Replenish Residencies
Replenish Residencies provide restorative visioning retreats to Greater New Orleans’ BIPOC artists and culture bearers 2020 - present
Replenish Residencies provide 1-2 week restorative visioning retreats to local BIPOC artists and culture bearers; the heart of New Orleans culture. In light of the many racial disparities still present in our society at large and the arts economy specifically, we offer these residencies to BIPOC artists to provide time to rest and restore, vision and create. Originally conceptualized at the start of the pandemic, these residencies have evolved from Relief Residencies into Replenish Residencies, shifting from crisis response to ongoing community care. The call is open to BIPOC artists and culture bearers from the Greater New Orleans area who have not attended a residency before.
In 2020 we piloted this program through a nomination process and we have since added an open call to reach wider audiences.
Replenish Residents
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Jonathan Jackson Filmmaker, 2024, Louisiana Jonathan Isaac Jackson is a New Orleanian filmmaker and Managing Partner at The Colored Section. His first feature documentary, “Big Chief, Black Hawk”, was broadcast on WORLD Channel and was a winner of best documentary at The Black Film Festival of… -
Kristal M2daE Jones Performing Artist, 2024, Louisiana Kristal M2daE Jones (pronounced M-to-Da-E) is a self-taught, community-developed choreographer, mover, and instructor. Her style of dance is a blend of many different styles of dance ranging from Hip Hop, Bounce, Contemporary, Latin, and more. With an interest in intuitive/ expressive,… -
Pamela Pierre Brown Culinary Artist, 2024, Louisiana Pamela Pierre Brown, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Certified Holistic Health Advocate accredited through the State of New York and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Private Chef, Caterer, and Owner of Gourmet Sacred Soul Kitchen Therapy &… -
John Lacarbiere III Multidisciplinary Artist, 2023, Louisiana John Lacarbiere III is an artist of many forms, including writing, spoken word, and photography. He has several books of poems and photography published, as well as spoken word albums. He has most recently been spending time documenting Louisiana wildlife… -
Walter Sandifer III New Orleans Masking Indian, 2023, Louisiana Walter Sandifer III is one of Louisiana’s most significant gems of culture here in New Orleans formerly known as Balbancha (the land of many tongues). Being born into the New Orleans masking tradition, Walter has been encouraged to create an opulent… -
Akilah Toney Multidisciplinary Artist, 2023, Louisiana Akilah Toney is a 20-year-old published writer, poet, dancer, photographer, and youth advocate from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2020 she graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with a focus in creative writing. She currently attends Loyola University… -
Sunni Patterson Poet/Multidisciplinary Artist, 2023, Louisiana Armed with an engaging story and voice, New Orleans native and visionary Sunni Patterson deliberately uses art, poetry, and praise (Ancestral veneration) to encourage dialogue, connectivity, spiritual awareness, and healing. She is an internationally acclaimed Poet, Performer, Workshop Facilitator, Certified… -
Kelly Love Jones Multidisciplinary Artist, 2023, Louisiana Kelly Love Jones is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer/director and has produced and directed two productions titled “Pitch Dark“ and “Trust” and both evoked the spirit of imagination and intrigue. Jones graduated with a degree in Video Production with a focus on sound engineering. Jones’s artistic, creative,… -
Ifátùmínínú Bamgbàlà Arẹs̀à Multidisciplinary Artist, 2024, Louisiana Ifátùmínínú Bamgbàlà Arẹs̀à is a multidisciplinary artist, activist and educator born and raised in New Orleans. Ifátùmínínú suppressed her creative side for a decade before moving to Tanzania, where she was reborn. She continues to actively work across the diaspora by… -
Kimberly Denesse Writer, 2023, Louisiana Kimberly Denesse is the independent creator of Fat Girl Friendly and Female Rage Fiction novels as well as stage productions. Her most recent book, Not All Women Wear Hot Pants, Some Carry Guns, is a collection of short stories featuring Women as… -
Alina Allen Visual Artist, 2023, Louisiana Therapeutic and healing are the two words that Alina Allen always uses to describe her artwork. Allowing herself to be free and create whatever her spirit tells her, the materials she uses are acrylics and oil paints on canvas and wood panels. As… -
Ayanna Molina Multidisciplinary Artist, 2023, Louisiana As a creative poet/spoken word/hip hop artist and performer Ayanna Molina, affectionately known as “Mama Fiyah”. Raised in the arms of New Orleans, Ayanna’s vibe is an eclectic mix of poetry, spoken word, and Hip Hop. Her work is dedicated to uplifting… -
Juan Pardo New Orleans Masking Indian, 2023, Louisiana Big Chief Juan Pardo, the chief of the Golden Comanche Mardi Indian Tribe, is a culture bearer of New Orleans. He has 20 years of experience in the arts of music, beading and is also a published author. He has worked… -
Kr3wcial Hip Hop Artist and Producer, 2023, Louisiana Kr3wcial is a Hip Hop artist, producer, and engineer from Algiers in New Orleans. He has been performing and creating music for over seven years. Recently he has performed at the Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans Pelican games, and many other stages… -
Jose Cotto Visual Artist, 2022, Louisiana Jose Cotto was born and raised in Great Brook Valley, a housing project in Worcester, Massachusetts and has called New Orleans home since 2012. The son of a single mother raising four kids, he often found himself being pulled between… -
Gypsi Lewis Multidisciplinary Artist, 2022, Louisiana C. Gypsi Lewis (she/they) is a Black and Brown queer femme born in New Orleans, Louisiana (Bulbancha) of the Lewis, Thomas, Miller, (de)Leon, Ruiz, and Baham families. Their praxis include installation art, small batch herbal skincare goods, full spectrum birth… -
