OUR TEAM
LEADERSHIP
Archives Director
keondra freemyn (she/her)
What do you make?
Poems, a way out of no way, and space for me, you, yo momma, and yo cousin, too in archival scholarship and practice.
What is the future?
Now.
Where were you born?
Los Angeles, CA and reborn in mid-aughts Bed-Stuy.
Where are you based?
PG County, Maryland
Where do you belong?
Glacier National Park and in the [digital] stacks.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Tina Campt, Sonia Sanchez, and my maternal grandmother
Wikipedia Director
eliza myrie
What do you make?
Sculptures and prints
What is the future?
Is there a future?
Where were you born?
New York
Where are you based?
Chicago
Where do you belong?
By the sea
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Sylvia Wynter, Lorraine O’Grady, Lenny Briscoe, Tracy Morgan
Finance + Operations Managing Director
Viva Yeboah
What do you make?
Styling those numbers and peaceful moments.
What is the future?
Unfolding everyday
Where were you born?
New Orleans
Where are you based?
Atlanta
Where do you belong?
Hmmmmm figuring that out
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Helina Metaferia
Rutina Wesley
Maryse Condé
Mia Young aka Mia X
STAFF
Digital collections manager
Marian Ekweogwu
What do you make?
Words and laughter.
What is the future?
A dark place waiting for the light each person can bring.
Where were you born?
Springfield.
Where are you based?
Los Angeles.
Where do you belong?
A clean but crowded study, with a slight reek of old books and recently smoked herbs.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, The widow Kang from The Years of Rice and Salt, and the One.
Development Assistant
Laurie Germain (they/them)
What do you make?
I make words dance. I make homes. I make spaces for queer and trans 2nd gen migrants to contemplate their contemporary experiences of our ancestral cultures.
What is the future?
The future is what we make of today, namely: abolition and intentional response to climate change.
Where were you born?
The U.S, but for all intents and purposes — Haiti.
Where are you based?Brooklyn, NY
Where do you belong?
I belong in the water and other liminal spaces. I belong where care and tenderness are eager to receive me. I belong wherever there is opportunity to create for & with my community.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Akwaeke Emezi, Eloghosa Osunde, Ehime Ora, and some friends I equally admire!
Wikipedia Assistant
Kearra Gopee
What do you make?
Installation/video/photo/writing.
What is the future?
The present.
Where were you born?
Miami, FL.
Where are you based?
Los Angeles, CA.
Where do you belong?
Nowhere, really.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Zoé Samudzi, Belkis Ayón, M. Jacqui Alexander, Dionne Brand.
Finance + Operations assistant
Ericha Hernandez
What do you make? Numbers make sense
What is the future? Hopefully the future is a place where my kids can receive the same treatment as others, no matter their gender or race.
Where were you born? Bethlehem, PA
Where are you based? Prosper, TX
Where do you belong? Wherever my family is
Fantasy League Roundtable
Maya Angelou, Cicely Tyson, Rosa Parks, Michelle Obama
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Jennifer Heslop
What do you make?
I make people feel sure about their ability to accomplish everything they put their mind and body to.
What is the future?
No such thing. Time as we know it is a construct to explain the unexplainable.
Where were you born?
Dusseldorf, Germany.
Where are you based?
For now? Miami, FL
Where do you belong?
Everywhere. Cause I BE.
Fantasy League Roundtable
Russell Brand, Mike Tyson, Vandana Shiva, any one of my ancestors who rides with me (I’ve got a lot of questions).
DIGITAL DEVELOPER + TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
SHAWNÉ MICHAELAIN HOLLOWAY
What do you make?
I create software and other interactive frameworks.
What is the future?
“right now and right now and right now and right now”
Where were you born?
In the midwestern countryside.
Where are you based?
Richmond, VA
Where do you belong?
“In the midst.”
Fantasy League Roundtable
Eartha Kitt, Bozoma Saint John, Romi Crawford, Adina Porter.
Transcriber
Miwa Lee
What do you make?
Primarily drawings, food, and messes, but I also enjoy experimenting with whatever media I can get my hands on.
What is the future?
In my experience, it is a number of wonderfully fickle potential realities that no one is entitled to experience but everyone is obligated to do what they can to improve.
Where were you born?
Chicago, IL
Where are you based?
Chicago, IL
Where do you belong?
Wherever I am needed.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Fredrick D. Kakinami Cloyd, Nnedi Okorafor, Sadhguru, Indya Moore
Archives Assistant
C. Bay Milin (he/him)
What do you make?
photographs, memories, mistakes, coffee
What is the future?
observation, conversation, preparation, exploration
Where were you born?
san francisco bay area
Where are you based?
durham, north carolina
Where do you belong?
in or near the water, meandering with curiosity in nature, city wander flea markets
Fantasy League Roundtable:
stacey abrams, radha blank, blackquantumfuturism, ryan coogler
Comms Specialist
Dania Reyes (she/her)
What do you make?
Digital art, painting, people, and laughter.
What is the future?
A better place for you and me.
Where were you born?
NYC
Where are you based?
DMV
Where do you belong?
