ALICE GOSTI is an Italian-American choreographer, hybrid performance artist, curator and architect of experiences, working between Seattle and Europe since 2008.

Gosti’s work has been recognized with numerous awards, commissions and residencies including being a recipient of the 2013 Vilcek Creative Promise in Dance Award, the 2012 ImPulsTanz danceWEB scholarship, the 2015 inaugural Intiman Theatre’s Emerging Artist Program as a Director, the Bossak/Heilbron Award, the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Award, an Artist Trust GAP Grant, an Artist Trust Fellowship, and a 2016 NEFA National Dance Project Grant. Gosti was also a McColl Center for the Arts+Innovation Artist in Residency, Italian Council awardee, two-time Cornish Artist Incubator Awardee, Velocity Dance Center’s 2015 Artist-in-Residence, is Seattle University 2016 Artist-in-Residence and University of Washington’s bst artist in residency.

Gosti’s work has been commissioned and presented nationally, by On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center, Seattle Art Museum, Intiman Theatre, Vilcek Foundation at the Joyce (NY), ODC Theater (SF) as part of the SCUBA national touring network, Risk/Rewards Festival (PDX) and Performance Works Northwest (PDX). Internationally, her works have been presented in Italy by Associazione Culturale Dance Gallery, Teatro Stabile Dell’Umbria, Premio Equilibrio Roma, Rassegna per la Giovane Danza D’Autore, Anticorpi XL, FAST di Terni, Verdecoprente/Associazione Ippocampo and Museo Civico di Palazzo della Penna.

Dance Magazine has described Gosti’s work as “unruly yet rigorous, feminine yet rebellious, task-like yet mischievous“, and SeattleDances.org described How to become a partisan as, “hypnotic, meditative, and profoundly beautiful, it left you with a certain sense of calm despite the heavy issues at its core.”

Gosti has worked as a performer and collaborator with artists Sara Shelton Mann, Keith Hennessy, Carolyn Carlson, Mark Haim, amongst others. She is the founder of Yellow Fish // Epic Durational Performance Festival, the world’s only festival dedicated exclusively to durational performance—international artists create original performances presented at at various sites throughout Seattle.

Alice loves planes. http://gostia.com

Aramis O. Hamer is a visual artist and muralist living in Seattle, WA. Her subject matter is inspired by the cosmos, music, nature, divine femininity, and the complexities throughout the Black culture. From a very young age she always loved to create, but at the age of fifteen she discovered her love for acrylic paints. With the supportive art community in the Pacific Northwest, Aramis has been able to exhibit her colorful creations at many different exhibitions in the greater Seattle area- including the EMP Museum, Paramount Theater, Martyr Sauce Gallery, Columbia City Gallery, and more. Aramis created the iconic purple goddess in 2016 for KEXP radio station at Seattle Center which became a catalyst to her art career. You can find many of her designs all over the city including Jimi Hendrix Park. As a self-taught artist, Aramis lets the pull of her imagination be her guide. Her adventure is just beginning, and she invites others to join her on this journey. Learn more about Aramis’ work at www.aohamer.com

Clyde Petersen is a Seattle-based artist, working in film, animation, music, installation and fabulous spectacle. He is a proud member of the transgender and queer communities in Seattle. Clyde is the director of Torrey Pines, an autobiographical stop-motion animated feature film, which premiered in October 2016 and toured the world with a live score.

He travels the world with his punk band Your Heart Breaks and hosts the internet film series Boating with Clyde, in a small handmade boat in the Washington Park Arboretum. His work has been featured around the world in museums, galleries and DIY venues.

Clyde is currently working on two new feature films and has a solo exhibition at the Bellevue Arts Museum through April 2019.

“My journey with art began as a small child. I was raised in a strict evangelical household which meant that my mom prohibited me from playing with Barbie’s and Disney characters. For each of my birthday parties and holiday gifts I would always receive coloring books, knitting needles, sewing kits, and art sets. I grew up knowing I was an artistic person and always had the desire to be constantly creating; be it clothing, drawings, or paintings. I had the privilege to attend independent private schools from the seventh grade onwards. I graduated in 2018 with my Bachelor’s degree in studio arts, concentrating in oil painting. During this time I was constantly the only Latinx person in the classroom. The painting process became a creative outlet and a vehicle to healing. I oftentimes felt isolated and struggled to connect with my classmates due to the difference in our lived experiences. I am grateful to my God, my mother, and my ancestors for all the opportunities their sacrifices have paved for me. I create art to document my truth and share this with the viewer, but also to show how proud I am of my culture. I strive to maintain honesty in my work using composition, color, and gestures.”

