pronouns: they/them/theirs
CHIMAERA is a Northwest-based multidisciplinary conceptual artist, curator, producer, community organizer and educator from Tacoma, WA working in solidarity with communities most impacted by systemic oppression and generational trauma. Since 2001, they have organized for healing justice at the intersections of race, class, gender and sexuality addressing the school-to-prison pipeline and consulting with youth-serving organizations in Washington and California on culturally affirming trauma informed program models with an emphasis on transformative justice, social-emotional wellness and access to creative opportunities that increase academic and career fulfillment. In 2003, CHIMAERA created and screened their first short film at Third World Majority’s Digital Storytelling Conference in Oakland, CA featuring interviews of youth and adult activists who were instrumental in laying the foundation for current initiatives addressing the school-to-prison pipeline in Seattle. Since then, they’ve traveled throughout the state connecting artists from underrepresented backgrounds to opportunities to share their unique gifts, knowledge and stories with diverse arts and social justice communities and aspiring young creatives that included founding Groundswell Arts Collective in 2015, an informal interdependent network of influential artists, grassroots leaders and entrepreneurs from a cross-section of marginalized communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. CHIMAERA identifies as Black Diaspora, queer, non-binary Cancer-sun/Virgo-rising homegrown Hilltopian who loves indie films, Hip-Hop, allergy-friendly treats and examining life through the lenses of African spirituality, liberation frameworks and quantum theories.
