2017 WESTAF Cohort
Andrew Akufo, New Mexico
Katherin Canton They/Them/Theirs, Oakland, California
Race and Equity Manager | California Arts Council
Katherin Canton is GuateMayan, a weaver, healer, cultural organizer, third generation renter, and facilitator raised on Yelamu (occupied Ramaytush Ohlone land—San Francisco) and Huichin. They co-founded the Oakland Creative Neighborhoods Coalition, co-directed Emerging Arts Professionals SF Bay Area; co-coordinated the Keeping Space Oakland Cultural Ambassador Program of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust; served as an organizer with Arts for a Better Bay Area; became administrative director at the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco and the first western regional organizer of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture; served as cultural equity policy director of Peacock Rebellion; and was the founding program manager of Oakland’s Just City Cultural Fund. As the California Arts Council’s race and equity manager, they continue a lifelong journey of learning how to be in the right relationship with themselves, neighbors, the land, and ancestors, particularly to queer and trans Black, Indigenous, communities of color.
Follow: Linkedin
Affiliations: Race and Equity Manager, California Arts Council
Skills & Interests: Weaving, spiritual herbalism, being a caregiver to my mother, and being a student of the plantings and ancestors.
Eric Chang, Honolulu, HI
Arts Program Coordinator | East-West Center
Eric Chang is the coordinator for the East-West Center Arts Program in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, where he organizes gallery exhibitions, performing arts presentations, and community outreach efforts and maintains a permanent art collection. Chang began working for the East-West Center arts program in 2007; over time, his interest in East Asian arts and cultures expanded to include South, Southeast, and Central Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands. He was introduced to the visual and performing arts while studying electrical engineering at UCLA and in 2003, was awarded the first Taiko Center of the Pacific Fellowship and moved to Hawai‘i to study taiko (Japanese drumming) with master artist Kenny Endo. Chang is a recognized taiko performer and teacher.
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Cynthia Chen She/Her/Hers, Paris, France
Arts Administrator
Cynthia Chen is an arts administrator from Salt Lake City. She has a wide range of experience in fundraising and grant writing. She has successfully helped her previous organizations obtain local, state, and federal grants as well as private and business foundation grants. Chen has served as a grant reviewer for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums and has presented as a guest speaker at the University of Utah College of Fine Arts ArtsForce (professional development workshops for students). Interested in comparative international approaches to arts advocacy, cultural policy, and funding, she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at Sciences Po Paris as an Emile Boutmy scholar of international excellence. Her academic interests include the influence of private philanthropy in the cultural sphere and holistic program evaluation design. Chen has an honors bachelor’s degree in music in flute performance from the University of Utah. She has professional proficiency in French and Mandarin.
Follow: Linkedin, Instagram – @cindymuse
Affiliations: Currently in graduate school for public policy and working on a master’s student project with Musée d’Orsay (Paris); Past professional affiliations: Spy Hop Productions (Salt Lake City), Utah Flute Association, Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts
Skills & Interests: Languages (currently focusing on French and Mandarin), playing flute, attending all types of arts and cultural events, cooking, and learning in general (currently thinking a lot about cultural diplomacy, decolonization in the arts, and philanthropy and governance in the arts and cultural sector).
Hunter Old Elk She/Her/Hers, Cody, Wyoming
Curatorial Assistant | Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Hunter Old Elk is the curatorial assistant for the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Plains Indian Museum, where she uses museum engagement through educational outreach, object curation, exhibition development, guest lecturing, and social media to explore the complexities of historic and contemporary Plains Indian cultures. In a field historically operated and intentionally disconnected from tribal members, Old Elk’s work focuses on connecting marginalized tribal communities into museum conversations as equals and allies. Old Elk is the program coordinator in charge of the Annual Plains Indian Museum Powwow and artist residency. She is especially inspired by the lives of indigenous women who lived and thrived on the Great Plains. Old Elk has collaborated with National Public Radio, Wyoming Public Radio, and contributed to National Geographic. In 2018, she was named one of “121 Pioneers of Their Industry” by C.C. Filson clothing company and was featured in an art catalog by the company supporting the National Forest Foundation. Old Elk was also highlighted in her alumni magazine as a “Mount Maker.” Lastly, Native Nations Now, an exhibition that she co-curated with Plains Indian Museum Curator Rebecca West, was featured in the October 2018 issue of Cowboys and Indians Magazine. Old Elk earned a bachelor’s degree in art with a focus on Native American history at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland.
Follow: @plainsindianmuseum @hunteroldelk
Affiliations: Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West; Annual Plains Indian Museum Powwow Coordinator; Plains Indian Museum Artist in Residence Coordinator; Social media admin
Skills & Interests: Arts advocacy, Tribal culture revitalization, social media engagement, and Indigenous beadwork.
