Formed in 2018 by Cleveland-based artist Hyperius Blake (Cleveland Arts Prize Verge Fellow 2025), Black Voltron brings together musicians from diverse backgrounds. They represent true community—the magic that happens when artists prioritize authenticity, understanding, and connection. Hyperius founded Black Voltron to share…
Kisha Nicole Foster lives in Cleveland, and is the recipient of the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize for Emerging Artist in Literature. Foster is an alumnus of Cleveland State University-BA English, and holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Foster…
Ross Karre (he/him b. 1983 in Michigan) is a percussionist, filmmaker, and producer based in Oberlin, OH and New York City. He is the associate professor of percussion at Oberlin Conservatory. After completing his Doctorate in Music at UCSD with Steven Schick,…
Barbara Marie Minney, a native of West Virginia and a seventh generation Appalachian, is a Christian transgender woman, award winning poet, speaker, teaching artist, guest reader/editor, and quiet activist. Her poetry and essays have been widely published and translated into Spanish. Barbara…
By embracing the influence of his heroes from the jazz tradition and retaining his own musical personality, guitarist Dan Bruce has developed a unique and impressive musical voice. He returned to Cleveland, Ohio in 2017 after spending a decade as an important…
Philip Metres is a poet, scholar, translator, essayist, playwright, and peacebuilder. He is the author of twelve books, including Fugitive/Refuge (2024), Ochre & Rust: New Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky (2023), Shrapnel Maps (2020), The Sound of Listening: Poetry as Refuge and Resistance (2018), and Sand Opera (2015). His work has…
Cass Penegor (They/Them) is a nonbinary artist and educator currently based in Lakewood, Ohio. They received their BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and their MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Their work has been featured in various online exhibitions, and…
Theresa J. May (she/her) is a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio. She holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Dayton. May is adjunct faculty at Cuyahoga Community…
Al Fuchs is a Cleveland native and has spent most of his life here. He attended Bowling Green State University and graduated in 1983 with a degree in Photojournalism, and he then worked at newspapers around the country until 1993. Fuchs moved…
Dayshawnda Ash is a multifaceted artist born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. As an actress, singer, painter, sculptor, dancer, poet, and writer; art was her escape from bullying. Within the last few years, she’s been focused on play and screenwriting. “My purpose…
