Collective Shade(s): Loving the Loves of Black Trans + Queer Folx

DeAnn Wiley (she/her/hers)

Founder of DeeLashee Artistry

Born & Raised in Detroit. I have been painting, self taught, for 4 years. I am a advocate for social justice as I sit at the intersection of many identities: Black, Woman, Queer & (Dis)Abled, and stand in solidarity with those communities that I am not a member of. Currently in grad school for Counseling Psychology, with a strong belief that we need more BW in the field. So when I’m not painting, I’m learning, growing, healing and each phase of my journey can be seen through my art.

Cash App: $DeeLaShee

Ahya Simone (she/her/hers)

Ahya Simone is a Detroit-based musician and multidisciplinary artist, who was introduced to the harp while attending Cass Technical High School. While attending Wayne State University Ahya became the principal harpist in their Wind Symphony Orchestra.

Working across a myriad of disciplines which include: artist, performer, filmmaker and harpist. Ahya’s practice is bound by an exploration of black identity, aesthetic and community building.

An artist with over 13 years of study Ahya has most recently scored the Louis Vuitton Menswear Fall/Winter 2021-2022 fashion show. She has also been featured in a collaborative short produced by Carhartt WIP, Dazed Magazine and NTS Radio called “Showing Up, Showing Out" a film dedicated to Motown's legacy in music and its future in Detroit. Her unique artistry was noticed by the producers of Kelela's album "Take Me Apart_The Remixes". She was asked to compose an original remix of Kelela's "Enough" which was featured on the album. She also scored the short film "Treasure: from Tragedy to Trans Justice, Mapping a Detroit Story".

Awards: Ahya has been recognized as a 2017 Detroit Narrative Agency 2.0 fellow, a 2018 Sundance / Knight Foundation fellow and a 2018 Kresge Artist fellow.

Bandcamp: https://ahyasimone.bandcamp.com/track/frostbite
Cash App: $ahyasimone

Bakpak Durden (they/them)

Available gallery works: https://www.artsy.net/artist/bakpak-durden

Bakpak Durden, born and raised in Detroit, is a self-taught interdisciplinary fine artist. Pulling from various figurative art techniques, Durden employs a wide range of mediums—oil and acrylic paint, graphite and fine art photography —to construct their hyperrealistic and conceptual works of art. Durden’s artworks illuminate the complexity and precarity of human emotion and identity by meticulously examining their own.

Bakpak most recently displayed their work locally with Playground Detroit and nationally with Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia. Durden has completed a number of murals locally and nationally, culminating in a collaborative all Black artist mural in Denver, CO as part of Crush Walls 2020. They are a recent recipient of the Playground Detroit 20/20 Emerging Artists Fellowship, the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation Grant, and producing a limited edition print in response to their artist residency with The Jaunt Summer Camp at Camp Wandawega.

Bakpak is focused on continuing their work within their communities, highlighting black trans and queer visibility in addition to mental health and disability advocacy/representation as a Detroiter in its robust art scene. 

They are also a co-founder of Paper Street Press Co. Paper Street is A QTBIPOC  (Queer & Trans Black & Indigenous People of Color)  & Disabled BIPOC Centered Zine Press and Distro based in Detroit, MI. Paper Street Press Co.: https://paperstreetpress.co.

Venmo: @BakpakDurden

DeVon Clinkscales (he/him/his)

Hi my name is DeVon Clinkscales, and I love to sing. I’ve done everything from musical theatre to a cappella, and the one thing I love most about all types of music is how freeing it is to really be in the thick of it all! Being able to sing for others and for myself is something that brings me immense joy, and having the ability to express myself through music is irreplaceable; I couldn’t imagine seeing myself without it!

Cash App: $DeVonClinkscales

Darryl DeAngelo Terrell (they/them)

http://www.darryldterrell.com/

My name is Darryl DeAngelo Terrell, I'm a Detroit Based artist who primarily works within lens based media (i.e. Photography, Video), performance, and writing. I am also a Curator, DJ, Organizer, and Educator. I received my Master of Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I studied with Xaviera Simmons, Ayanah Moor, and Roberto Sifuentes. I work under the philosophy of F.U.B.U (This Shit Is For Us*). I'm always thinking about how my work can aid to a larger conversation about blackness, and its many intersectionalities. My work explores the displacement of black and brown people, femme identity, and strength, the black family structure, sexuality, gender, safe spaces for all black bodies, and personal stories, all while keeping in mind the accessibility of art.

I am currently a Redbull House of Art Resident (2021 due to Covid-19), A 2019/2020 Document Detroit Fellow, 2019 Kresge Arts In Detroit Fellow of Visual Arts, 2019 Artist in Resident at Northeastern Illinois University, 2018 Luminarts Fellow in Visual Arts, 2017/18 Hatch Project Artist in Resident at Chicago Artist Coalition, 2017 Artist in Resident at ACRE, 2017 semifinalist for the Edes Fellowship. I have performed and exhibited work at The Museums of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), Chicago IL, The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, Brooklyn, NYC NY, The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL, Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, TN, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Scottsdale, AZ and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

Cash App: $DDT2009

Cierra Dior Malone (she/her/hers)

Well, my name is Cierra and I'm from Detroit. I'm a 41-year-old Sagittarius and worked for Trans Sistas of Color Project. I'm also an associate producer for Fem Queen Chronicles, a web series, and have a starring role. I have been a showgirl and have been doing pageants for over 15 years, capturing the titles of Miss Port Huron and Miss Woodward. In addition, I was the first transgender to chair an event for Hotter Than July in 2013 and in that same year was the first transgender to be valedictorian for the LEAD program sponsored by LGBT Detroit. I have been on the cover of Between the Lines and been on billboards in the city and featured in a book discussing my role as a black trans woman in Detroit. Finally, I have been in a few plays in and around the Detroit area.

Cash App: $CierraMalone79