Julz Bolinayen S. Ignacio They/Them/Theirs, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Healing Arts Practitioner
Julz Bolinayen S. Ignacio is an Ilokano-American non-binary queer artist and initiated Hilot Binabaylan—a practitioner trained in the traditional healing arts of the Philippines. Ignacio specializes in ancestral healing rituals through tattoo ritual, divination, serenade, energy healing, and bodywork. From 2009-2019, they served as an administrative assistant, then program coordinator, then program operations manager for multiple nonprofits in Duwamish Territory (Seattle, Washington) before transitioning to cultural and healing arts full-time. Ignacio continues to lend their administrative and operations knowledge and skills in the cultural arts community and QTBIPOC-owned small businesses at limited capacity. More information about Ignacio is available at www.julz.live.
Follow: www.julz.live
Affiliations: Hilot Academy of Binabaylan, Luntiang Aghama Natural Divine Arts Shrine
Skills & Interests: Traditional healing arts and music.
D'Anté McNeal, Colorado
Ashley Stull Meyers She/Her/Hers, Portland, Oregon
Director | Reed College Multicultural Resource Center
Ashley Stull Meyers currently serves as the director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Reed College. She is a writer, curator, and educator across the fields of visual art, community programming, and publications. Meyers led the production of creative events and their accompanying language for a diverse set of institutions along the West Coast, including those in Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California. She previously worked as Northwest editor for Art Practical, director of a University art gallery, as an Independent curator, and as a program coordinator in higher education.
Follow: astullmeyers.com , linkedin, @ashleyontheinternet
Affiliations: The Art Gym, Reed College, Sierra Nevada University MFAIA, Art Practical
Skills & Interests: Socially engaged practices, systems that facilitate equity and inclusion, and humanizing academic language through humor and community-centered ideologies.
Kai Monet She/Her/Hers, Los Angeles, California
Educator and Consultant
Kai Monet lives on the traditional lands of the Tongva People in Los Angeles and is a second generation Filipino-Angeleno. She is a transformational educator and consultant committed to transforming herself and co-learners into more conscious humans. Monet actively works towards liberation through meditation and compassionate communication. She has more than a decade of experience as a visual arts and museum educator. She is passionate about evolution and thrives when learning in collaboration with others. Her expertise includes constructivist and anti-oppressive teaching, professional development facilitation, responsive teen programming, and nonprofit management. Monet has served in numerous leadership positions to support the arts ecology of Los Angeles and to advocate for equity and inclusion. Visit www.kaimonet.la to explore Kai’s professional experience, projects, and publications.
Follow: www.kaimonet.la
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Reyna Montoya She/Ella, Mesa, Arizona
Founder and CEO | ALIENTO
A DACAmented social entrepreneur, educator, and dancer, Reyna Montoya is the founder and CEO of ALIENTO. Montoya is a board member of Chicanos por la Causa and an advisory council member of Arizona State University’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. She is an alumna of Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Follow: @ReynaEMontoya & @AlientoAZ
Affiliations: Founder, CEO, ALIENTO; Board Member, CPLC; Advisory Council Member, ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
Skills & Interests: Dance, hiking, social justice, coffee, immigrants rights, dogs, painting, and poetry.
Mariana Ixchel Moscoso They/Them/Theirs, Sacramento, CA
Arts in Corrections Program Manager | California Arts Council
Mariana Ixchel Moscoso identifies as an Afro-indigenous, genderqueer artivist dedicated to a decolonization framework in their personal and professional life, including in their position as the Arts in Corrections (AIC) program manager at the California Arts Council. Moscoso speaks several languages and holds a master’s degree in art history from the University of California, Davis, with an emphasis on gender studies. In their free time, they enjoy making art with their daughter, writing poetry, practicing the bass, reading, and managing the Decolonization Project, the community arts collective they founded.
Follow: @thedecolonizationproject @aq_ab_al; Linkedin
Affiliations: Arts Administrators of Color
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Leah Shlachter She/Her/Hers, Jackson, WY
Adult Program Coordinator | Teton County Library
Leah Shlachter is the adult programs coordinator for the Teton County Library in Jackson, Wyoming. She is a Kundiman fellow and has had her poetry published by The Hawai‘i Review, Talking Writing, Black Lawrence Press, and Bamboo Ridge. Shlachter grew up with a Filipino-Catholic mother and Jewish father in the predominantly Mormon town of Laie, Hawai‘i and has lived in Jackson since 2000. Shlachter credits growing up mixed-race in Hawai‘i, where minorities were a majority, as a key factor in building an identity that allowed her to successfully navigate the predominantly white worlds in which she would later find herself. ShIachter earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Puget Sound in 2000, and a master’s degree in poetry from Pacific University in 2015.
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Skills & Interests: Poetry, reading, social justice, rock climbing, and skiing.
Sandra Margarita Ward She/Her/Hers Las Vegas, NV
Senior Cultural Specialist | City of Las Vegas, Office of Cultural Affairs
Sandra Margarita Ward is a senior cultural specialist for the City of Las Vegas, Office of Cultural Affairs. She currently works at the Charleston Heights Arts Center, where her primary duties include overseeing and implementing year-round public fine arts courses and six-eight instructors, as well as contributing to seasons of events and facility responsibilities. Ward is an accomplished visual artist, working with images and ideas coming from a heritage rich with tradition and deep cultural values. Her Hispanic heritage is rooted in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, Mexico, and she is a Las Vegas native.
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