About BRIC Arts Media

BRIC Arts Media are a leading arts and media institution anchored in Downtown Brooklyn whose work spans contemporary visual and performing arts, media, and civic action. For over forty years, BRIC has shaped Brooklyn’s cultural and media landscape by presenting and incubating artists, creators, students, and media makers. As a creative catalyst for their community, they ignite learning in people of all ages and centralize diverse voices that take risks and drive culture forward. BRIC builds Brooklyn’s creative future.

Learn more about BRIC HERE!

Hailing from the South Carolina Lowcountry with a home base in Brooklyn, powerhouse vocalist Dale Novella Anderson-Lee brings Soul, Hip-Hop, R&b and Rock vibes to everything she creates. An entrepreneur with a cornucopia of talents, and ventures, she defies conventions and singular definitions. A certified Yogi and Teaching Artist with Community Word Project, The Dreamyard Project and Building Beats, and one of the three Co-Directors of the Teaching Artist Project, Dale Novella uses her gifts as a musician, singer/songwriter and yogi to help people find peace, to express their emotions, and to connect with themselves and the world around them. Dale manifests live music events (The Poet Will be Televised), Yoga, Health & Wellness workshops and is a youth educator who believes in the power of music and community. A veteran of the NYC Music scene, she debuted her self produced record SANG BXTCH!! in 2020 and has toured the U.S. and Europe extensively. Whether through song, meditation, or movement Dale Novella’s goal is to bring the world together in rhythm, one beat at a time. You can find Dale at dalenovellapresents.com, or laying out in the sun with her cat, Solomon.

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Daniel Arnow is the Executive Director of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation a subsidiary of the Entertainment Community Fund. AFHDC brings together educational programming, advocacy, and real estate development with the goal of increasing access to affordable housing opportunities for people in the performing arts and entertainment community. Daniel has contributed to online publications including Createquity and Multiple Cities and participated in Next City’s Vanguard conference – an experiential urban leadership gathering of 40 rising urban leaders working to improve cities across sectors. With a background as a musician and arts worker, and a MS in Urban Planning from Pratt Institute, Daniel is committed to building sustainable communities in the arts.

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Bojana Coklyat is a disabled artist, 2019-2020 J. William Fulbright alumni and previous project leader at the NYC Museum Arts and Culture Access Consortium (MAC). In 2019, she curated “Crip Imponderabilia”, the first gallery exhibit at NYU centering all disabled artists and disability culture. Around this time, she began collaborating with Shannon Finnegan on the Alt-Text as Poetry project. this has included facilitating workshops at Twitter, Google and MIT. Recently, Coklyat has taken on the position of associate producer on a film funded by the American Foundation for the Blind, featuring variety of different people in the blind community. Coklyat is also currently teaching a course on access and design at the new school.

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Jeremy Dennis (b. 1990) is a contemporary fine art photographer and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY. In his work, he explores indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation. Dennis holds an MFA from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, and a BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University, NY. He lives and works in Southampton, New York, on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.

Since June 2020, Dennis has endeavored to restore the Silva family home he grew up in to make Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio (hereinafter referred to as “Ma’s House”) a communal and safe space for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists to create work, participate in artist residencies and be offered a place to exhibit their contemporary work on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.

www.mashouse.studio

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Natalie Duling earned their Bachelor of Music Education at Kansas State University in 2015. They then taught 9th – 12th grade choir at Chanute High School, in Southeast Kansas, from 2015 to 2020. While at CHS, they developed and implemented a general music course as well as a ukulele enrichment course. In the Fall of 2020, Natalie returned to Kansas State to pursue a Master of Music Education degree. They were the teaching assistant for Dr. Ruth Gurgel and was the instructor of Music for Elementary Teachers. Natalie is currently a second year Ph.D. Music Education student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at Michigan State University. Their current research focuses on the utilization of Queer Theory as a framework to examine the music education classroom and the diversification of music curriculums to be more inclusive of students, music, and musicking.

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Kashema Hutchinson, PhD, is a program manager who’s work is an alchemy of sources that values and highlights the knowledge production of Black and Brown youths usually through a Hip Hop lens. She creates Hip Hop infographics to facilitate discussions about knowledge of self in various spaces including New York City correctional facilities and ciphers. Kashema is also the Program Manager of Fresh, Bold & So Def, a women’s initiative of the Hip Hop Education Center. She has taught undergraduate courses (“Critical Thinking” and “The Evolution and Expression of Racism”) at the City University of New York (CUNY) and was a co-director of The CUNY Peer Leaders, a community-based program that supports CUNY undergraduate students’ scholarship and creative work in the Humanities. She has a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center in Urban Education.

