Ahndiya Kiburi- Intern Fiber and Material Studies

"Art is Business." 

The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network welcomes Ahndiya Kiburi ahndiya.studio@gmail.com • ahndiyastudio.com • IG @andiya.studio

Ahndiya Kiburi-Fiber and Material Studies SAIC

My name is Ahndiya, and I am an MFA candidate at the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago, studying Fiber and Material Studies. Originally from California, I have a BA in Design at UC Davis and have been involved in the arts since I was a child. My artwork, normally in conversation with my younger or current self,  often reminisces on the whimsy and sense of possibility childhood provides. Limitations and limiting beliefs seem to be common in adulthood. Limiting one's beliefs about their own capabilities and value or the capabilities and value of others blinds society to the actual interconnection they possess with nature, their environment, and others. Limiting beliefs of oneself and others allows for the very racism and misogyny I aim to disarm in my artwork. 

Ahndiya Kiburi-Fiber and Material Studies SAIC

Graphic and vibrant, my artwork utilizes multiple textile art techniques along with traditional art mediums such as painting and drawing. As a Black woman living in the United States, my ancestry is disjointed, and because of this, I do not have a clear understanding of my heritage. Considering textile art's deep historical ties to the liberation of Black women in American society, I use my textile art practice to rectify the familiar loss in my life and to honor my ancestors: those known and unknown. Techniques such as crochet, quilting, and embroidery are often repetitive, and therefore serve as a meditation practice within my work. I can contemplate my life and surroundings while creating, thus creating a cyclical art-making practice. 

Ahndiya Kiburi-Fiber and Material Studies SAIC

Education

2025 Bachelor of Arts, Design, University of California - Davis, Davis, CA: 

Dean's List 2020-2025 with Honors.

2020 Performing and Fine Arts Academy Natomas Charter School, Sacramento, CA

Professional Experience

2026 Tour Guide, Adourn Tour Project for the Black History Month Family Festival, Crocker Art

Museum, Sacramento, CA

2023 Website Designer, Authentic Voices, Sacramento, CA

2023 Graphic Design and Community Engagement Student Assistant, Public Scholarship and Engagement, UC Davis, Davis, CA

2022 Design and Event Coordinator Externship, International House, Davis, CA

2020 Founder/Owner, Ahndiya Studio, Sacramento, CA

2017 Creative Director, One Voice Performing and Fine Art Academy, Sacramento, CA

Teaching Experience

2026 Mentor for high school community-based crochet project, Natomas Charter School, Sac, CA

2026 Contracted Adult Embroidery Course Instructor, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

2025 Substitute Visual and Performing Arts Teacher, Natomas Charter School, Sacramento, CA

2024 Art Teacher K-8, Art School of SF Bay, San Francisco, CA

2023 Student Tutor for DES 21: Drafting and Perspective Undergraduate course, Design Department at the University of California, Davis, CA

2021 Teaching Artist for Kids Summer Camps, Verge Art Center, Sacramento, CA

2020 Teaching Artist for Kids Summer Camps, Verge Art Center, Sacramento, CA

Group Exhibitions

2025 Penland School of Craft Summer Session Showcase, Asheville, North Carolina

2025 Cruess Collective, Juried senior showcase at the UC Davis Design Museum

2023 Annual Picnic Day Design Department Showcase, Juried student exhibition for the UC Davis

Design Department

2020 Intersectionality in Climate Activism, Digital Exhibit sponsored by Louder Than the Storm

Skills (Design).

Efficient in Adobe workspace, Graphic Design & Print Design, Logo Design, Fabric Design, Photography, Photo Editing, Visual Communication, Visual Campaigns, Crochet, Knitting, Machine Knitting, Natural Dyeing, Fiber Reactive Dyeing, Fabric Pattern Design, Hand Weaving, Loom Weaving, Needle Felting, Wet Felting, Figure Drawing, Painting, Fashion Design, Installation Design, Embroidery, Quilting, Mending.

Skills (Administrative):

Highly organized, detail-oriented, highly motivated; efficient in Google Workspace and Google Docs; efficient in Microsoft Suite; confident public speaker; calendar management; 7 years of customer service experience. 

