Keila Myles

@keilamyles

My name is Keila Myles. I am a multi-talented independent artist, band leader, singer, songwriter, rapper, and visual artist hailing from New Haven, Connecticut. I am the frontwoman and band leader of Keila Myles and the Moose Knuckles, a punk soul band that blends elements of punk, soul, and rock into a unique sound. My music is characterized by my powerful vocals and introspective lyrics that explore themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. As a visual artist, I create bold and colorful paintings and illustrations that reflect my passion for music and hip hop culture. My DIY approach to art and music has led to the release of several singles, an EP and several collaborations. I have gained a reputation for my unique style and voice and have been featured in several exhibitions and galleries throughout Connecticut.

Lael Marie Saez

@royael

Lael Marie Williams (Saez) Bio (2020 update) My name is Lael Marie Saez, artist name Royael and I am a Hartford native. I started my dance career first under the teachings of my mother Ann Marie Williams and her educational arts program "K La Rue". From there as a child I studied ballet at Albinos for 3 years. I received more early training through the artist collective from middle school through high school, partaking in modern/jazz, ballet, hip-hop, tap and African dance under the direction of the honorary ACO Lee Thompson of New York and Kresha Hudgens of Hartford CT/ New York. While with the Artist Collective I performed at the Hartford Stage in the play "Oedipus" and performed a solo piece with a few other classmates at the Bushnell for the late Maya Angelou, who later that night personally told me ��ｿｿ�to never stop dancing". During high school I attended the classical magnet program and Hartford Public High school (where I did my academics) as well as the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts where I was trained in modern dance (Graham technique base), ballet, repertoire, improvisational, dance history, tap and numerous other dance and art classes. I graduated from all three schools in 2004 and started full time teaching at FootLights Performing Arts Center of Hartford, CT. In 2005 for the winter/spring semester I proceeded to Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y. where I continued my dance training under Donna Hash (Alvin Ailey��ｿｿ�s former principal dancer) and 4 other credible instructors. In the fall of 2005 I returned home and decided to continue teaching dance under the direction of FootLights and took classes in mortuary science at Briarwood college. In 2009 I joined the cultural dance troupe of the West Indies dance company with Stephen Hankey as head choreographer and stayed with them for 4 years. In 2010 I became a company member of the Judy Dworin project for 3 months working on the project "In this house��ｿｿ�; and was also recognized as dance instructor of the year at FootLights. In 2010 FootLights dissolved and transitioned in a new direction and entity called FootLights Performing Arts & Education Program under the late Debra Mauldin, which became a program offered at the Downtown YMCA where I have been currently active for the past 10 years and as of 2018 have become the sole owner of FootLights Performing Arts and Education Program after 19 years of service between FootLights Performing Arts Center and FootLights Performing Arts & Education Program LLC. In 2012 I had the privilege along with 5 other great dancers to create and be the first members of "Island Reflections Dance Theater Company" under the direction of Stephen Hankey, I am currently active with the company. In 2013 I was asked to be featured on the OPP workforce ��ｿｿ�Wall of Success��ｿｿ�. In addition to being the head Dance instructor I completed my time at the Downtown YMCA starting from assistant program coordinator to Program Director for the Downtown YMCA FootLights Program. I currently still own the FootLights Program and was recognized for 10 years of service in June 2015 ( 5 years with the YMCA) and 2020 was 10 years of service with the Downtown YMCA. As of March 2020 I became one of the teaching artists for the Bushnell Theater of Performing Arts. Outside of my dance career I am number 7 in the top 10 international Body Paint models with my Visual artist Joy Monroe for ��ｿｿ�Living Art America��ｿｿ� Body paint competition 2017, as well as #14 for International ��ｿｿ�Beyond The Canvas��ｿｿ� top 20 international body paint competition of 2018. In 2020 I was appointed as an Artist of Color Unite advisory board member for the Hartford Foundation For Public Giving and became one of the first fellows of the Artist of Color Accelerate lead by Shelley Best of the 224 Ecospace. In the the Fall of 2021, through an unanimous vote, I became Hartford CT��ｿｿ�s first artist representative as ��ｿｿ�Flow Artist��ｿｿ� through the Commission of Cultural Affairs, an honor that I hold deeply. As of 2022 I have been in collaboration with The Gambia West Africa��ｿｿ�s Arts and Culture sector as a Cultural Ambassador between Hartford, CT and The Gambia. I always stay active and committed to the community that has raised me, I am for us and by us, " I am Hartford, CT". Lael Marie Saez First City representative Flow Artist, CEO, Master Performing Teaching Artist,AA Royael Toujours Mignon LLC FootLights Performing Arts & Education Program LLC Batelles of The Diaspora LLC Hartford,CT 06114 860-913-4928 (work cell) https://www.facebook.com/FootLightsPerformingArtsED LaelMarieSaez.com Royaeltm IG

