About the Artists
Artists are listed in alphabetical order
Wukkout! started by Krista Martins is a high energy, inclusive and dynamic, Soca dance fitness experience designed to make you sweat and have fun, just like you would at a Caribbean Carnival!
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Ariana Carthan is a dance fitness instructor who brings joy and energy to every class she teaches. She leads Zumba, Chair Fitness, and Wukkout! classes, helping people of all ages and abilities find freedom in movement while having fun. Whether it’s a Latin-inspired Zumba party, accessible Chair Fitness, or the Caribbean rhythms of Wukkout!, Ariana’s mission is to create welcoming spaces where people can build community, connect to themselves, and live with joy—one dance step at a time.
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@wukkout
sub-binary (excerpt) explores the inherent differences in the male and female body, the power of both. The dancers create a movement dialogue and form new and surprising connections.​
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The company was founded in February 2002 by Artistic Director Lynn Parkerson, the first of its kind in Brooklyn in more than 40 years. Brooklyn Ballet brings a contemporary vision to the treasured art form of ballet, with repertory and programs that revitalize and re-imagine the classical form. Our mission is three-fold: to commit to artistic accomplishment, education, and community.
Brooklyn Ballet’s dedication to the community is wide-ranging. The Company continues to create and perform new repertory bringing Brooklyn audiences the artistic excellence they’ve come to expect. And through our Education and Community programs, Brooklyn Ballet creates opportunities for new audiences to experience an aspect of culture which they may otherwise never have had access to.
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@brooklynballet
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Kiddie Korner- GEMS of Bed Stuy!
We are the gems of Bedstuy. Watch us shine through storytelling, games, arts and crafts.
Bridges: A Pan-Afrikan ARTS Movement
A collaborative of multidisciplinary artists who cultivate & activate community arts practices both locally and internationally. This Brooklyn based organization has worked in collaboration with local artists and organizations. In New York, Sudan, and South Africa. Bridges has presented events and workshops, some which are: South African Freedom Day in Brooklyn, Women of Words Poetry Festival, We are Solutions, Black Love, AMPLIFY! Youth Arts in Action, Juneteenth: Sounds of Freedom, and smallgirl rising : Connecting the Divine Black Feminine. Bridges has been a long time partner with STooPS and is excited to bring engaging arts experiences to the youngest STooPS community members.
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For more information email: bridges.afrikan.info@gmail.com
Instagram: @bridges.pan_afrikanarts
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Brooklyn BloomsArt description- Join Textile designer and founder of Crown Soul Creations Knitwear Carmen Carriker for an immersive crochet workshop. Brooklyn Blooms crochet flower pots on the stoop , bouquets, and a floral textile display for pictures and video. The art intro begins with a song playing called Brooklyn Flower, a fashion walk in wearable art, the history of a crochet line in Bedstuy and a tutorial on making a crochet rose.
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Carmen Carriker is an multi-discipline artist and founder of Crown Soul Yoga & Crown Soul Creations Knitwear. Her crochet designs made their mark in street festivals and fashion shows 15 years ago in Brooklyn. She hosted and partnered with other designers to put on weekly fashion parties as well as styled other artists for videos. Current work showcased in New York Fashion Week 2023 - 2025. Her crochet swimwear was featured on CW11 News, in Revenge Fashion Magazine , and on web series M.A.D.E. You can follow all or her events @crownsoulcreations and shop at shopify store www.crownsoulcreations.com.
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Sacred Space, Sacred Self: Building & Activating Your Spiritual Altar
This immersive workshop is a sacred experience guiding participants in creating and activating a personal spiritual altar. Together, we’ll explore how to design altars that serve as portals for healing, intention-setting, connection with ancestors and spirit guides, and aligning with the divine self. Through ritual, storytelling, and energy work, participants will leave with a deeper connection to their sacred space and themselves.
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Camille Gordon Fanfair is the CEO and visionary founder of Essence of ASE, a sacred wellness brand offering therapeutic, hand-crafted products and spiritual healing experiences rooted in ritual, energy, and ancestral wisdom. Inspired by the Yoruba concept of ASE—the power to manifest through intention, voice, and action—Camille created the brand as an extension of her deep work as a healing facilitator.
