ADAMA Arts Salon #42
ADAMA Arts Salon is a series of conversations featuring contemporary artists, curators, scholars, and more from across the African Diaspora.
Join us for ADAMA's upcoming in-person Arts Salon featuring Lance Wheeler in conversation with Anitra Terrell, Raianna Brown, and Okorie Johnson.
About Moderator: Lance Wheeler is from Jersey City, New Jersey, with a passion for history and exhibitions. Lance currently serves as the Director of Exhibitions at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights located in Atlanta, Georgia. Lance previously served as the Education & PR Manager for the Margaret Walker Center & COFO Civil Rights Education Center at Jackson State University and served as the inaugural Curator of Exhibitions at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. In those roles, he used exhibitions to create dialogue around civil and human rights history to help bridge the events from the past to current issues in the 21st century. Currently, Lance serves on the council for Southeastern Museum Conference, and is the chair for emerging museum professionals for the Association of African American Museum; and is an active member of the American Association for State and Local History.
About Panelist
Anitra Terrell: An entrepreneur, storyteller and champion for the African diaspora. Through her company Reflektion Design she works with artisans in east and west Africa to create vibrant home decor that spotlights the beauty of African culture and the universal importance of home, no matter where it may be. She’s also the creator and host of the YouTube series, How We Live which celebrates the lives and homes of people across the African diaspora. Her pieces have been featured in Vanity Fair, HGTV, Essence, Better Homes & Gardens, Architectural Digest, and BuzzFeed to name a few. The Philadelphia native now calls Atlanta home, has a Bachelor’s of Science & MBA in Marketing and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cape Coast in West Africa.
Raianna Brown: Founder and Artistic Director of Komansé Dance Theater (KDT). Raianna Brown, 2018 Georgia Tech alumna, exhibits the dynamism of the modern young professional through her multidisciplinary work. While at GT, Raianna studied dance through dual enrollment at Emory University. While still in undergrad, she founded Komansé Dance Theater. Komansé’s sold-out shows integrated technology and the arts in partnership with the GT Industrial Design School (projection mapping) and GT Invention Studio (3D printed costumes). The shows centered on the narratives of marginalized people, with the most recent production created in partnership with Covenant House, a homeless shelter servicing at-risk youth. Raianna has worked with the NAACP, the Atlanta Mayor’s Office, and Grammy-nominated artists, including dancing alongside Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in Super Bowl LIV.
Okorie Johnson: Atlanta-based cellist-songwriter, looper, improviser and storyteller, Okorie “OkCello” Johnson’s work centers on themes and expressions of the African Diaspora, his personal truths, a deep love and celebration of women, and a commitment to musical prayer. Drawing upon his experience as a teacher and writer, OkCello immerses his audiences in vivid stories as well as songs, creating a richly layered and transcendent experience.