2023-24 National Cohort: New England Foundation for the Arts
Atabey Sánchez-Haiman, Providence, Rhode Island
Owner, Giraffes and Robots Pop Art Studio
Atabey Sánchez-Haiman is a Puerto Rican artist, biologist, trainee mindfulness teacher and small business owner. Sánchez-Haiman owns Giraffes and Robots Pop Art Studio, which is located in artsy, quirky, small but mighty Rhode Island. She loves to explore different ways of making art, she combines different mediums and techniques (drawing on paper, painting on canvas, collage, photo illustrations) to create her pop art. Sánchez-Haiman intentionally uses a palette of red, yellow and orange because these colors make you smile and cultivate joy. She is currently training at Brown University and at the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation to teach mindfulness with a view of combining art and mindfulness to create safe spaces for marginalized communities to come together to create, heal, recharge, cultivate joy and effect change. Sánchez-Haiman believes that by becoming aware of social constructs and the hurdles that they unfairly impose on marginalized communities, possibilities and opportunities can arise and these obstacles can then be challenged creatively and peacefully from a place of centered, rooted awareness. The fact that communities of color value collectivity is an asset and Sánchez-Haiman wants to harness this skill that people of color share through their upbringing and experiences and start moving society away from its current individualistic, self centered focus towards a more compassionate, humane, community oriented direction. Art and mindfulness as activism and vehicles for personal and societal change.
Alexandra James, Portland, Maine
Director of Training Programs, Bates Dance Festival
Alexandra James is a Southern Maine-born maker, mover and mother. As an independent artist, she’s engaged with improvisation and interdisciplinary investigation, the interrogation of pedagogy and craft, seeking liberation through the integrity of embodied knowledge and the sharing of practice. In addition to her role as BDF’s director of training programs, James is a professor of dance at Bates, and artistic director of a youth Hip Hop company. Her work has been presented in Chicago, New York and South Africa, with a teaching practice that carries her nationally. She earned her bachelors from the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago in 2009.
Victoria Johnson, Bethel, Vermont
Music Program Manager, BarnArts
Victoria Johnson is an artist originally from Michigan who moved to Vermont in late 2021. They have been involved in performing arts since their youth — ranging from dance, choir, band, theater and DJing. No matter where they are located, Johnson always strives to be a part of the community in some capacity through performing arts. They work as the music program manager at BarnArts in Barnard, Vermont, where they arrange a summer music series, music residencies, and school programs for rural schools. When not working, they enjoy attempting to teach themself instruments, crochet arts, and connecting with the land through gardening and communing with plants.
Miguel Petris, Arlington, Massachusetts
Operations Coordinator, Artists for Humanity
Miguel Petris is an arts administrator based in Boston, Massachusetts. In Boston, he earned his master’s degree in horn performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. He believes that music is a bridge builder and is able to connect humans across the world.
Petris has had the opportunity to work with the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, The Boston Early Music Festival, and with The Silkroad Ensemble. Recently, he has started working as the community engagement coordinator with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Through this role, he is working with an organization that puts equity and inclusivity at the forefront of their mission.
Petris hopes that this fellowship will give him the knowledge and the network to continue supporting organizations that build community through the arts.
Ámbar Ruiz, Manchester, New Hampshire
Product Designer, Currier Museum
With a decade of experience in the design field, Ruiz holds a bachelors in design and digital arts from the School of Fine Arts & Design of Puerto Rico (Escuela de Artes Plásticas & Diseño de Puerto Rico), graduating as Summa Cum Laude. Ruiz has been recognized with grants from organizations such as the Luis A. Ferré Foundation (Fundación Luis A Ferré) and Seguros Múltiples of Puerto Rico. She has also earned several awards, including the People’s Choice Award from the Collective Exhibition “El Bizarro” during the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest. One of her artworks is featured in the Contemporary Puerto Rican Art Collection (Colección de Arte Puertorriqueño Contemporáneo). Her work has been displayed in respected galleries like Exhibixiones del Plata, Lorenzo Homar Gallery (Galería Lorenzo Homar) at the School of Fine Arts & Design of Puerto Rico, and the Museum of the Americas at the Ballajá Barracks (Museo Las Américas, Cuartel de Ballajá). She received the Audience Choice Award at the 2021 Circus International Film Festival for her work in sound mixing and film editing on the short film “Isla Bonita Circus Tour” for the National Circus School of Puerto Rico. For a duration of two years, Ruiz served on the Faculty of the International School of Design & Architecture (Escuela Internacional de Diseño y Arquitectura) within the SUAGM (Sistema Universitario Ana. G. Méndez). Ruiz is also part of The Currier Collective board from the Currier Museum of Art, where she advocates for the recognition of diversity and culture in Manchester, New Hampshire. She currently works at BOLD as a product designer focusing on UI/UX and visual branding.
Jeanika Browne-Springer, East Hartford, Connecticut
Director, LifeLong Learning, HartBeat Ensemble
Jeanika Browne-Springer is a first generation Caribbean-American, a resident of East Hartford, Connecticut, and local creative. She has a bachelors from Trinity College in theater and dance with minors in studio arts and urban studies and holds a masters in education from the University of Saint Joseph in multiple intelligences. She was a Hartford elementary teacher for several years then transitioned into arts administration as a grant writer and programmer at an arts education nonprofit. She is now the director of LifeLong Learning at HartBeat Ensemble, a nonprofit professional theater company that helps audiences interrogate civic issues and develop empathy through theater. She is an artistic collaborator and Board Vice President for Night Fall, local performer with Vintage Soul Productions and SageSeeker Productions, and emerging director for youth performances. She is a member of the Artists of Color Unite! advisory group for Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, academic teacher of arts & culture at the Legacy Foundation of Hartford, and is currently part of the Hartford Heritage curriculum writing team around 19th Century Black community formations in Hartford.