Her journey began as a personal mission to heal from the intense flare-ups caused by Lupus. In reclaiming her health, Camille discovered the healing power of ritual, scent, crystals, and meditation. She self-tested remedies, crafted products, and developed spiritual practices that not only supported her well-being but laid the foundation for Essence of ASE’s powerful offerings. Today, Camille is a Spiritual teacher, a Crystal Reiki Master, and Wellness facilitator, whose work has helped hundreds reclaim their power and wellness. She teaches women how to align their energy using crystals, essential oils, Reiki, candles, meditation, and ancestral rituals. From her healing space at Brooklyn Commons, Camille offers one-on-one Reiki sessions, chakra-balancing treatments, guided meditations, and group healing circles. She also hosts monthly new and full moon gatherings, ritual parties with crystals, DIY spiritual bath classes, and immersive workshops that create space for self-discovery, emotional healing, and collective empowerment.
A recipient of the 2010 New York City Business Visionary Award, Camille is a sought-after speaker, retreat leader, and spiritual educator who continues to build community, inspire transformation, and activate the healing power of ASE in all she creates.
Dear Dystopian,
be'ware: take root: ch-nge
“Dear Dystopian,” is a poetic, improvisational collage processing these tumultuous times, messages heard, seen, felt, forgotten, remembered, and known. Through an arresting blend of text, movement, sound, and experimentation, the work embodies conversations, questions, grief, and growing pains of a society wrestling with its own past and thus its future.
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Courtney J. Cook hails from Norfolk, VA and is now residing in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of the Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts and holds a B.F.A in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is now Associate Artistic Director and BOLD facilitator with Urban Bush Women. She is honored to be a recipient of the 2018 “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Performance for her work with UBW, Maria Bauman (MBDance), and Marguerite Hemmings (we free). She has had the privilege to be in collaboration with interdisciplinary artists Tendayi Kuumba and Greg Purnell (FLUXX 2018-2019) exploring movement, sound, theater, and visual art. In 2022, Cook was involved as performer/choreographic collaborator and vocalist in Cannabis! A Viper Vaudville, created by Baba Israel and Grace Galu Kalambay (Soul Inscribed). In the fall of 2023, she made her debut performance with Houston Grand Opera as a dancer in the World Premier of Jake Heggie’s Intelligence under direction of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. In Spring ‘24, she made her debut at The Met Opera in John Adam’s El Niño, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz and choreographed by Marjani Forte-Saunders. She will be rejoining the Met Opera for their '25-'26 season production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, choreography by Camille A. Brown, opening this December. She is thrilled to deepen her practice and discovery in community and as a solo freelance performer, organizer, and art maker.
@courtney_jcook
Kendra J. Ross is a proud Detroit native working as a dancer, choreographer, teaching artist, facilitator and community organizer in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. As a dancer in New York City, Kendra has worked with Urban Bush Women (UBW), Andrea E. Woods/Souloworks, Ase Dance Theater Collective, Monstah Black/ Motion Sickness, MBDance, Moving Spirits Dance Company, RAKIA!, Melanie Green, Movement of the People Dance Company and as a guest artist with Oyu Oro. Kendra completed a European tour dancing with Adira Amram and DJ Kid Koala in Vinyl Vaudeville 2.0 and performed with Gyptian at the MTV Iggy awards. Kendra’s choreographic work has been presented at the Florida A&M University, the off Broadway show 7 Sins, Museu de Arte in Salvador, Brazil, Dixon Place, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Actors Fund Theater, and Mark Morris. She has been an Artist in Residence at Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Bates College, Marymount Manhattan, and The Neighborhood Project Through 651Arts, a BAX Space Grantee, and a Visiting Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts. She was recently the 2022 Inaugural BedStuy Artist in Residence at The Laundromat Project. She was a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow. Along with sharing her art world-wide, Kendra serves as the Founder/Director of STooPS Art & Community that uses art as a catalyst to strengthen ties between different entities in Bed-Stuy and as a Facilitator with UBW’s BOLD (Builders, Organizers, and Leaders Through Dance) network.