Inside Creative Development Solutions

"Art is Business" Building OG Café © 2026, Vanessa Stokes. All rights reserved.

One of the questions I hear most often is, "How's the café coming?"

The answer is: we're building.

Not just the building itself, but the organization, the partnerships, the financial foundation, and the creative practice that will sustain it for years to come.

This past month has been one of the most productive periods since Outwest Gallery & Café began. I completed my final pitch for the Capital Impact Partners Equitable Development Initiative, refined our capital campaign strategy, updated project budgets, continued advancing architectural planning, and submitted additional grant applications to support both the café and its public programming.

While construction is still ahead, every conversation, every grant, every drawing, every budget revision, and every relationship is part of building Outwest Gallery & Café.

Development begins long before the doors open.

 

Inside Creative Development Solutions

Over the past month, I've been developing the philosophy and intellectual architecture behind Creative Development Solutions. What began as years of experience across community development, cultural organizing, public art, cooperative development, and institution building has now become a coherent framework that guides my work.

In the months ahead, I'll be sharing more about the Creative Development Model, Community Engagement as an Art Practice™, and the public practices that continue to shape this work. This is only the beginning.

Work With Creative Development Solutions

Every meaningful project begins with a question.

Sometimes it's a new idea you can't quite articulate. Sometimes it's a decision that feels bigger than you expected. Sometimes you know where you want to go—you just can't yet see the path.

That's where Creative Development Solutions comes in.

I partner with artists, founders, nonprofit leaders, institutions, developers, and community builders to create the conditions that allow ideas, organizations, and places to become what they are capable of becoming.

Current Creative Development Experiences

Creative Discovery Session™ — $300

A focused conversation to help clarify an idea, opportunity, challenge, or next step. Whether you're just beginning or feeling stuck, you'll leave with greater clarity and a meaningful direction forward.

Creative Visioning Session™ — $2,000

A deep, immersive experience designed to transform vision into strategy. Together we'll define what you're creating, establish meaningful outcomes, identify the conditions for success, and build a roadmap for moving your work forward.

Creative Development Advising™

An ongoing strategic partnership for leaders, organizations, artists, and institutions seeking thoughtful guidance as they build meaningful work over time.

If you're building something that matters, I'd love to explore how we might work together.

Reply to this email to start the conversation.

Summer Time CHI FISH FRY

"Art is Business" EVENTBRITE 

2nd Annual Summertime Chi Fish Fry

Friday, August 21, 2026 from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM (CT)

8:30 PM - 10:00 PM social

436 E 47th St 2nd fl • Chicago IL

Join us on the 2nd-floor rooftop during the Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour for an old-school Chicago fish fry where food, art, music, and community come together. 

Family-friendly activity at the Phantom Gallery Chicago Open Studio: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM.

From Westside Review

"Art is Business"© 2026 Vanessa Stokes. All rights reserved.

A Note About This Work

Many of the ideas, frameworks, practices, and methodologies shared throughout this publication are original works developed through Creative Development Solutions. They represent years of practice, observation, documentation, and refinement, and continue to evolve through ongoing work in the community.

This month's featured article is Community Engagement as an Art Practice™.

In this article, I explore the idea that community engagement is more than a strategy for gathering input. It is a creative practice rooted in listening, curiosity, relationship, and shared authorship. When we approach engagement as an art practice, we move beyond participation toward creating conditions where people can meaningfully shape the places they call home.

Read an excerpt below, then subscribe to Westside Review on Substack and read the full article online.

Artists work with paint, clay, photography, movement, words, and sound. Increasingly, I have come to understand my own medium as relationship, conversation, observation and presence. The act of showing up and paying attention. Community engagement, at its best, is not outreach or public participation. It is the creative practice of witnessing.

 

Vanessa Stokes from Substack article “Community Engagement as An Art Practice™”

 

From Westside Lens

Stories don't belong to one person.

