Learning Outside the Lines- YEA!

"Art is Business"

Last Friday was Grandparents Day at Calvin Christian School, where my granddaughter, Dani Davis, is a sixth grader. The President of the Board of Trustees handed me the SOUTH HOLLAND Living Sept/Oct 2026 magazine from the Village of South Holland.

After the program, while waiting for our Uber, I started reading the magazine and, lo and behold, found an article featuring Dani and four of her classmates. I want to share this proud moment with my family and friends. 

I think we can all remember growing up and navigating the school playground, where you learn social skills and how they affect your mental well-being. Squabbles, social cliques, bullying- you name it- happen throughout the day, and unresolved issues carry over day in and day out. 

Last year, I wanted to put her in self-defense classes as a resolution, because in my day, that's how you resolved issues. So, reading this article and seeing how the school handles the situation, and the alternative resolution, touched my heart deeply. 

Learning Outside the Lines

Where Playgrounds and Gardens Become Classrooms

Photos by David Bustos

PEACEMAKERS PROGRAM

Is a program that teaches students conflict resolution skills. They go through a social-emotional learning curriculum where they learn how to solve problems on the playground, says Leah Casson, Principal at Calvin. They become leaders for our community by helping resolve student conflicts among younger students. 

The vast majority of fifth graders opt to join the program, which includes a "vesting ceremony: when each student is given their own Peacemaker vest to wear. Students are then placed on a rotating schedule and take turns serving during both the PreK and K-2nd grade recesses. They are empowered to intervene when they see conflict, and they're also encouraged to step in to make sure all kids feel included at recess.

The program began over ten years ago with former counselor Latrice Oglesby; 5th-grade teacher Melissa Bultema oversaw it before school counselor Glinda Baker took the reins in 2026.  

"A lot of our eighth graders have said the skills they learned in the Peacemakers program directly impacted their ability to handle conflict at the middle school level," Casson says.

"One of our targets for our profile of a graduate is that our students will be leaders for their community."

Museum of Illusions St. Louis 

Dani is a Young Enterprising Artist, and during the summer Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tours, she facilitates the children's art corner at the Phantom Gallery Chicago Open Studio. All the professional artists here at the Bronzeville Artist Lofts recognize her talents and encourage her because we were all ten at one time, and our families nurtured our growth. 

Research has shown that school playgrounds can affect kids' social and mental well-being. However, there's a gap in understanding the exact effects of these spaces on children's mental health, calling for more comprehensive and evidence-based research. This study aims to investigate whether re- or new-build schoolyard playgrounds can improve social and mental health in 6-12-year-old children.

Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour 2026

"Radical Optimism: Celebrating 100 Years of Oscar Brown, Jr.

"Art is Business" https://www.oscarbrownjr.org/

Reposted: Dorian, Africa, and Maggie Brown and Blanc are mounting a tribute to Oscar Brown Jr. to honor his 100th Birthday.  The opening took place on Sunday, September 20, from 2-5.  Eileen Rhodes, the gallery curator and co-owner, invited me to attend. 

I truly hope you can make it. You will enjoy the archival photos, video, and ephemera that Maggie and Dorian have brought together.

Take good care

Eileen

What is featured: A living archive including rare photographs, classic album covers, historical music recordings, and special community programming. 

Would you like information on upcoming performance events or listening sessions tied to the centennial celebration?

Exhibition and Tribute Details: 

Dates: On view through Saturday, October 10, 2026 (marking Oscar Brown Jr.'s 100th birthday).

Location: Blanc Gallery, 4445 S. King Drive, Chicago, IL (Bronzeville).

Curator & Creators: Muralist Dorian Sylvain curated the exhibition in collaboration with the late artist's daughters and fellow musicians, Maggie Brown and Africa Brown.

Muralist Dorian Sylvain and Kahari Blackburn 

Tsehaye Hébert Artist Design the Future

Born on Chicago's South Side, Brown was a songwriter, poet, playwright, performer, and activist whose work moved between music, theater, politics, and Black life without separating one from the other. His voice was distinctly his own, and generations later, the ideas behind the work still resonate.

Radical Optimism: Celebrating 100 Years of Oscar Brown Jr., presented by his children Maggie and Africa Brown and curated by Dorian Sylvain, honors that legacy on the occasion of his centennial.

The timing also gives us another reason to look forward to our next gathering.

On September 26, Diasporal Rhythms will be at Blanc Gallery for Art Smart: Black Collector Forum, hosted by Lee Ann Trotter with the founders of Diasporal Rhythms. Guests can experience Radical Optimism while joining us for a conversation about art, collecting, and what it means to build a collection with greater knowledge and intention.

September 26 | 1–3 PM

Blanc Gallery | Bronzeville

Oscar Brown, Jr. redefined what it meant to be free, Black, and unapologetically human. He worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali, turning street cries, jazz riffs, and community struggle into radical truth-telling art. He built a movement that proves there's "gold in the ghetto" and always aimed to help people see our community as a beautiful place.

The exhibit features a collection of rare photos, album covers, music, and other special activations, curated in collaboration with muralist Dorian Sylvain and Oscar Brown Jr.’s two daughters, Maggie and Africa Brown, who have spent their father's centennial year sharing his legacy through many Chicago institutions.

 Remember, our community connects to become better and stronger when we get all the help we need and give all the help we can!

#DiasporalRhythms #OscarBrownJr #ChicagoArt #blancgallery #BlackCollectors

AAAM's Statement on the Retirement of Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III

"Art is Business"  Dear AAAM Members, Vedet Coleman-Robinson, Ph.D., President & CEO

Association of African American Museums

There are people whose careers can be measured by the positions they have held, the institutions they have built, or the accolades they have received. Then there are rare individuals whose impact is measured by the people who can walk farther because of the path they cleared.

Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III is one of those people.

On behalf of the Association of African American Museums, I extend our deepest gratitude and heartfelt congratulations to Secretary Bunch as he announces his retirement from the Smithsonian Institution after nearly four decades of extraordinary service.

For historians and public historians, Secretary Bunch has demonstrated what it means to place history in service to the public. He has spent his career reminding this nation that understanding America requires the courage to confront the fullness of the American story. That means telling not only the comfortable chapters, but also those that challenge us, complicate our understanding of the past, and ultimately help us better understand who we are.

For those of us within the African American museum field, however, Secretary Bunch's significance is deeply personal.

He is one of us.

His journey did not begin when he became Secretary of the Smithsonian or when the doors of the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on the National Mall. His journey through this field stretches back decades, including his early work at the California African American Museum under the leadership of Aurelia Brooks.

Those beginnings matter.

They remind us that before the national titles and historic achievements, Secretary Bunch was doing the work that so many members of AAAM do every day. He researched, collected, interpreted, preserved, educated, and helped communities understand the importance of their own histories. He learned and practiced this profession within the very institutions that form the foundation of our field.

He has also been part of the AAAM family for much of his remarkable career. He has been our colleague, mentor, advocate, historian, museum professional, and friend.

That is part of what makes his story so powerful to us.

He allowed us to see ourselves.

When we watched him lead, we could see what was possible for our own careers. When we watched him build, we could imagine what was possible for our institutions. When we watched him take African American history to the National Mall and ultimately lead the Smithsonian Institution itself, generations of museum professionals could look at him and see that someone who came from our field, understood our institutions, valued our communities, and knew our struggles could reach the highest levels of the museum profession without forgetting where he came from.

Representation at that level matters.

By creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Secretary Bunch forever changed the landscape of museums in America. Perhaps equally important is what that accomplishment communicated to generations of historians and museum professionals: our histories belong at the center of the American story.

Secretary Bunch helped pave a road that so many of us now travel.

Because of his leadership, countless historians, curators, educators, preservationists, museum professionals, students, and emerging leaders have been able to imagine possibilities for themselves and their institutions that once seemed beyond reach. His example encouraged our field to dream bigger, insist upon excellence, and continue the difficult work of preserving and interpreting African American history.

His career has also demonstrated something fundamental about the work we do. African American history is not a specialized sidebar to the American experience. It is central to understanding America.

At a moment when the work of historians and museums is as consequential as ever, his legacy reminds us of our responsibility.

• We must keep telling the full truth about America.
• We must protect the historical record.
• We must preserve the stories entrusted to us.
• We must create space for the next generation.

Furthermore, we must ensure that future generations inherit institutions courageous enough to tell these stories fully and honestly.

Secretary Bunch has carried that responsibility with extraordinary grace, intellect, humility, courage, and determination. Now, those of us who have benefited from his leadership must continue carrying that work forward.

For AAAM, this is not simply the retirement of a Smithsonian Secretary. This is a moment to honor one of our own. It is an opportunity to honor someone who grew from this field, walked alongside this community, helped transform our profession, and then held the door open so that others could follow.

As we celebrate this remarkable chapter in Secretary Bunch's life and career, we invite the entire AAAM family to help us honor him. We welcome our members to share words of congratulations and encouragement, personal reflections, memories, and photographs through the AAAM member portal. Whether you worked alongside Secretary Bunch, learned from him, were mentored by him, shared a moment with him at an AAAM conference, or simply found inspiration in his journey, we invite you to add your voice.

AAAM will collect these messages and images and share them with Secretary Bunch as an expression of the gratitude, respect, love, and appreciation of the African American museum community. We want him to see and hear from the people whose careers, institutions, and lives his work has touched.

Secretary Bunch, thank you for allowing us to see ourselves in you. Thank you for showing generations of museum professionals what is possible. Thank you for making space for others. Thank you for believing in the power of museums, the importance of historians, and the transformative power of history.

Most importantly, thank you for helping America understand that African American history is not separate from American history. It is essential to understanding America itself.

You have paved the way.

We've got it from here. We will continue to fight the good fight!

With profound gratitude,

Vedet Coleman-Robinson, Ph.D.

President & CEO

Association of African American Museums

Westside Conversations

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

Community doesn't develop through presentations. It develops through participation.

That's the spirit behind Westside Conversations: Living Studio, a new series of gatherings that will begin this August at Austin Library.

Rather than asking people to attend another meeting, Living Studio invites neighbors, artists, organizers, practitioners, and anyone curious about community into a shared creative practice. Together we'll ask questions, tell stories, explore ideas, and imagine what becomes possible when community engagement itself is approached as an art practice.

These gatherings won't be about arriving with all the answers. There'll be spaces for inquiry, reflection, experimentation, and collective imagination. Every conversation becomes part of an ongoing practice of creating the conditions for human development.

Scan the QR Code in the flyer above to register.

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 community.

© 2026 Vanessa Stokes. All rights reserved.

Moonlight Social- Hazel Crest Open Lands Arboretum

"Art is Business"

Join us for an evening of music and socializing with the Village of Hazel Crest Open Lands commissioners and village trustees. For a night under the stars and watching the moon rise.

The Beautification/Open Lands has decided, amidst the severe weather outbreak that we have experienced, to help with healing our communities by continuing with our annual

 Moonlight Social event scheduled for Friday, August 27 in the Open Lands from 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM. This is a free event, and we provide a beautiful ambiance in nature with 

roasting hot dogs over our fire pit and having other refreshments. This year, our live, accomplished local musical talent, Mr. Alan Burroughs, will perform with his ensemble, bringing an intensified presence for our enjoyment.

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)