@thekendrajross
Block Party Host
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Koku is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and the founder of KokuTV. She has interviewed hundreds of people in the entertainment industry including Queen Latifah, Adam Sandler, Anthony Mackie and Gabrielle Union.
Koku has been a fixture on many red carpets in New York City and Los Angeles, and has been a guest at TriBeca Film Festival, the Academy Awards, The Emmys, and more.
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Koku of KokuTV (YouTube) & blackfilm.com.
Twitter: @kokupuff
Instagram: @kokupuff
TikTok: @kokupuff
YouTube: @KokuTV
Help color a large canvas of a Bedstuy Block. Traditional Brooklyn Brownstones are a hidden gem in BedStuy that house many families of many diverse cultures. And receive a take home coloring page (while supplies last).
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Ovila Lemon is 1 half of Mut'Sun. Mut'Sun pronounced (moot-son) is a signature name to describe the tag team efforts in painting collectively with her then 9yr old son Cleson. What sets her work apart is her vibrant use of color. Coming from over 20 years in the fashion industry, Ovila combines urban edge, Black culture and icons, to create her unique visual and wearable art. A lot of artists use color as if there are rules in creating art, in her eyes there are none and she teaches that to her son.
Additionally, Ovila founded and runs ART SO BROOKLYN, a traveling art course and camp providing high quality art technical training, practical experiences, and lessons about the business of art to low income Youth of Color. ART SO BROOKLYN provides an afterschool program, in studio art lessons, and camps during the summer and school breaks to train the next generation of visual artists and makers. This self funded endeavor has been a life saver for the youth and their families.
@woww_emgrl
@art_so_brooklyn
Portrait Drawing
Guests will be invited to join Artist Nia Blue to have their portrait drawn in a mixed media style!
​Nia Blue is a mixed-media painter in Brooklyn, NY with a focus in creating storied landscapes with paint and cold wax on large surfaces. Blue has earned her B.S. in Health Sciences with a minor in Studio Art from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. Blue’s work focuses on documentation of social determinants of health in the U.S. with a focus in portrayal of African-American experiences. Previously she has exhibited in North Carolina, Virginia, and several NYC galleries. As a multidisciplinary artist, Blue is drawn to experiences fostering collaboration, experimentation, and curiosity. She is currently working as a Teaching Artist and Educator in NYC.
​@niablueart
Enjoy Colombia’s traditional Afro-Indigenous gaita music through an interactive intergenerational, family friendly drum circle, call and response exercises and dancing.
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Púyaloahí is a musical collective dedicated to the sounds and rhythms of traditional Afro-Indigenous gaita music of the Colombian Caribbean Coast. The collective was formed in 2022 by members of the Colombian diaspora to study, commemorate and celebrate the legacy of the pioneers of the Indigenous Chuana flute and the African drums. Far from their ancestral lands, Púyaloahí formed on the stolen land of the Lenape-Canarsie people and is part of a decolonial musical effort that aims to build community through music by and for the people. Púyaloahí seeks to use music and joy as a vehicle for resistance and transformation by reclaiming our indigenous roots and honoring the roots of African and diasporic culture.
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@somospuyaloahi
Living Memory: Ancestral Wisdom Of Rosemary
A sacred workshop exploring how the ancestral medicine of rosemary awakens memory, legacy, and spiritual clarity.
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Workshop Description
In this hands-on session, we’ll explore the many facets of rosemary as a sacred plant ally, a culinary herb, and a tool for remembrance. Through guided ritual and storytelling, we’ll connect with rosemary’s energetic and medicinal gifts, then craft two offerings: a ritual herbal wash for energetic cleansing and protection, and a culinary herbal salt to preserve flavor, memory, and ancestral nourishment.
