Joy-Jayne Bassey

Bio & Artist Statement

Joy-Jayne Bassey is a Nigerian-American multidisciplinary artist, poetic essayist, and cultural facilitator. She is the founder of MuseVerse Circle, a poetry initiative that brings verse to life through language, dialogue, and shared presence. Her practice, which names a rust theology, is rooted in exploring the scars, stories, and sacredness that shape human experience. Working with paper, fabric, charcoal, acrylic, and words, she creates sculptural forms and poems that reveal tenderness in fracture and grace in unraveling. Drawing from brutalism and material abstraction, her work finds beauty in impermanence, transformation, and the persistence of hope. Her current body of work, The Rust Series, brings painting and poetry into dialogue, presenting visual mediation on impermanence, endurance, and the sacred traces left by life’s wounds. Each piece inhabits the tension between breaking and forming, collapse and confession, grief and renewal, bearing witness to the stories carried forward in the aftermath of life’s scars. The work becomes an invitation: to pause and reflect, to dwell with what is fragile and enduring and to hold space for both grief and hope, fracture and resilience. 

Follow Joy on Instagram! @joyjayne_bassey

Karen Y. Buster

Bio & Artist Statement

Baltimore, Maryland native Karen Y. Buster was reared in a private artist colony – her childhood home. How else do you describe an atmosphere with a designer-mother, a dancer- sister, another sister, a wordsmith-poet and an artist brother? The only one in her immediate family to be a career artist, Karen is blessed to have grown up in a household that encouraged creativity and recognized the source of her art, which is a gift from a higher power. Her mother told her as a child she was gifted and different. More importantly, Karen believed it too. Original Karen Y. Buster’s are in the private celebrity collections of Queen Latifah, Denzel Washington, Cheryl Lee Ralph, Toni Braxton, Jada Pickett Smith, and Charles Dutton among a host of others. Her prints also call the walls of the Beverly Hills and Philadelphia Chambers of Commerce, respectively, home. Among her awards, Karen is the recipient of Baltimore’s own “Unsung” Art Exhibition 2014 Female Artist of the Year, The National Coalition of the 100 Black Women’s Arts and Culture Award, 2007 and the 2002 recipient of the Black Heritage Visual Arts Association’s “Favorite Emerging Artist” Karen is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated since 1978. Karen’s journey to the world of fine arts came via her t-shirt design business, Bustertizin. She doesn’t take her transition from t-shirts to 35 plus-years 

creating fine art originals and prints for granted. Karen hears testimonials from her collectors about how her art speaks to them and brings solace to their personal situations such as overcoming illness, recovery from drug abuse, and finding peace after the death of a loved one. Her eyes have been trained since age five to distinguish between positive and negative space thanks to her attraction to photography negatives and dreaming in black and white. These key components hold significance in Buster’s art and are the inspiration for her signature black and white X-acto® Knife cut-outs. The introduction of color in her signature cut-outs came via a dream based on a New Orleans jazz club scene. Karen’s grandmother always said “when you dream, its God that’s talking to you”. Speaking of New Orleans, the movement in Karen’s work can be traced to her decade-long residency (1977 1987) in that jazz city where she studied and graduated from Dillard University. Karen believes the music and sexy, seductive nature of New Orleans seeps into and inspires her art. Baltimore is where Karen was born, raised, creates and calls home. 

Follow Karen on Instagram! @karenybuster

Emmanuel Fisher

Bio & Artist Statement

Originally from Buffalo, New York, I caught the photography bug at the age of 7 when I received a Kodak Instamatic camera for Christmas. It was a long, horizontal rectangular box with a vertical bar that contained flashbulbs, and you had to load it with film that had spools on either end. When I discovered the “magic” I could create with that little camera, I have not stopped shooting images since. (That was almost 50 years ago!) Since then, I have evolved from shooting film to going digital, using DSLR cameras and now mirrorless ones. I’ve exclusively shot with Nikon, except for my first camera, which was a Kodak, and a brief period with a Yashica film camera that was stolen. I replaced it with a Nikon FM10, and all my other cameras have been Nikons ever since.

As for what I prefer to shoot, I enjoy capturing anything that the human eye can see but often fails to capture. This includes nature, animals, architecture, automobiles, planes, trains, and yes, human beings. I have experience shooting weddings, sports, and fashion photography, as well as CD and album covers for Gospel recording artist Earnest Pugh, book covers for authors like Kristopher Clarke, portraits of recording artists such as Vivian Green, Chrisette Michelle, and J. Rome, and concert images of Fantasia and Raheem DeVaughn, to name a few.

Lately, my passion and inspiration lie in capturing human expression during tumultuous times in our nation. Recent presidential elections and the upheaval of societal norms have led to political and social unrest, particularly affecting minority and marginalized groups. Attacks on policies originally enacted to level the playing field in hiring and employment have been constant, often resulting in the repeal of Affirmative Action, DEI initiatives, and protections for immigrants who have not yet become fully naturalized American citizens. 

Follow Emmanuel on Instagram! @photographybyemmanuel

Dinah Myers Shroeder

Bio & Artist Statement

Dinah Myers-Schroeder earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She graduated with four years of formal training, majoring in Environmental Design with a focus on Furniture and a minor in Sculpture. Dinah resides in Wheaton, Maryland, where she raised her three children full-time and is now working on her own development as an artist. Mrs. Myers Schroeder has created public art for the Arts and Humanities Council of DC and Montgomery County (AHCMC). Dinah received the FY24 and FY23 Artists and Scholars grants from AHCMC for professional development and new artwork. Dinah took classes with the grant, had her work professionally photographed, and created her website, anotherdinahmytecreation.com.  FY24 grant funds were used to develop a new body of artwork, Blossoming Beauties, combining her florals, abstracts and Black Women. Her art is in shows that celebrate diversity and inclusionary projects.

