio Access w/ Manabu Ikeda Apr 26, 2024 Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season. About Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season. Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season.

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Thu. April 10, 2025 Mixology NOW at moCa Cleveland moCa NOW Donor Event: Invitation Only INVITATION ONLY Celebrate art with hand-crafted drinks at this exclusive cocktail reception! This event is by invitation only to Insider & above moCa NOW Donor Members . For information on joining the moCa NOW Donor Program, visit mocacleveland.org/moca-now .

Studio Access w/ Manabu Ikeda Mar 31, 2024 Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season. About Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season. Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season.

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Sun. October 26, 2025 Sensory Sundays 12-2:30PM at moCa Cleveland Free to all SIGN UP The last Sunday of the month at moCa. Sensory Sundays are designed for neurodiverse visitors and their families. Each session includes a touch table, sound and texture experiences, and audio descriptions of select artworks. Hosted in the Rayburn Practice Lab, these mornings create a calm, engaging environment for multi-sensory learning. Supported by

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Sat. September 27, 2025 Crafting Kindness 12-2:30PM at moCa Cleveland Free to all SIGN UP Crafting Kindness is a community art-making experience at moCa Cleveland, created in collaboration with Ronald McDonald House Northeast Ohio. All ages are invited to reflect, connect, and give through art-making. This activation is inspired by "Happy" Holidays , an exhibition by artist Erykah Townsend, currently at moCa. The exhibition invites visitors to think critically about themes of celebration, consumerism, and joy through a personal and cultural lens. During Crafting Kindness, guests will: Explore the “Happy” Holidays exhibition located on moCa’s second floor. Create a heartfelt card for a child staying at Ronald McDonald House Northeast Ohio, offering words of encouragement, hope, and cheer. Make a second card to hand-deliver to someone special in your life — a loved one, friend, or community member who deserves a reminder that they matter. All supplies are provided. Just bring your heart, your imagination, and your desire to make someone’s day a little brighter.