Mwende “FreeQuency” Katwiwa Anti-Disciplinary Artist, 2022, Louisiana Mwende “FreeQuency” Katwiwa is a Kenyan, Immigrant, Shoga|Queer storyteller, speaker & feeler. The 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, a 2017 TEDWomen speaker and ranked 3rd at the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam, FreeQuency is a highly sought… -
Alex Sorapuru Visual Artist, 2022, Louisiana Alex Sorapuru’s early passion for creating was fostered while taking in the diverse architecture and color growing up in New Orleans. He began to explore painting during his years at LSU Architecture. Centered around abstract portraits, his work aims to… -
Donald Lewis Jr. Performing Artist, 2022, Louisiana Donald Lewis Jr. is a graduate of NOCCA and studied theater at the College of Santa Fe, NM and University of New Orleans. He currently teaches Gifted and Talented Theater in New Orleans Public Schools. He has worked with Edward… -
Quiana Lynell Performing Artist, 2022, Louisiana Growing up in small town West Texas, Quiana Lynell grew her appreciation for all types of music and quickly realized music was a way to connect to the world. With a smile that will entrance you and a voice that… -
Zandashé Brown Filmmaker, 2022, Louisiana Based in New Orleans, Zandashé Brown is a writer/director born-and-bred in and inspired by southern Louisiana. Her work raises a Black femme lens to the tradition of southern gothic horror by exploring the axis of catharsis, spirituality, and Black southern… -
Nia DeCoux Writer, Educator, and Activist, 2022, Louisiana Nia DeCoux (she/her) is a writer, educator, and activist who believes that storytelling and teaching should be the same practice. Her work has been honored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the National Black Arts Festival.… -
Kenniese S. Franklin Multidisciplinary Artist, 2022, Louisiana Kenniese S. Franklin is a Denver-born, New Orleans-based writer, designer, sculptor and quantum traveler with roots spread through the Great Plains, Southern Appalachia and the Atlantic South. At age 19, she left home to attend Florida A&M University, arriving as… -
Karen-Kaia Livers Performing Artist, 2022, Louisiana Karen-Kaia Livers is a native New Orleanian. For the past 45 years, she’s appeared on stage and in films. Most recently, she was nominated for Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival for starring in the film Burning Cane. Karen’s… -
Endaira Rellek Multidisciplinary Artist, 2022, Louisiana Endaira Rellek, aka Ariadne M. Keller, is an emerging, ancestrally gifted artist whose heritage is deeply rooted in Southern Louisiana. She learned to see the beauty in nature while spending time with her paternal grandmother, Jessie Mae Boudoin Keller, in… -
Gian Smith Multidisciplinary Artist, 2022, Louisiana Gian Smith is a New Orleans-based, multidisciplinary artist and community organizer. In Spring 2011 Gian was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition following a successful run of several commercials featuring his original poetry on HBO’s “Treme.” Smith has continued his spoken word through… -
Jarrell Hamilton Performing Artist, 2021, Louisiana Jarrell Hamilton is a Mother, Choreographer, Actress, Singer, Dancer, Educator and Film Director. A graduate of Tulane University Theatre and Dance Department Master of Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Dance Program (Choreography and African-American Studies) and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX,… -
Kina B. Joshua Radical Healer, 2021, Louisiana “Throughout my life, I have been attuned to the vibrant signals our bodies express, and the ways those expressions can guide us to create a fulfilling partnership with ourselves. From a very early age, I learned about the body by… -
Bill Summers Performing Artist, 2021, Louisiana To say that Bill Summers is a percussionist is like saying a Steinway is a piano: The noun conveys none of the history and quality of the owner of the title. Summers is a musician of the highest order, playing… -
Sabine McCalla Performing Artist, 2021, Louisiana Throughout the first year of the pandemic, Sabine McCalla, like many of us, found herself deeply isolated from friends and family. She wrote songs that spoke of that loneliness, grounding herself in her environment and space in time. Using the… -
Sha’Condria “iCon” Sices-Sibley Multidisciplinary Artist, 2021, Louisiana Sha’Condria (“iCon”) Sices-Sibley is an Alexandria, Louisiana native and longtime New Orleans-based poet and artist of many mediums whose work spans across visual art, theater, music, and film. A multiple-time national poetry slam champion, iCon travels the country performing, including… -
Nikkisha K. Napoleon Literary Artist and Scholar, 2021, Louisiana Nikkisha K. Napoleon is a poet, essayist, and scholar. Affectionately known as Momma Nikki, she is a 2008 graduate of Southern University at New Orleans, where she earned a dual Bachelor of Science in English and History. She is a… -
David L. Harris Performing Artist, 2020, Louisiana David L. Harris is lyricist, vocalist, trombonist, composer and arranger. Harris embodies the edge of modern jazz and the sultriness of blues taking his audiences on an emotionally engaging journey of love and liberation, wrapped in a sound that embraces… -
Christine “Cfreedom” Brown Visual Artist, 2020, Louisiana Christine Brown (aka Cfreedom) is a New Orleans artist, activist, and entrepreneur. Her instagram bio reads “a Nola-based, international, universal, queen-yeyo, photographer-filmmaker kickin in the door for young black women in film and photography to come through 2”. She is… -
Greer Mendy Literary and Performing Artist, 2020, Louisiana Greer Mendy founded and directs Tekrema Center for Art and Culture, a cultural arts organization dedicated to the maintenance, development and perseverance of African and African Diaspora art and culture. She is an independent scholar of African, Caribbean, and Louisiana…