Simiya
St. Louis, Missouri
Simiya is a visual artist, teacher, clothing and jewelry maker from Inglewood, CA. She received her BFA in sculpture from Webster University in St. Louis in May 2010. As an artist, her work, primarily manifesting itself in the form of sculpture, installation and drawing, leans heavily towards an exploration of our relationships with nature. She exploits the perceived notions of fragility and delicacy in regards to a permanent, industrial materials such as porcelain, threads and paper and comparing and contrasting these ideas with the reality of our fragile ecosystems and our connections {or a lack of} to living beings other than ourselves.
Simiya has worked with children of all ages and backgrounds through work as a teaching artist in a variety of St. Louis institutions and has exhibited her art work on the local and national level.
Presentation(s):
Creating with Nontraditional Artists
Day 2 / Apr, 13 @ 1:30 pm
Lower Level : Room C
When creating outside of academia and standard gallery settings, artists and their community partners are engaging in meaningful work. This workshop asks – How can we push ourselves to be as forward thinking in our process? Artists must relate to the participants of their process in a respectful and thoughtful way. What is an “inclusive setting?” What is the artist’s role? Participants will discuss these five points of inclusive work with non traditional artists: The community being served must be involved in the planning process; the art should be reflective of the culture of the participants; all work must be created from an anti-racist lens; participant’s authentic voice and vision must be honored; the outcomes must be resourceful and uplifting to the targeted community.