Luquillo
Fantasy League Roundtable:
Nancy Morejon, Nicolas Guillen, Suzanne Cesaire, Cardi B, Meg thee Stallion
Lead Archives Assistant
Aja Scarlato (she/her)
What do you make? I make music by piano and violin, and colorful art through stitching — sewing, crochet, knitting, embroidery
What is the future?: Linked data
Where were you born? Chicago, IL
Where are you based? Tri-Cities, Michigan
Where do you belong? I belong wherever I choose to belong
Fantasy League Roundtable: I can’t keep it to just four! Top selections: Jordan Peele, Kegan Michael Key, President Obama, Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
inspiration
Sylvan Palm Valentine
What do you make?
robots, music
What is the future?
hoverboards for $1
Where were you born?
Chapel Hill, NC
Where are you based?
Chicago, IL
Where do you belong?
At the beach.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
to come…
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Board of Directors
Lisa Dent
Lisa Dent is an advocate for living artists and cultural workers. Her background includes work in film, theater and the visual arts as a curator, gallerist, writer, production designer and creative producer. She is the Executive Director of Artspace New Haven, a nonprofit for contemporary art. Previously, Dent was the director of resources & award programs at Creative Capital leading the financial and advisory services programs, advising artists on the full realization of their projects. Dent was a Helena Rubenstein Fellow at the MoMA and held curatorial staff positions at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio. From 2004-08, Lisa owned Lisa Dent Gallery in San Francisco where she presented the work of emerging and mid-career international artists. Dent received her BFA from Howard University, her MFA from NYU, and completed the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in curatorial studies.
co-Founder + board of directors
Heather Hart
What do you make?
echoes.
What is the future?
faith.
Where were you born?
Seattle
Where are you based?
Brooklyn
Where do you belong?
in the threshold.
Fantasy League Roundtable:
all of the folks on this page. <3
Board of Directors
Alice Gray Stites
Alice Gray Stites is Museum Director and Chief Curator at 21c Museum Hotels, a multi-venue museum now located in nine cities across the U.S. Stites curates exhibitions, site-specific commissions, and a range of cultural programming at all 21c Museum Hotels. Under Stites’s leadership, 21c has collaborated with artists and other cultural organizations worldwide, including Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, North Carolina Museum of Art, Speed Art Museum, Crocker Art Museum, Creative Capital Foundation, FotoFocus, Creative Time, ArtPrize, Pen & Brush, For Freedoms, EXPO Chicago, Warhol Museum, and others. Since opening in Louisville in 2006, 21c has presented over 100 exhibitions. Recently, Stites has curated Seeing Now; Albano Alfonso: Self-Portrait As Light; Labor&Materials, Fallen Fruit: The Practices of Everyday Life; The Future is Female; Truth or Dare: A Reality Show; Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance; The SuperNatural; Refuge; This We Believe, and others.
CO-FOUNDER + BOARD OF DIRECTORS
jina valentine
What do you make?
paper, ink, plans for future projects, and a small human (below)
What is the future?
a promise, a hope
Where were you born?
Philadelphia
Where are you based?
Chicago
Where do you belong?
nowhere
Fantasy League Roundtable:
children + elders
Advisory council
Hasan Elahi
Hasan Elahi is an artist whose work examines issues of surveillance, citizenship, migration, transport, and the challenges of borders and frontiers. His work has been presented in numerous exhibitions at venues such as SITE Santa Fe, Centre Georges Pompidou, the Sundance Film Festival, the Gwangju Biennale, and the Venice Biennale. His work is frequently in the media and has been covered by The New York Times, Forbes, Wired, and has appeared on Al Jazeera, Fox News, and The Colbert Report. Elahi has spoken about his work to a broad range of audiences such as Tate Modern, Einstein Forum, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, TED, and the World Economic Forum. His recent awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Alpert/MacDowell Fellowship, grants from Creative Capital, Art Matters Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, and he is a recipient of a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. He is currently Professor and Director of the School of Art at George Mason University.
Advisory Council
Ryan Horne
Ryan has worked with BLT since 2016 and is UCLA’s Sinai Manuscripts Digital Library Data/Metadata Coordinator. He came to UCLA from the University of Pittsburgh where he served as Research Associate in the World History Center. There, his work focused on developing open data standards to describe and model historical artifacts, geography, and events in order to visualize and inform our understanding of the social, political, and economic networks at play. Prior to this position, Ryan served as Director of the Ancient World Mapping Center at UNC-Chapel Hill and he currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places, an authoritative source for data on over 35,000 ancient locations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Ryan received his Ph.D. in Ancient History from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Advisory Council
Sarah Workneh
In 2020, Sarah Workneh will mark 10 years as Co-Director at Skowhegan. Prior to her tenure, Sarah was the Associate Director of Ox-Bow, School of Art & Artists’ Residency for 9 years. Primarily focused on the educational program, and off-season programming with Alumni, Sarah leads all efforts to support artists in the expansion of their practices. Understanding the holistic nature of the program, Sarah oversees the admissions process, facilities usage and expansion under Skowhegan’s Master Plan, as well as the educational daily life on campus. Sarah has published a variety of texts — most recently an essay on participatory education and a catalog essay on radical education published by the New Museum. She serves on the boards of Colby College Museum of Art, RAIR in Philadelphia, and the Somerset County Cultural Planning Commission. She has just joined the Black Lunch Table as a member of the Founding Board of Directors and is currently partnering with Linda Goode Bryant & Project Eats to convert an urban farm to a food pantry in Brownsville, NYC.