Izzi Vasquez is a Mexican-American designer and illustrator from Texas. Her colorful, irreverent work celebrates shameless joy, rage, and silliness. She draws inspiration from her own body, Catholic iconography without the guilt, and the culture and critters of Southwest Texas.

J Mase III is a Black/trans/queer poet and educator based in Seattle, by way of Philly. He is the author of If I Should Die Under the Knife, Tell my Kidney I was the Fiercest Poet Around, as well as And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer’s Reflections on Grief, Unemployment, and Inappropriate Jokes about Death.

As an educator, J Mase III has worked with thousands of community members in the US, the UK, and Canada on the needs of LGBTQIA youth and adults in spaces such as K-12 schools, universities, faith communities, and restricted care facilities among others.

He is the founder of awQward, the first ever trans and queer people of color specific talent agency. Currently, he is co-editing The #BlackTransPrayerBook with awQward artist Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi.

As a performer, he has shared stages with world renowned artists like Chuck D and the Indigo Girls. His work and musings have been featured on MSNBC, NBC OUT, Essence Live, Atlanta Black Star, GO Magazine, Believe Out Loud, Everyday Feminism, Black Girl Dangerous, Upworthy, the New York Times, Buzzfeed, the Root, the Huffington Post and more.

Jessica Ry’cheal is an interdiscplinary storyteller and Art Director from Macon, Georgia. Ry’cheal received a BFA from Georgia Southern University. After spending a few years cultivating her talents in the southeast, Ry’cheal relocated to Seattle. She’s carved space for herself in the Pacific Northwest with a career in commercial design strategy, and her debut photography exhibition Everyday Black at the Northwest African-American Museum. However, her healing journey and a few intuitive guides led Rycheal back to her first love, writing. In this medium, Ry’cheal explores themes of self-healing, generational trauma, and self-love.

Though the disciplines in which Jessica Ry’cheal works vary, the common thread unifying her diverse mediums of expression is storytelling. Her passion for storytelling is rooted in a love for people and advocacy for holistic black liberation. It is this love and passion that yield the emotive, impactful, and relatable body of work for which Ry’cheal is known.

Michele Dooley is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she also began her dance training at The Institute of the Arts under the direction of Cheryl Gaines Jenkins. She graduated from the High School for Creative and Performing Arts under the direction of LaDeva Davis. She then went on to study dance at The University of the Arts, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. While earning her degree, she became a company member of Eleone Dance Theatre where she danced for three seasons. She currently resides in Seattle, Washington and is a company member of Spectrum Dance Theater under the direction of Donald Byrd. Michele has trained at Bates Summer Intensive, BalletX summer program, and DCNS Summer Dance Intensive. She has had the privilege to work with choreographers such as Gary Jeter, Tommie Waheed-Evans, Dara Meredith, Milton Myers, Nora Gibson, Donald Byrd and Ronen Koresh amongst others.

Photo by Nate Waters courtesy of Spectrum Dance Theater.

At a young age, Trinidad and Tobago native Mikhail Calliste migrated to New York City where he began his training at The Martha Graham School. Soon after, Calliste joined the professional training program at The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, where he was then immersed in many dance forms. After graduating from Talent Unlimited High School, Calliste furthered his training in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at The University of the Arts where he acquired a BFA in Dance in 2018 under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield as a director’s full scholarship recipient.During this time, Calliste performed works by Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Ronald K. Brown, Mark Haim, Douglas Becker, and Netta Yerushalmy among others. Calliste recently finished his season with Spectrum Dance Theatre 2018/19, and will be returning for a second season 2019/20, with Spectrum Dance Theatre.

Ryna Frankel makes sculptures, paintings, and installations that usually involve the color pink. She likes to think that color is useful in creating tone in artwork, and pink has fun, girly, happy, cute, and oppressive references. Originally from Chicago, Ryna has been living and working in Seattle since 2015 when she moved to pursue her MFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Washington.