FEATURED EVENT: POC Talk - The Creative Process through a cultural lens

POC Talk: The Creative Process through a cultural lens is a panel where artists of color discuss how they convey their art through POC view via experience, racism, sexism, homophobism, colonization, historical trauma, etc.

​MODERATOR

Amber McCrary is a Diné (Navajo) zinester, feminist and nerd. When she isn’t guiding kids and adults to eat their fruits and veggies at her day job she is trying to finish her poetry homework and make it to her weekend Navajo weaving class. She was born in Tuba City, Arizona, grew up in Flagstaff and currently resides in Phoenix. She has worked with the Native American Community for the past five years and hopes to do so for the rest of her life. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in American Indian Studies at Arizona State University. She is the co-creator/co-editor of the Native American Feminist Musing Zines, Empower Yoself Before You Wreck Yoself Vol.1 and Vol.2, The Nizhoni Beat and Shik'is ShiHeart (My friend, heart).

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PANELISTS

Trejon Dunkley is a poet, comic and actress based in Tempe, Arizona. She is currently pursuing a degree in Screenwriting at Arizona State University. Her work centers around queerness, heartbreak, abuse survival and depression. Trejon has been published in Survivor Zine and performs poetry and stand up comedy at open mics across the Valley. Trejon periodically provides her house as a stage for local and national independent artists to perform their work in a safe, low pressure space. She hosts a monthly series of open mics at her home with local artist and Pen Cap Collective co-founder Maya Maldonado. In her spare time, she is a devoted cat mom, knitter and cold brew connoisseur.

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Yolie Contreras is a Latina zine creator living in Phoenix. She is a long time contributor to Fem Static Zine, which centers on fourth wave feminism and is based in Arizona. She interned with ASU to create a zine collection and co-authored an accompanying Zine LibGuide. She built a tiny free library in her front yard that stocks free books and zines for the community. She recently started her own zine called Necropolis that raises death awareness and tries to destigmatize the way we view death and cemeteries. She thinks zines are a wonderful way to express your loves, hates and passions. Her goal is to spread zine love whenever she can! ​

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Jeff Slim is a Diné (Navajo) artist living in Phoenix, originally from Black Mountain, Arizona. Via his favored mediums of acrylics and aerosol, Jeff has made his mark throughout the valley in several locations including the Hive Gallery on 16th st, the Building housing Space 55 on McKinley and 7th street and an indoor mural at Palabras Librería/Bookstore, just to name a few. Jeff’s paintings which function as a modern expression of Diné culture have been featured in various local galleries such as the Mon Orchid and One Spot Gallery. Jeff is also a member of the Black sheep Art collective where he has helped facilitate art workshops for aspiring young native artists. Jeff’s Studio is located in the Grand Avenue arts district, where he works on pieces late into the evening. He also works for the Arizona Opera on large scale scenic backdrops for plays featured at the Phoenix Symphony Hall.
Jeff’s work will soon expand into the realm of Zines. As lead volunteer for Palabras Jeff is  providing artwork for a zine that expresses the unique and vibrant arts district of Grand Avenue and the predominantly POC community residing in the surrounding neighborhoods. ​

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Se'mana Thompson is a queer disabled Akimel Otham (river person) of the Gila River Indian Community, AZ as well as Hopi and Diné. She is a self-taught artist, mental health advocate and creator of the zine Queer Indigenous Girl and editor of her sons' zine Black Indigenous Boy. In her zine and art work, Se'mana focuses on her lived experience as a queer disabled urban indigenous woman and single mother to two black indigenous sons and uses her platform to amplify the voices of PoC - queer, trans & 2-Spirit, indigenous, disabled, mentally & chronically ill, and neurodivergent people.

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