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Mia Ibrahim (they/them) is a queer, Middle Eastern high school music educator and department head in the south Bronx of New York. They are on the Board of Directors for the Association for Popular Music Education and serve as chair of the development committee. Mia graduated with their Master’s in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and has a long history of working with marginalized communities starting with a music therapy apprenticeship at rehabilitation centers and brain injury centers in the Bay Area of California. Other philanthropic endeavors include volunteer lacrosse coaching for CityLax where they served as a junior board member helping those in the community who cannot afford the sport and volunteering with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project assisting TGNCI community members with legal services and protection. Their work with Gender Sexuality Alliances in the south Bronx coupled with their vast music field experiences ranging from Carnegie Hall to principal clarinetist and orchestra manager of the Downtown Symphony Orchestra have all helped round them into a knowledgeable asset in the progressive music education community.

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Annie Lachhman (she/her) is a talented disabled artist whose art pieces have been featured in multiple exhibitions over the years, and she regularly sells her artwork. Her pieces have been commissioned, purchased, and widely used by ADAPT (formerly United Cerebral Palsy), as well as members of the public. In 2020, her Progressive Disability Pride creations were featured on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website for their ADA 30 Celebrations “Art & Activism,” which is one of her many proud achievements. Annie co-facilitates art workshops and has volunteered as a Teaching Assistant in an Art Program for Elementary School students in Harlem. She continually shares her knowledge and advocacy with Arts & Cultural organizations throughout New York City. Annie is the primary talent for Accessible Travel NYC, where people with disabilities and their loved ones appreciate seeing her out and enjoying New York City, which inspires them to do the same.

Lakshmee Lachhman-Persad (she/her) is the founder of Accessible Travel NYC, a travel resource guide for people with disabilities. She’s a marketer, educator, and consultant with 25 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry and is an influential changemaker with a powerful focus on positive disability representation and disability inclusion. Lakshmee uses her many service roles to help support and uplift the marginalized communities she is proud to be a part of. 

Premmattie Lachhman (she/her) is an active participant in Accessible Travel NYC adventures in New York City. She powerfully represents the aging community and showcases the vibrancy of traveling with her multi-generational family. She’s the primary caretaker of Annie and also acts as a reasonable accommodation provider.

About Accessible Travel NYC:

Accessible Travel NYC’s mission is to inspire and empower people with disabilities to enjoy all the vibrancy of the travel and tourism ecosystem. Their work is rooted in Disability Pride and intentional Disability Joy. 

Their work with New York City Tourism + Conventions has been widely and positively received across the country, especially their historic video “How to Explore New York City with a Wheelchair.” They are the 2022 recipients of the prestigious Sapolin Public Accommodations Award from Mayor Adams for their community advocacy. Their contributions to a podcast titled “Access to Inspiration” for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Frame of Mind, along with the entire series, have recently received a Bronze Award. They are also the recent winners of a Webby Award People’s Choice Winner in Social – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category for their video “Bust a Move,” storytelling work with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on Disability Pride and Disability Joy.

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Camille Lawrence‘s work as an archivist focuses on the art history, innovations, and diversity of artistic expression across the African Diaspora. She is most interested in exploring and archiving identity formation throughout the African diaspora and culture through three foundational principles: Oral, Physical, and Ritual. Lawrence’s background as an art historian, artist, and beauty practitioner informs her approach to archival work. Her projects include Black Beauty Archives and contributions to Urban Bush Women and BAM DanceAfrica.

On Juneteenth 2020, Camille founded Black Beauty Archives to document, preserve and archive the history of Black Beauty culture. Camille’s professional makeup artist experience includes publications in VOGUE, Sophisticate’s Black Hair Styles, The New York Times, PAPER, and TV/Film with Apple, CNBC, Disney, ESPN, Hallmark, and Nike. [IMDB] In 2022, Black Beauty Archives was featured in Art Net News, Oprah Daily! and mentioned On CNN and The Hollywood Reporter. BBA’s archival film premiered at Miami Art Basel 2022, in the exhibition “The Crown We Never Take Off’“ in collaboration with RICHES on Amazon Prime.

