For the first year ever, the MDOCS Storytellers’ Institute and Co-Creation Initiative are collaborating to bring regional partners into the creative and intellectual community of the Storytellers’ Institute.
BDA – Black Dimensions in Art- is an organization in New York’s capital region whose mission is to educate the public about the unique contributions of artists of the African Diaspora, and to encourage the youth in the practice, application, and appreciation of the arts.
Marcus Kwame Anderson is an illustrator, cartoonist, and fine artist who was born in Kingston Jamaica and moved to upstate New York at an early age. He has been immersed in the arts from a very young age with a particular passion for comic creation. Marcus created the independent coming of age comic Snow Daze with Leonardo Faierman, illustrated the all-ages detective story Cash & Carrie, and most recently collaborated with David F. Walker on The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History.
Jacqueline A. Lake-Sample, founder, JALL CREATIONS; past President of Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. (BDA), President of House of Nehesi Publisher’s Foundation, criminologist, and current Co-Treasure of BDA.
Originally from the Caribbean Island of St. Martin, Jacqueline has lived in New York since childhood and has long been a lover and student of the arts. Once described as “a criminologist with a passion for the arts,” Jacqueline holds Master’s degrees in criminology from C.W. Post Center Long Island University and SUNY at Albany. Jacqueline has exhibited in numerous venues in the Capital Region, including the Schenectady Museum (now miSci), the New York State Museum, Capital Repertory Theatre, the Jerry Burrell Gallery, Wellington’s Herbs and Spices, the Albany Barn, the Art Center of the Capital Region, African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region Inc., the Saratoga Arts Center Gallery, Living Resources Arts 70 Beekman Street Gallery, Art Associates Gallery, Inc. and Pause Gallery. At her company, JALL CREATIONS, she designs fine hand-crafted jewelry incorporating sterling silver, pearls, 14k gold, gemstones, and treasures from the sea. Her designs are unusual and eclectic. Jacqueline enjoys putting her energy into creating. She is an abstract artist that uses mixed media in various aspects of her work.
Stephen J. Tyson earned his BFA from Manhattanville College, and his MFA from the City College of New York. He was tenured as an art teacher and associate professor of fine arts, and has taught courses in studio art and art history at several colleges throughout the Capital Region. He was twice awarded Fulbright-Hays Fellowships to study in Nigeria and in Namibia and Botswana. Those experiences further inspired his interest in pattern design. He has also drawn inspiration from the world of science, illuminated manuscripts, Australian Aboriginal art, and music. Website: stephenjtyson.com
Daesha Devón Harris is a Saratoga Springs, New York artist and photographer who has spent time in Buffalo, NY and San Francisco, CA.. Both her multi-cultural family and the unexpected death of her young father have greatly shaped her life. She holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art from the College of Saint Rose and an M.F.A. in Visual Art from the University at Buffalo. She is a member of various organizations and plays an active role in her community as a youth mentor, social activist and cultural history preservationist. The gentrification of her hometown and its effect on the local Black community has played a major role in both her advocacy and artwork. Most recently Harris has been an En Foco Fellowship winner, MDOCS Storyteller’s Institute Fellow, an Artist in Residence at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, the Studios of Key West, the Yaddo Artist Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, an Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship awardee, a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Photography, a Pollock Krasner Foundation Grantee and named one of the Royal Photographic Society’s Hundred Heroines. She is also an avid fisherwoman and hobbyist gardener.
Lights Out Norlight is an activist organization created to raise awareness about Norlite and the dangers associated with it.
Dave Publow is an environmental activist, radio journalist, printmaker, and videographer. He is also a resident of Troy, NY, one of the many communities directly affected by the Norlite hazardous waste incinerator. His focus is to use the tools at his disposal to spread awareness of environmental injustice, and to help galvanize the community to find the powers within themselves to meet the challenge.
Ndakinna Educational Center is a center that offers people of all ages unique hands-on learning experiences, principles of indigenous arts of life, team building, character development, and exhibit spaces focusing on regional Native American understandings, Adirondack culture, wilderness skills and awareness of the natural world.
Joseph Bruchac – Executive Director of the Ndakinna Education Center. James Bruchac is an award-winning author, traditional storyteller, outdoor educator, and Director of the Ndakinna Education Center. The oldest son of author and storyteller Joseph Bruchac, he and his family are citizens of the Nulhegan Coosuk Band of the Abenaki Nation. For more information, please visit Jim’s Website at www.jamesbruchac.com
Jesse Bowman Bruchac – Language Director of the Ndakinna Education Center
Jesse Bruchac (born 1972) Began working as a guest performer and instructor at the Ndakinna Education for over twenty years. He joined the Ndakinna staff as a full-time instructor in 2018. He brings with him many skills that are close to our core mission including Native American storytelling, music, and teaching the Abenaki language. He is an accomplished musician with several albums of Native flute, drum, and rattle music. Another new element that Jesse will bring to Ndakinna is his expertise in the Abenaki language. He is a fluent speaker and has been teaching it most of his adult life, including immersion weekends and monthly online classes through Ndakinna. For more information, please visit his website, www.jbruchac.com
James Bruchac – Founder and Program Director of the Ndakinna Education Center. James Bruchac is an award-winning author, Abenaki storyteller, cultural educator, wilderness expert, and Director of The Ndakinna Education Center in Greenfield Center NY. A citizen of the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation, for the last three decades, Mr. Bruchac has traveled across the country and abroad offering programs for people of all ages.
Eric Jenks is the Associate Director of Ndakinna Education Center, as well as the owner of Awasos Entertainment, which provides communication services, including writing and photography, to a wide array of businesses in the Northeast. Since 2001, he has actively photographed events, culture, landscapes, and more around the world. His current freelance work can be seen in exhibits in the Adirondack Region and in publications throughout the Northeast. Most recently, Jenks received an individual artist grant from New York State to document four farms in Washington County, NY, which culminated in an exhibit at the Historic Salem Courthouse in November of 2021. Past publications include National Geographic Adventure, New York Daily News, Saratoga Living, PBS Mountain Lake, the Daily Gazette, the Times Union, The Saratogian, and many more. Jenks is a Skidmore alumnus, Class of 2008. Jenks also taught documentary photography for MDocs in 2017.