Over the coming months, Westside Lens will document the people, places, conversations, and everyday moments that make our neighborhoods extraordinary. Through short films, photography, interviews, and visual storytelling, we'll capture development as it happens—not just in buildings, but in relationships, creativity, and community life.

Westside Lens is also an invitation.

If you're photographing Austin, writing reflections, documenting neighborhood history, or simply noticing the beauty of everyday life, I'd love to hear from you. In the future, there will be opportunities for community members to contribute photographs, stories, poems, essays, and other creative work that helps tell the story of our neighborhood from the inside out.

The lens belongs to all of us.

Click here to subscribe to Westside Lens

 

Growing the Garden

A few weeks ago, I claimed my plot at Harambee Garden. Before I planted a single seed, there was work to do because the weeds had taken over.

I filled five burlap bags before I could even see the soil beneath them. Then I added fresh topsoil, returned a few days later, and finally planted tomatoes, onions, peppers, and herbs.

Gardens have a way of reminding us that development cannot be rushed.

The ground has to be prepared to make room for what wants to grow. That is intention. Then there is the waiting game, tending, observing and trusting in the process. 

One of my favorite moments happened before I even finished planting. I met someone I'd only known through Facebook, and we spent time talking about community and what it means to create spaces where people genuinely belong.

That conversation stayed with me and in many ways, it became part of what is now emerging as Westside Conversations: Living Studio.

Sometimes development begins with a seed and sometimes it begins with a conversation. Often, they're the same thing.

 

Ways to Participate

If this work resonates with you, I'd love your support.

I'm currently raising funds to launch Westside Conversations: Living Studio, expand my ongoing community engagement practice, and continue building the public programming that will one day live inside Outwest Gallery & Café.

Your contribution helps create spaces where neighbors can gather, artists can lead, stories can be documented, and new possibilities for our community can emerge.

Whether you make a donation, share the campaign with a friend, subscribe to Westside Review, or simply forward this newsletter, you're helping build something that belongs to all of us.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

— GoFundMe

 

Looking Ahead

August marks the beginning of a new chapter.

Here's what I'm looking forward to sharing next month:

The launch of Westside Conversations: Living Studio.

A new essay in Westside Review.

Continued fundraising and development updates for Outwest Gallery & Café.

More from the evolving Creative Development Model and Creative Development Solutions.

New opportunities to participate in community conversations and creative practice.

The work continues to grow, and I'm grateful to have you walking alongside me.

 

Until next time...

The studio is always open.

The practice continues.

Outwest Gallery & Cafe - July 2026 Progress Update

"Art is Business"  Building More Than a Café © 2026 Vanessa Stokes. All rights reserved.

From the Living Studio

For the past several years, many of you have followed the journey of Outwest Gallery & Café. You've read newsletters, supported grant campaigns, attended events, shared ideas, and encouraged this vision as it has continued to grow. One thing I've noticed recently is that many people assume we're already open. In a way, they're right.

While the doors to the café have not yet opened, the work has never stopped. The institution has already been taking shape.

That realization led me to create this new series: From the Living Studio.

A living studio is more than a physical space. It is a practice. It is a place where ideas are developed in relationship with people, community, observation, experimentation, and reflection. Rather than waiting until something is finished to share it, a living studio invites others into the process while it is unfolding.

Development often brings to mind construction sites, architectural drawings, and large capital projects. Those are certainly forms of development, but they are not the only ones.

Gardens develop, neighborhoods develop, artists develop, relationships develop, organizations develop. Even an idea has to be cultivated before it can take root in the world.

Every meaningful act of development asks something similar of us: patience, curiosity, attention, care, and the willingness to try, observe, learn, and begin again. Rarely does anything meaningful emerge fully formed. It grows through practice.

Over the past month, I have been given something I haven't had in a long time: the space to pause and reflect on decades of work. I've spent countless hours writing, diagramming, asking questions, testing ideas, and connecting experiences that at one time felt separate. Community engagement. Media. Institution building. Cooperative development. Leadership. Public art. Neighborhood practice. Cultural development.

What surprised me wasn't discovering something entirely new. It was realizing that I had been practicing the same philosophy all along.