She completed her BA in Art History and a minor in Global Black Studies from SUNY Purchase and Beauty Industry Essentials Certification from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is completing her MLIS with a Certificate in Archives from CUNY Queens College

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Toya Lillard is a theater artist, arts educator, and facilitator living/working in Brooklyn, NY. Toya currently serves as Executive Director of 651 ARTS, a nationally renowned arts presenting organization. Before joining 651 Arts, Toya was Executive Director of viBe Theater Experience, an arts education organization and theater company in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to her role at viBe, Toya was Director of School Programs for The New York Philharmonic’s Education Department, where she helped develop its nationally recognized School Partnership Program. Toya is part-time faculty at The New School, where she teaches Collaborative Theatre Practice. Toya serves on the Board of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, and co-chairs the TaskForce on Equity and Inclusion, and also on the Board of viBe Theater Experience. Toya holds a B.A. from Vassar College, and an M.A. from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

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Regan Sommer McCoy is an NYC-based curator, community archivist, and arts administrator. Sommer is the Chief Curator of the Mixtape Museum (MXM)), an initiative that encourages the research, archiving, preservation, and data analysis of mixtapes. Her mixtape scholarship has been supported by appointments with Columbia University, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, and a 2022 research grant from the Association for Recorded Collections (ARSC). She is the ‘23 Visiting Hip Hop Scholar at Virginia Union University and an inaugural ‘23 ARSC Awards for Independent Initiatives awardee. Sommer consults and advises the Black Beauty Archives, Museum of Pop Culture’s Hip-Hop Collection, and Five Mics: The Hip Hop Trading Game. She is on staff at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in Creative Social Impact, curating BAM Archive’s Hip Hop Collection. Her most recent article, Mixtape Memories: Hip-Hop Community and Culture at NYC’s Mixtape Museum, appears in ARSC Journal (2021). Find her mentioned in The Enduring Romance of Mixtapes in The Atlantic (2023).

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Randy Peralta (he, him, his) is the Housing Specialist at the Entertainment Community Fund and is responsible for educational programs and resource sharing through the Housing Resource Center. Prior to joining The Entertainment Community Fund, Randy worked as an Occupancy Specialist for a affordable housing developer, West Side Federation for Senior Supportive Housing. Randy also worked at the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation as Case Manager within their Legal Department assisting clients with landlord/tenant issues.

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Cjala Surratt‘s work in the arts focuses on equity and restorative justice, emphasizing socially engaged practices, site-specific projects, and public interventions. An alum of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (’22), she has worked in public relations, marketing, and community outreach for various arts, culture, and social justice organizations for the past 20 years. As public relations director of The Redhouse Arts Center, she promoted theater productions, film screenings, live concerts, and art exhibitions. As marketing director at the Community Folk Art Center, she focused her skills on representing and promoting visual artists from the African American Diaspora. She is the communications coordinator for Light Work and Urban Video Project, a community-access digital service lab and art gallery for emerging and underrepresented artists working in photography and moving images. She serves on the Community Folk Art Center Advisory Board, Everson Museum of Art Members’ Board, Racial and Equity Task Force, Gifford Foundation Board, NYS Arts Commission, and Lender Center for Social Justice Committee at Syracuse University. Surratt is a co-founding member of the Black Artist Collective and Black Leadership Coalition; both seek to center Black and Brown communities’ concerns in politics, arts, and cultural spaces. In 2021 she received the Interfaith Works: Racial Justice Catalyst Award. Other current appointments include Central New York Arts Decentralization Grants (juror), Creatives Rebuild New York: Central New York and Finger Lakes Region (outreach coordinator/ juror), HueArts New York State (advisory committee), and Onondaga County Poet Laureate Selection Panel (juror).

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Addison Tobias is the Programs Manager at Museum Hue. A former Schomburg Fellow at the University at Buffalo, Addison received her Master’s degree in Critical Museum Studies and Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. She proudly brings experience expanding access to museums from her work co-developing Teen Programs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Addison has participated in the Columbia Business School’s Executive Education Museum Leadership Program and is an advocate for amplifying BIPOC voices in arts administration. Originally from Buffalo, New York, Addison was adopted into a family of art educators and has always been interested in the use of arts as a lens for communication and expression. She is committed to implementing best practices in Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion initiatives across the arts and cultural field.

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Ayesha Williams is the executive director of The Laundromat Project (The LP), a New York City community-based arts organization dedicated to making sustained investments in growing a community of multiracial, multigenerational, and multidisciplinary artists and neighbors committed to societal change. She is an arts professional with almost two decades of experience working with visual artists, presenting programs, and generating funding for commercial galleries and nonprofit institutions. Prior to The LP, she managed Visual Arts at Lincoln Center and served as the Director of Kent Gallery, New York. In addition to her professional experience, Ayesha is on the board of Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought and a member of Independent Curators International Independents. She also served as a Steering Committee member of the UN Women’s Conference. She received her Master’s degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

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