Jul 7, 2023-Jan 7, 2024 Don't mind if I do Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Pelenakeke Brown Sky Cubacub Emilie L. Gossiaux Felicia Griffin Joselia Rebekah Hughes Jeff Kasper and Finnegan Shannon Jul 7, 2023-Jan 7, 2024 ∆ Don't mind if I do , installation at moCa Cleveland, 2023. Photo: Jacob Koestler ∆ Don't mind if I do , installation at moCa Cleveland, 2023. Photo: Jacob Koestler ∆ Don't mind if I do , installation at moCa Cleveland, 2023. Photo: Jacob Koestler Jul 7, 2023-Jan 7, 2024 Don't mind if I do Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Pelenakeke Brown Sky Cubacub Emilie L. Gossiaux Felicia Griffin Joselia Rebekah Hughes Jeff Kasper and Finnegan Shannon Organized in collaboration with Finnegan Shannon Finnegan Shannon is a creator of loopholes. Their work is mischievous, methodically chipping away at traditional museum practices. By framing institutional change as artwork, the pace of possibility quickens. With Shannon at the helm, Don’t mind if I do is an experiment in more deeply collaborative exhibition-making, demonstrating how even temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff. Grounded in a longtime fantasy of the artist’s–an idea of an exhibition setup that would lavishly meet their access needs–this project developed around a conveyor belt. Embraced for its efficiency and mechanized transport of goods (even sushi), this equipment is reappropriated here as a vehicle for cultivating a more relaxed museum-going experience. The conveyor belt brings artwork to audience members, who are invited to sit on comfortable furniture and engage with a parade of objects through any combination of touch, sight, and sound. Sharing the work of seven artists who have influenced Shannon’s practice, Don’t mind if I do blurs boundaries between public and private. It puts representations of everyday life that are usually tucked away at home on display. Plastic pill bottles scattered across nightstands share space with a tissue box cover that reminds us of moments of sickness and sadness. Sculptural snapshots of an intimate interspecies bond sit beside gender-affirming packers that feel most at home tucked inside our clothes. They signify illness, reveal systems of support, and are used in play. Don’t mind if I do destabilizes rigid ableist and exclusionary museum “best practices” like sparse seating, untouchable objects, dense wall labels, and guards who protect rather than invite engagement. It is a project built upon a framework of flexibility. By welcoming glitches, inviting informality and messiness, and unsettling the hierarchy of objects, Don’t mind if I do prioritizes people over artwork and makes more room for us to show up as our full selves. A NOTE FROM FINNEGAN SHANNON: This project is the realization of my access fantasy !! I’m disabled and I need to sit and I love to sit. I’ve been dreaming about an exhibition where instead of having to move from artwork to artwork, I could sit somewhere comfortable and have the artwork come to me. So voilà! A conveyor belt of artworks surrounded by a variety of seating options. When planning this project, a big question was: what artwork should the conveyor carry? The artists, writers, and thinkers featured nourish my life and practice, and I can’t resist a chance to share their work. Each of the objects presented asks for varied ways of interacting and opens up possibilities for how and what an artwork can convey. Don’t mind if I do, Finnegan Shannon The Lewis Gallery is accessible via elevator. Accessible gendered bathrooms are on the ground level and single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms are located on the third floor. All the artwork in this show can be touched. Seating and audio description are both available as a part of the show. The conveyor belt motor makes a soft but high-pitched ringing sound; we have disposable earplugs available. The space will have three air purifiers. Please wear a mask when visiting this exhibition in solidarity with the artists and your fellow visitors. Generous support provided by the Ford Foundation. Additional support provided by David C. Lamb. About the Artists Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo (they/them/Lukaza) is an artist, activist, educator, storyteller, cultural worker, and person of multitudes. Through a practice based in the printed multiple, community-based work, painting, performance and installation building, they invite the viewer to recall and share their own lived narratives, offering power and weight to the creation of a larger dialogue around the telling of B.I.Q.T.P.O.C. (Black, Indigenous, Queer, Trans, People of color) stories. Branfman-Verissimo has had solo shows at SEPTEMBER Gallery, Deli Gallery, Roll Up Projects, Printed Matter Inc., and STNDRD Projects. Their work has been included in exhibitions and performances at Konsthall C, EFA Project Space, Leslie Lohman Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and L’Internationale Online, amongst others. They have been awarded residencies and fellowships at The University of New Mexico, Black Space Residency, Kala Art Center, Women’s Studio Workshop, and ACRE Residency. Branfman-Verissimo’s artist books and printed editions have been published by Endless Editions, Childish Books, Press Press and Printed Matter Inc. and are in permanent collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, California College of the Arts Printmaking Archive, University of California Santa Cruz Library, New York University Special Collections, and San Francisco Museum of Art Library. Pelenakeke Brown. Photo credit, Papa clothing x Emily Parr. Pelenakeke Brown Pelenakeke Brown (she/her) is a queer, crip, indigenous artist and writer. Brown's practice explores the intersections between disability theory and Sāmoan concepts. Her work investigates sites of knowledge(s), and she uses technology, writing, poetry, and performance to explore these ideas. Brown has worked with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gibney Dance Center, The New York Library for the Performing Arts, Gibney Dance Center, The Goethe Institute, and other institutions globally. Selected residencies include Eyebeam, The Laundromat Project, and Dance/NYC. She has performed and exhibited her work in the US, UK and Germany. Her non-fiction creative work has been published in The Hawai‘i Review, Apogee Journal, and the Movement Research Performance Journal. Her work has been featured in Art in America and she was recognized in 2020 with a Creative New Zealand Pacific Toa award. Sky Cubacub. Photo by @colectivomultipolar. Sky Cubacub Sky Cubacub (they/them/xey/xem/xyr) is a non-binary xenogender and disabled Filipinx neuroqueer from Chicago, IL. As a multidisciplinary artist, Cubacub is interested in fulfilling the needs for disabled queer life, with an emphasis on joy. They are the creator of Rebirth