Mrs. Myers-Schroeder is passionate about curating projects that empower and uplift artists of color in mainstream, high visibility venues featuring the work of emerging and established artists of color across various disciplines. Collective Glow is a traveling show curated by Mrs. Myers Schroeder that explores themes of self-definition through painting, photography, mixed media, and sculpture. Soulful Panes is an innovative mural project of sixty-four windows of art by four other artists along with herself on the new Parks and Planning building in Wheaton MD, curated by Mrs. Myers Schroeder. Identity and love for family motivates and inspires her life and radiates throughout her art. Whether she is creating sculptures, drawings, paintings, or digital pieces, her artwork is bold, vibrant, and full of texture.  

Artist Statement  

I am a mixed-media artist exploring identity and transformation through bold florals, figurative expression, and abstract forms. My work features hidden or obscure figures symbolizing the parts of myself I’m still uncovering and learning to embrace and the quiet process of becoming. This exploration extends across various media: acrylic paint, digital design, watercolor, sculpture, and mixed media, but texture and light serve as connective threads. Acrylics are my primary medium, allowing me to sculpt color and light with thick, gestural strokes. Sometimes, I incorporate fabric, digital elements, and tactile surfaces to create layered textures and dynamic compositions.

Whether building up thick paint or collaging fabric into a canvas, I aim to create artwork that is an ongoing journey of self-discovery and evolution. It is rooted in my experience as a Black and Native American woman navigating spaces that rarely reflected or celebrated me. Growing up in environments where representation was scarce, I advocate for inclusion in mainstream and high-traffic venues.

Through the support of the FY24 Artists and Scholars Grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, I developed my most recent series, Blossoming Beauties. This body of work merges expressive portraiture of Black women with my love of florals and abstract composition, forming a visual language that honors resilience and growth. I aim to create work that draws viewers in, invites them to linger, and discover their own stories. I don’t dictate meaning but offer a layered visual space for connection and personal interpretation. 

Follow Dinah on Instagram! @anotherdinahmytecreation

Levi Robinson

Bio & Artist Statement

Levi Robinson (b. 1971, Newark, NJ) is a mixed media artist whose practice spans painting, collage, and public art. Rooted in portraiture and social activism, his work examines race, heritage, and cultural memory through layered symbolism and textured surfaces. Robinson’s art reimagines historical narratives and personal ancestry, blending classical oil techniques with collage, digital overlays, and contemporary visual language. Influenced by artists such as Ernie Barnes, Gustav Klimt, and Charles White, Robinson developed his creative voice from comic art and graffiti into a socially engaged practice. His work has been featured by The New York Times, Reuters, National Geographic, and USA Today, and exhibited at major fairs including Art Basel Miami Beach. Beyond the studio, Robinson co-founded Grail Arthouse, Hue2 Foundation, and BRJZ, platforms that bridge art, technology, and community. His projects, from large-scale murals to immersive installations, reflect a belief in art as a catalyst for dialogue, resilience, and transformation. 

Artist Statement: 

My work is rooted in portraiture but expands beyond likeness into layered storytelling. I build images that carry history, memory, and ancestry forward — not as fixed monuments but as living conversations. Through textured paint, collage, and digital overlays, I create a visual language that bridges classical technique with contemporary remix, echoing the sampling traditions of hip hop culture I grew up with in Newark. 

I am drawn to surfaces that bear weight — the scrape of a palette knife, the grit of collage, the layering of images and symbols. These marks act as both wounds and restorations, revealing the fragility and resilience of Black identity. In each piece, I am less interested in a single narrative than in the simultaneity of many: the past colliding with the present, the personal intertwined with the political, the ancestral carried into the now. 

Art, for me, is a site of recalibration. It is where stories that were diminished or forgotten can be reimagined with dignity and beauty. Whether on canvas, in public murals, or through immersive installations, my goal is to create spaces where viewers pause, reflect, and see themselves in relation to a broader human story. 

I believe art should not only be seen but also felt — as a catalyst for dialogue, resilience, and transformation. 

Follow Levi on Instagram! @levirbnsn

Luther Wright

Bio & Artist Statement

Luther Wright’s artistic practice is characterized by his multidisciplinary approach and his passion for creating surface and wall murals using various mediums. As a muralist, Luther has transformed public spaces with his vibrant and captivating artworks. His murals can be found in numerous states and throughout the DMV area, leaving a lasting impact on the communities they adorn. In addition to his mural work, Luther also leads and participates in various community art projects and activities. He believes in the power of art to bring people together, spark conversations, and inspire positive change. Through his community involvement, Luther strives to create opportunities for artistic expression and engagement, fostering a sense of belonging and cultural enrichment.

Luther’s artistic journey as a full-time artist spans over seven years, during which he has established studios in Brent Wood and Hyattsville, Maryland. This dedicated focus has allowed him to delve deep into his craft, continuously evolving and exploring new artistic territories. One of the defining aspects of Luther’s practice is his refusal to limit himself to one particular style or medium. He embraces the freedom to experiment and push artistic boundaries, constantly seeking new ways to express his ideas and visions. This approach not only keeps his work fresh and dynamic but also allows him to adapt and evolve as an artist.  

Luther’s creative practice is a testament to his adventurous spirit and his unwavering commitment to artistic exploration. Through his multidisciplinary approach, community engagement, and willingness to embrace artistic diversity, Luther continues to leave a remarkable mark in the world of visual arts. 

Follow Luther on Instagram! @lutherwrightart