For years, I simply called it my work.

Today, it has a name: Creative Development Solutions™.

Creative Development Solutions isn't a new direction. It is the language that finally brings together the work I have been practicing for decades. It is a philosophy rooted in the belief that development is a creative act—that communities, organizations, institutions, and people all develop through intentional practice, thoughtful engagement, and continual learning.

This realization has brought tremendous clarity. It has also created a foundation for everything that comes next.

Over the coming months, I'll be sharing more about the ideas, methodologies, and public practices that are emerging through this work. You'll hear more about Community Engagement as an Art Practice™, Field Practice™, Living Studio™, Media as a Civic Practice™, and the Creative Development Model™. These aren't just concepts. They are practices that are already shaping how Outwest Gallery & Café is being developed and how I'll continue working alongside communities in the years ahead.

The first public expression of this next chapter will be Westside Conversations: Living Studio, a series of community gatherings launching this August in Austin. Together, we'll create spaces for conversation, inquiry, creativity, and shared learning. More details will be announced soon, and I hope you'll join us.

This month has also been an exciting one for Outwest Gallery & Café. We've continued refining our capital campaign, strengthened our development strategy, completed new grant applications, and advanced the planning needed to move this project closer to construction. Every one of these milestones is another step toward opening a permanent cultural home on Chicago's West Side.

As we move into this next phase, we're also relaunching our fundraising efforts. If you believe in this vision, I invite you to share our campaign, tell someone about the project, and consider making a contribution. Every act of support helps move this work forward.

Thank you for walking alongside me through this journey. Your encouragement has carried this vision farther than I could have imagined.

This is only the beginning.

Welcome to the Living Studio.

— Vanessa Stokes

Founder, Outwest Gallery & Café

Founder, Creative Development Solutions

Women's Suffrage Mural Downtown Fresno California by Will Portis

"Art is Business" Mural honoring women's suffrage unveiled in Fresno by Miranda Adams.

Posted: May 1, 2026 / 06:32 PM PDT/ Updated: May 1, 2026 / 06:33 PM PDT

The artwork can be found at 1350 M Street and was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Fresno through the Measure P Arts Grant.

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A new mural celebrating the history of women's suffrage will be unveiled in Fresno on Thursday.

The large and colorful piece was created instead of the 19th Amendment events that were canceled in 2020 due to COVID. However, from the temporary setback, a mural was born that will live on to honor the suffragettes who worked to guarantee the rights women have today.

The local artist who painted the mural, Will Portis, also used the opportunity to emphasize the years of grassroots efforts for voting rights by populations originally excluded from citizenship. 

Will Portis began his career in art while still in high school as a display artist for the Goodrich Tire & Rubber Company. Since then, he has created hundreds of works of art, both for commercial clients and as a private fine artist. Mr. Portis is an accomplished portrait artist and a master of landscape art. In addition to his paintings on canvas, Mr. Portis' work can be seen on the numerous murals he has completed over the years.

Will Portis, who describes his style as "natural realism" and "abstract realism," has been hailed by many as a modern renaissance artist. His paintings have been noted for their dramatic lighting and for bringing out the character of his subjects.

Mr. Portis attended the University of Akron for Fine and Commercial Arts and holds a Master's Degree in Education. In addition to being a working artist, Mr. Portis is also available for private instruction.

Studio Location

4866 E. Florence St.

Fresno CA 93725

Phone/Fax: 559.485.4626

Cell: 559.906.3090

willportis@yahoo.com

2026 Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour!

"Art is Business"  https://www.bronzevilleartdistrict.com/coming-soon-01

Cultural tourism is a core value for the Bronzeville Art District (BAD) partners. We offer tourism experiences that let visitors participate in local cultural activities, such as festivals and art walks. This provides an opportunity for visitors to enjoy a genuine cultural exchange with the local Bronzeville Neighborhood. We invite you to join us on the 3rd Friday of each month, from June through September, for the Bronzeville Art District 3rd Friday Trolley Tour. You can ride the double-decker buses throughout the community to visit five galleries, art institutions, and art studios. Enjoy fantastic art, music, live entertainment, and more!