Garments, a line of wearables for trans, queer and disabled people of all sizes and ages, and Radical Fit, a queer fashion series of programming in partnership with the Chicago Public Library. Cubacub is the editor of the Radical Visibility Zine , which celebrates disabled queer life, and are the Access Brat and editor of Just Femme and Dandy’s section about ethics and inclusion called “Cancel & Gretel.” They have had over 50 fashion performances and have lectured at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Utah, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Northwestern University. Rebirth Garments has been featured in Teen Vogue, Nylon, Playboy, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Vice, Wussy Mag , and the New York Times . Cubacub was named 2018 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and is a 2019/2020 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist and a Disability Futures Fellow. Emilie L. Gossiaux Emilie L. Gossiaux Emilie L. Gossiaux (she/her) received a BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art and an MFA from Yale School of Art. Since losing her vision due to a traffic accident in 2010, Gossiaux’s altered experiences have influenced her practice's trajectory—drawing inspiration from dreams, memories, and non-visual sensory perceptions. Her drawings and ceramics pertain to bodily autonomy, exploring themes such as love, intimacy, and the interdependent relationships between humans and non-human species. Much of her work is inspired by the interspecies bond she has with her Guide Dog, London, and celebrates disability pride. Simultaneously, she disrupts the Anthropocene understanding of agency and the hierarchic ordering between humans and animals. Solo shows include Significant Otherness and Memory of a Body, both at Mother Gallery, and After Image at False Flag Gallery. Gossiaux has also participated in group shows at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Aldrich Museum, Gallery 400, MoMA PS1, Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, and SculptureCenter. Awards include a John F. Kennedy Center VSA Prize, the Wynn Newhouse Award, the Colene Brown Art Prize, and The Queens Museum Jerome Foundation Fellowship. Her work has been featured in The Brooklyn Rail, The New Yorker, and Art in America. Felicia Griffin. Photo credit: Andria Lo. Felicia Griffin Felicia Griffin (she/her) is a prolific multimedia artist based in Richmond, California. She has been exhibiting work with Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development (NIAD) Art Center since 1985. The following is an edited excerpt from a conversation between Felicia Griffin and former NIAD art facilitator Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo. The complete interview can be found in Issue 6 of New Life Quarterly, published by E.M. Wolfman Books. What would you like us to know about you? Who is Felecia Griffin? Um, well, I like to…have fun and I love my friends and I want to do some more pompoms and I like doing my art. What are you working on right now? A pompom. I made two pillows and put pompoms on the pillows. Why do you like to make art that involves circles? That’s a repeated shape in your pompoms, prints, and paintings — where does that circle shape come from? The circle is inside of me, a square too. I see it in the world too. You engage with a lot of people while you work—how does that relate to your art making? Yep, I like doing it and um, I like to help out. It makes me feel happy! I started doing this: giving gifts. I am always looking out for who needs help. Do you consider [other artists] your family? YEEEAAAAS! I care for people — yes! A work by Joselia Rebekah Hughes Joselia Rebekah Hughes Joselia Rebekah Hughes (she/her) is a Mad and disabled Afro-Caribbean writer, artist, and educator based in the Bronx. She is a poetry editor at Apogee Journal. Hughes’s work hops in the lineage of Black disabled aesthetics and linguistics of access. She uses wordplay, oral traditions, and the archetype of The Fool as measures to question and provoke societal perceptions and values regarding chronic illness, Madness, neurodivergence, and disability. Her practicing mediums include video and photography, dance, literature, small sculpture, fiber work, drawing, zine-making, and drawing/painting. She's shared work at the Institute of Contemporary Art: VCU, Participant Inc., Lincoln Center, MoMA, Leslie Lohman Museum, Bard, Swarthmore, Whitney Museum of American Art, and elsewhere. Hughes’s poetry has been nominated for Best of Net and has been published in Apogee Journal, Massachusetts Review, The Poetry Project, Split This Rock, Blackflash Magazine, Leste Magazine, Jewish Currents, and Ocean State Review. Jeff Kasper Jeff Kasper Jeff Kasper (he/him) is an artist, writer, and educator. He works with the tools and techniques of design, contemplative practices, and community engagement, to create public art, publications, open editions, workshops, and participatory learning projects. His artworks center dialogical, reflective, and instructional texts that often prompt meditation, relationship building, and serious play. Based on his own lived experiences and observations, much of his recent projects explore topics of support, safety, and proximity. Through his disability arts organizing, he opens up spaces for (re)imagining accessible and trauma-aware futures. His recent exhibitions have been presented internationally, including with New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Meta Open Arts, and Queens Museum, and his past public programs have been facilitated with BRIC, CUE Art Foundation, and moCa Cleveland. Kasper is Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Department of Art. Finnegan Shannon Finnegan Shannon Finnegan Shannon (they/them) is a project-based artist. They experiment with forms of access that intervene in ableist structures with humor, earnestness, rage, and delight. Some of their recent work includes Anti-Stairs Club Lounge, an ongoing project that gathers people together who share an aversion to stairs; Alt-Text as Poetry, a collaboration with Bojana Coklyat that explores the expressive potential of image description; and Do You Want Us Here or Not, a series of benches and cushions designed for exhibition spaces. They have done projects with Banff Centre, Queens Museum, the High Line, MMK Frankfurt, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, and Nook Gallery. Their work has been supported by a 2018 Wynn Newhouse Award, a 2019 residency at Eyebeam, 2020 grant from Art Matters Foundation, and a 2022 grant from The Canada Council for the Arts. Their work has been written about in Art in America, BOMB Magazine, The Believer, and the New York Times. They live and work in Brooklyn, NY. Installation Images Don't mind if I do . Installation views at moCa Cleveland, 2023. Photos: Jacob Koestler