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Renee K. Smith (Ifagbaye Esubola Ayelaagbe Egbesina) is a certified flower essence practitioner and founder of Akika Flower Essences & Apothecary. Akika Flower Essences was created to explore the ancestral practice of tuning into plant intelligence as a tool for transformation, healing and empowerment on one’s soul journey. Renee received her flower essence certification from Oceans & Rivers Acupuncture and Wellness and The Flower Essence Society (FES). As a strategist, Renee believes that everyone can manifest their dreams by creating a strategy that encompasses the right people at the right time. Her goal is to assist others to find joy through the use of plant intelligence in as many forms possible beginning with flower essences. As an Iyanifa and Olorisa, initiated to Ifa and Egbe in Nigeria, Renee also uses the knowledge she gains from her spiritual practice to assist her clients in finding and maintaining balance in their lives. She continues to expand her repertoire of community tools for healing through consistent study of our plant allies, learning and practicing the art of alchemy as taught by Master Teacher Diana Pharr and becoming a Level II Reiki Practitioner certified by Taino Reiki Healing. Renee is a Brooklyn native, mother, artist, healer, alchemist, strategist, cultural arts curator, flower essence practitioner, SRJ advocate and community member.
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IG: @akikafloweressences @reneekimberlysmith
Facebook: Akika Flower Essences Renee K. Smith
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Art Crawl Guide
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Bed-Stuy has shaped national culture, but disinvestment and displacement threaten its legacy. GrowHouse is building a response rooted in restoration and collective ownership. Through the BLAC Land At STooPS, we’re activating the People's Mansion (375 Stuyvesant Avenue) with Street Lab’s Imagine Stations - hands-on, art experiences that invite all ages to dream, create, and shape the future of Black Brooklyn together.Trust, a community land trust covering Bed Stuy and surrounding neighborhoods, we are working to reclaim spaces as community-owned and stewarded cultural anchors. At STooPS, we’re activating the People's Mansion (375 Stuyvesant Avenue) with Street Lab’s Imagine Stations - hands-on, art experiences that invite all ages to dream, create, and shape the future of Black Brooklyn together. All day, all ages.
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A proud mother of 3, Shanna Sabio was born in Brownsville, and raised in Bushwick and Bedford Stuyvesant. She’s an anti-disciplinary artist, curator, cultural strategist and educator whose practice uses the intersections of art and technology, travel and urban planning to create healing, anti-racist, equitable, and inclusive spaces. GrowHouse NYC, the organization she co-founded with her son Warner, uses collective ownership of real estate to combat gentrification in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Her most recent work, the Sankofa Walking Tour for the Flatbush African Burial Ground, has been experienced by over 1000 people thus far. Shanna Sabio is a transdisciplinary artist and designer, public historian, and lifelong resident of Brooklyn. As co-founder and co-director of GrowHouse NYC, her work invites Black people and our allies to envision and create flourishing and connected communities. She is also a co-trustee of the Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition. Her work supports building inclusive communities through cooperative economics, public education, and reparative land ownership and stewardship.
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Soul Science Lab is a music and multimedia duo powered by emcee, songwriter Chen Lo and composer, producer Asante Amin. We empower communities through original music, innovative storytelling, and culturally responsive arts education. SSL is dedicated to creating a celebrated body of work and cultivating the next generation of iconic artists. They are storytellers inspiring the future. Their current projects include Soundtrack ‘63, Carnegie Hall commissioned Make a Joyful Noize, and Apollo Theater commissioned Renaissance Mixtape.They have released 3 studio albums including Footprints, The Visitor: Alter Destiny and Plan for Paradise. Soul Science Lab has also developed a culturally responsive education platform for music creatives and educators at Soul Science University. Just call them Innovative Afro Futuristic Griots.
Block Party DJ & Sound
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TONIBNYC is a Brooklyn based Female Creative who loves to DJ. Computer Science Tech by trade brings great pride working alongside other professionals and providing great service. Her passion to clash art, love and a beat empowers the culture as she continues to heal with music in her everyday works and journey. TONIBNYC is a Brand to Watch out For!
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STooPS Art & Community values creators. We are an artist-centered organization. We recognize that without artists there would be no art, and we honor both the product and the creator. We believe in fair compensation rooted in a communally-determined value system, and we are committed to paying all creators in a way that meets their needs and expectations. Exposure is not sufficient compensation.
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Your donations and support aid us in honoring these values.