BRONZEVILLE ART DISTRICT (B.A.D.)

 

CHICAGO – Bronzeville is again a focal point for Chicago's vibrant African American culture.  Like Harlem in New York, Bronzeville is a community where Chicago's African American music, Literature, Fine Art, and Theater historically thrived.  The Bronzeville Art District (BAD) currently comprises five established visual art spaces that work together to focus and drive cultural activities in the community, so that a distinctive cultural identity can be crystallized and communicated.

For more information on the five participating galleries, please check out their websites below:

Blanc Gallery

Bronzeville Artist Lofts

Faie Afrikan Art

Gallery Guichard

South Side Community Art Center (Under renovation until 2027)

Elaine Crossley- From the Archives of the PGCN

"Art is Business"

Faye Kennedy, Alpha Bruton, and Elaine Crossley. 

Louis Alcocer Invernon, a notable jazz musician and educator, at Zawadi Gallery Grand Opening 1994.

Alpha  Bruton Private Collection 1996

oil on canvas

30 x 26 inches

Biography

Born October 3, 1925, in Cincinnati, Ohio, she was creative and intellectually curious. She began writing poetry before later taking up drawing and finally painting. Bound to her pragmatic parents, Crossley wanted to major in art and attend the Cincinnati Art Academy, but was persuaded to pursue home economics at the University of Cincinnati, which she did while continuing to draw and paint. Crossley took art courses at the Art Institute of Chicago while living in Chicago with her husband, Frank Crossley, from 1952 to 1966. He was a metallurgical engineer who minored in fine arts himself and encouraged his partner's artistic interests. After moving to California, she studied ceramics and jewelry making.

BLACK ART AUCTION

Historically Important African-American Art

ARTIST

Crossley, Elaine (1925-1996)

Description

Frank

1961

oil on board

30 x 26 inches

signed and dated

Elaine Crossley (1925-1996)

Elaine Sherman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and initially studied home economics at the University of Cincinnati.  In 1950, she met Frank Crossley, a metallurgical engineer from Chicago.  The two had a whirlwind romance and married the same year.  

Elaine studied and exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago.  The work included in this auction, Frank, 1961, is clearly directly connected to her husband, although the interpretation remains somewhat subjective.  Elaine chose to exhibit this work in 1963 at the Art Institute of Chicago's Sixty-sixth Annual Exhibition by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity (label verso).  The couple lived in Chicago from 1952 to 1966.

Crossley identified the core of her artwork:  "[It comes from an] ancient art form, originating in Sudan, and used in much of ceremonial and ritual design in African artifacts…I am a Black woman who paints what she feels, thus expressing and sharing her Black experience.  - Brock & Co Fine Art

The couple moved to Palo Alto, California, and in 1986, lived near Granite Bay, Sacramento.  Elaine continued to paint and exhibit throughout her life.

Lou Invernon Quartet played at several of our opening receptions and the Celebration Arts Art and Soul Festival as a featured group.

Louis Alcocer Invernon, musician, educator. Recipient of the Certified Appreciation Award, American Legion Auxiliary, Sacramento, 1987; Medal of Honor, Ben Ali Shrine Temple, 1987. Republican candidate for District 10 seat, California State Assembly, 1983. Served as sergeant in the United States Army, 1958-1962. Member, American Federation of Musicians; Sacramento City Teachers Association; Lodges: Shriners (president, local chapter, 1982).

Phantom Gallery in Ramstein Germany

This is a space I'm considering for a phantom gallery project.

There are several other closed art galleries in the Village of Ramstein.

Simba Mediterranean Gallery

I ventured into the Ramstein-Miesenbach Museum, which is currently hosting a special exhibition, "African American Civil Rights in Germany," until July 19.

"Afroamerikanische GIs und Deutschland", "African American GIs and Germany".
The exhibition chronicles the little-known history of African American GIs' experiences in Germany and the significance of their deployment to the advancement of the civil rights movement in the US. It presents the first results of a joint research initiative of the German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C., Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY), and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) at the University of Heidelberg in co-operation with the DOCU Center Ramstein.

