BYA 2024 Summer Staff
Interviews and Article by: Chiara Cole
Before the Baltimore Youth Arts starts its summer program in July, its staff is coordinating and working together at its facility on 20 W North Avenue. Ranging from new members to those who have been at BYA for more than five years, BYA offers a variety of staff members with diverse backgrounds, interests, and knowledge. For our first blog post of June, we hope to familiarize the faces of the people who you will be seeing throughout the summer of 2024.
Ezra (he/him)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Ezra is going to be working as an intern this summer.
How long have you been working at BYA?
This is now his fifth year working at BYA.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Ezra’s favorite medium to work in is photography.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
He is looking forward to being an intern and having the opportunity to lead at BYA.
An interesting fact about yourself
People think he is mysterious.
What are some future plans you may have?
Ezra is eager to start his career.
Makaila (she/they)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Makaila is working as a career readiness intern this summer.
How long have you been working at BYA?
She has been working at BYA since 2019 (five years).
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Makaila’s favorite medium is either illustration on paper or on procreate.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
Something she is looking forward to is Artscape, which is Baltimore’s outdoors and cultural art festival from August 2nd to the 4th.
An interesting fact about yourself
Makaila recently studied abroad in Kenya! There she got the opportunity to eat camel.
What are some future plans you may have?
Makaila is really excited for the next school year! She is currently attending Rosemont College where she is majoring in Sociology and obtaining a minor in Africana Studies.
Jasmine (she/her)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Jasmine will be working as a youth leader for BYA this summer.
How long have you been working at BYA?
She has been working at BYA for almost 2 and a half years now. Makaila, our career readiness intern this summer, recommended Jasmine to come to BYA as she was looking for a job. She considers herself a creative person so the program was a great fit for her.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Her favorite medium to work with is paint.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
She is looking forward to the summer kickoff event, which will feature BYA’s bus wrap.
An interesting fact about yourself
Jasmine is a freelance MUA and runs an Instagram account @artisopulent.
What are some future plans you may have?
She is planning to study abroad in Budapest, Hungary next spring! She is currently a philosophy major at McDaniel College.
Bree (she/her)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Bree is going to work as a youth leader this summer.
How long have you been working at BYA?
Bree has been working at BYA since February 2020, which was right before the Covid-19 pandemic.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Bree’s favorite medium to work in is graphic design using Procreate.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
Bree is looking forward to getting back into BYA this summer. She will also be vacationing in Ocean City.
An interesting fact about yourself
Bree has a pet rabbit named Bunny.
What are some future plans you may have?
Bree wants to be a midwife in the future. She is currently majoring in nursing at the Community College of Baltimore County.
Nell (he/they)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Nell is an artist in residence, who is helping to facilitate the art program.
How long have you been working at BYA?
Nell has been working here since last September. He decided to join because he really likes BYA’s mission and vision and also loves art.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Nell likes to do multimedia work or anything that involves putting a clown in it. You can check out Nell’s artwork at @nonapplicabl on Instagram.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
He is looking forward to helping youth explore more freedom when it comes to artmaking.
An interesting fact about yourself
Nell recently made a clown costume and learned how to do clown makeup.
What are some future plans you may have?
Nell will be finishing getting an MFA in Community Arts at MICA. He also started a student organization at MICA for queer students.
Nia (she/her)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Nia is an Artist in Residence at BYA.
How long have you been working at BYA?
For Nia, it will be a year in September. She came to work at BYA because she loves that it is a combination between entrepreneurship and art. Additionally, she admires that BYA values hope and its work with DHS youth.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Nia does not like to limit herself to one area. She enjoys working with video film, and other multimedia avenues.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
She is looking forward to going to Disney with her family this year.
An interesting fact about yourself
Nia is the youngest of six in her family.
What are some future plans you may have?
Nia plans to start graduate school to receive a degree in Community Arts at MICA in August.
Chiara Cole (she/her)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Chiara will be working as an intern this summer through the Community Impact Internship Program.
How long have you been working at BYA?
This will be Chiara’s first summer at BYA.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
Chiara really enjoys painting as well as working on short films.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
Chiara is excited to get to know BYA staff and youth and make art in her spare time. She is also excited to the wide range of festivals in Baltimore and D.C. this summer.
An interesting fact about yourself
Chiara has been getting into designing and painting her own clay rings for fun.
What are some future plans you may have?
Chiara hopes to go to Physician Assistant school after obtaining a degree in Behavioral Biology at Johns Hopkins University.
Damon (he/him)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Damon will be working as the youth opportunities coordinator.
How long have you been working at BYA?
Damon has been at BYA for about two years. He wanted to come to BYA because he was interested in working with incarcerated youth.
What is your favorite medium/style to work in?
He likes to create mandalas and collages.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
Damon is looking forward to becoming a MICA grad student.
An interesting fact about yourself
His favorite thing to do is to stick his bare feet in the grass.
What are some future plans you may have?
He is going to Mexico this summer!
Latifah (she/her)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Latifah is the administrative coordinator for BYA.
How long have you been working at BYA?
Latifah has been working at BYA since October of last year. She has her own business, where she does a lot of hands-on creative work. She thought it was cool to see what was being done at BYA and wanted to be a part of it.
What is your favorite way to work?
Latifah really enjoys working for herself. She runs her own small business.
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
She is currently looking for people to go on road trips with (she hopes to go to places like Niagara Falls).
An interesting fact about yourself
She organically conceived triplets.
What are some future plans you may have?
Latifah plans to purchase a home within the next year.
Gianna (she/they)
What is your role at BYA this summer?
Gianna is the executive director of program management for BYA. This means she is the manager of the whole organization ans its staff. She focuses on supporting the team, works on grant writing, future event planning, etc.
How long have you been working at BYA?
Gianna is the founder of BYA, which originated as a concept in 2014 and became established by 2015. One of the reasons that Gianna wanted to establish BYA is because she believes that art saved her life. She was raised by a single mom who worked as an educator as well as a dancer, which grounded her passion for both the arts and education. At 16, Gianna was diagnosed with MS, but through her interests in dance, art, and education (she used to teach dance) she was able to redirect her life. Since her youth, she has been involved with activism, especially after she had family members impacted by the justice system. Through the culmination of it all, BYA was established!
What is your favorite medium to work in?
She loves to dance (modern) and paint (her favorite subject to paint is people).
Something you are looking forward to this summer?
Gianna is excited to be working with a group of people who are committed and ambitious. Moreover, she is excited to be creating something that will be really fun for youth. Lastly, she is excited for BYA to have its largest art project to be displayed this summer.
An interesting fact about yourself
She painted murals alone and with others at Caracol Zapatista de Oventic in Chiapas, Mx when she was 20.
What are some future plans you may have?
Gianna is going on a family vacation in California.