Joshua Hummel

@joshummel

Joshua Hummel loves being creative and loves to inspire people with beauty and subtlety. He owns an award-winning composition studio, holds an M.A. in Theatre and a MMus. in Composition, and has studied with professors from the Hartt School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and Julliard. Composition awards include ten choral awards, the Frederick Fennell Prize, the NBA Merrill Jones, and the Leonard Bernstein Award. Josh is an Associate Professor of Music at Capital Community College in Hartford, owns New Leaf Arts, is owned by his nine-year old son, Sebi, governed by his lovely wife of 19 years, Trista, and is utterly smitten with five-year-old daughter, Anya Evangeline. When not doing music, you might find Josh bombing local mountain biking trails, bikepacking, playing disc golf or strategy games with his son, or maybe hiking, cooking, reading, or working on his novel.

Sarah Paolucci

@sarahtheartist

I’m a fine artist specializing in oil paintings of pet portraits as well as still lifes that focus on light.

Blue Madeiras

@gonzflute

When three of the Hartt School’s busiest performer/educators started jamming together, they discovered a most original sound. Before long, Blue Madeiras was born. Each musician brings his musical experiences, from jazz and klezmer to traditional music from North and South America to this exciting new band. With their updated versions of Brazilian classics to Luke’s many originals, Blue Madeiras has found its voice, providing smooth, tropical rhythms for Gonzalo and Alex to engage in musical interplay of the highest order. You’ll even hear some Chopin and R&B in the mix!

Tomaca

@tomaca

Tomaca - Solo Artist or with a Band provides musical entertainment for all venues. She appeals to a wide audience because she sings songs from multiple genres and artists: Jazz, Motown, R&B, Rock, Blues, Show Tunes, Classical and Opera. More at http://Tomaca.net

Gary Jacobs

@garyjacobs

Artist Statement (Pictures of) Ideas Not Yet Formed My art relates to the Post-Modern movement in that it plays out the conventions of Abstract Expressionism, but in a self-conscious, methodical way. It is manneristic, pushing pure abstraction as far as it can go without being representational. It is intended to signal the end or death of Modern art, and as such be sad, longing, abject, listless. It is backward-looking in that it preserves the pure, raw creative impulse, but forward-looking in that it uses proven techniques that make the work feel deep, reverent and aspirational. It is an invocation of subject-matter yet to come, and admonishment to a new humanism and intellectual rigor. In short, it is an attempt to liberate artists and art, to free them from the current need to be all things at once—the joker and the joke, the rebel and the rebellion, the motivator and the motivated—which has resulted in a recent, false pantheon of art heroes, empty irony, and diminishment of thought. I am an artist caught between the last gasps of the past, and a future yet to come. Bio Artist, teacher, speaker. Light-filled, glowing, abstractions in oils. BFA 1988, Hartford Art School (Univ. of Hartford, CT). MFA 1991, Brooklyn College, New York. 1991—1994 taught at The Corcoran Museum School, Washington, DC. 1996—1999 taught at Hartford Art School. 2009—present taught at Tunxis Community College, Farmington, CT. 15 years as Product Development Artist at The Danbury Mint, Norwalk, CT. Numerous, prominent shows. Musical. Literary. Just stands and paints. I am a member of Artists in Real Time, Inc. and an annual participant of the city-wide Open Studio Hartford.

Shelley Best

@revdrshelley

What happens when one uses the act of painting as a vehicle for prayer and meditation? I have explored this question through the creation of my body of abstract work. Each canvas was “birthed,” through the act of prayer, listening, meditation and guidance from the Spirit. I have always had a love for stained glass and large canvases. As a child of the ’60’s I grew up as a Catholic in a small town in the northwest corner of Connecticut called “Norfolk.” The hope of integration, woman’s liberation and civil rights was part of my formation. While it was difficult being the only Black girl/child in the school, I always found solace escaping through the stain glass windows of my church. This opened my heart to the power of listening to God speak to me through sacred art. Over time, I have grown to believe the soul needs modern vehicles for contemplation and it is my hope each piece I have created serves as a tool for viewers to get in touch with what God is saying to them through each painting. I have been influenced by conceptual artists who enjoy the energy that comes from moving colors from one place to another. The Dutch painter Piet Mondrian has intuitively influenced this collection because of his use of geometric symbols and use of strong color. There is a mystical nature to each composition as I believe the spiritual energy of “the cross” directs each piece. It is my hope viewers will engage the work with an open mind and heart — that the message for them in this moment becomes clear.