Sometimes in life, one comes full circle. I remember, in 1971, being a high school student, going underground to attend meetings that supported the Black Panther Party. We circulated petitions to free Angela Davis, a Fresno farmer who put up his farm to make her bail. That was my indoctrination into the Pan-African Peoples Revolutionary Party and into activism. The exhibition also highlights the Black Panther Movement in Germany, the freeing of the Ramstein 2, with posters and black-and-white photos of key Panther members.

www.aacvr-germany.org

Call for Artists: "City as a Studio- Curb Appeal"

"Art is Business" 

Call for Artists: "City as a Studio- Curb Appeal" Opening: October 7

Curator: Gabriel Patti

Are you tired of the typical tourist attractions in Chicago? This exhibition highlights urban scenes that you won't find in guidebooks. We'll showcase the beauty of back alleys, dive bars, underpasses, graffiti, and more through paintings, drawings, and photographs. Selected artists are invited to collaborate on large, primed sheetrock pieces, which will be completed during a live painting and performance event. The location will be announced soon. 

Please send your images to gjpatti@gmail.com.

Obama Presidential Center is officially open to the public.

"Art is Business"  OPC

The Obama Presidential Center is more than a landmark—it's a new space of possibilities. Built on the South Side where the Obamas' journey began, this 19.3-acre campus was designed with you in mind. Find inspiration in a one-of-a-kind Museum, dive into a story at the public library, or hang with friends on the Great Lawn. From around the block to across the world, this is your home for hope and change. 

Mark Bradford: Layers of America

Learn about Mark Bradford's artistic practice, his commissioned artwork on campus, and his materially driven approach to abstraction. The discussion will be moderated by Louise Bernard, Founding Director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum.

Mark Bradford: Layers of America

Tue, July 7

Hear how Mark Bradford works with everyday materials and learn about his commissioned artwork at the Museum.

Mark Bradford is a contemporary artist known for large-scale abstract works made from layered paper and found materials. His work explores the social and political forces that shape history and experience. A MacArthur Fellow, he represented the U.S. at the 2017 Venice Biennale.

June's Bronzeville Trail Framework Plan open house

"Art is Business" https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/bronzeville-trail-framework-plan/home.html

Save the date for June's Bronzeville Trail Framework Plan open house

The June 3 event will provide updates on a community-led, long-term planning process to create a trail and green space atop the former Kenwood rail embankment between Lake Park Avenue and State Street.

Stop by any time between 5:30 and 7:30 PM at Wendell Phillips Academy High School, 244 E. Pershing Road.

Register to attend or visit the Bronzeville Trail Framework Plan website

Overview

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and the Department of Transportation (CDOT) are seeking community input on the proposed conversion of the Kenwood embankment into an elevated trail and green space.

The embankment was used by the Kenwood branch of the city's rapid transit system between 1907 and 1957, when it linked Bronzeville to the Union Stock Yards, the Loop, and other destinations. Countless South Side residents used the line for daily commuting and transit needs, contributing to the thriving cultural, spiritual, and professional identity of the greater Bronzeville neighborhood. Almost no evidence of the former stations or tracks remains beyond the embankment's concrete walls, with wild vegetation covering most of the surface.

A long-term, community-led visioning process to improve the embankment and adjacent land was initiated in fall 2025 with the Bronzeville Trail Framework Plan. Led by DPD in partnership with the Bronzeville Trail Task Force, MUSE Community + Design, DePaul Institute for Housing Studies, and Nurture Architects, the framework could be finalized and presented to the Chicago Plan Commission for adoption in early 2027 as a formal guide to planning decisions and public expenditures. As of early 2026, no timetable exists for a proposed trail project that is expected to require years to finance, design, and construct.

Sign up for email updates about public engagement opportunities during the framework process. 

Upcoming Events

The Bronzeville Trail Task Force is leading community participation in three public meetings through 2026 that will help ensure the vision for the trail and adjacent land reflects local goals. Times and dates to be announced in early 2026.