The USDAC is thrilled to introduce our first four Regional Envoys. Each of them will be working in a different multi-state region to connect artists, activists, and allies to each other and to USDAC organizing. Beginning in January, they’ll be available to help activate USDAC values in your community through workshops, technical assistance, and more. For now, join us in giving them a warm welcome!
West Coast Regional Envoy
Raised between Oakland and San Francisco, Katherin Canton envisions living in a community that values creative and cultural expression for all. She earned a BFA from California College of the Arts with an emphasis in Community Arts through a studio practice in photography and textiles. During her time at CCA, she was the administrator and Community Collaborations Director at the volunteer-run arts center Rock Paper Scissors Collective; she developed funding, business, and partnership processes that resulted in awards from the East Bay Committee Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, and the City of Oakland’s Cultural Arts Program. Katherin organizes with Arts for a Better Bay Area and consults with the Housing Rights Committee of SF. As the Co-Director of Emerging Arts Professionals SF/BA, she strives to build a visible network for artists, local/small businesses, and government to communicate and share resources.
Southeastern Regional Envoy
Yvette Angelique Hyater-Adams, MA-TLA, is Principal and Chief Storytelling Officer at Narratives for Change. Embracing “all things narrative” as her work in the world, Yvette is a poet and essayist, teaching artist, and narrative practitioner in applied behavioral science. A passionate mixed-media artist, Yvette uses collage and fiber arts to express stories. Projects span autoethnography, story circles, writing workshops, developing leaders, narrative inquiry, and facilitating community change. Goddard College and the University of Denver are where Yvette completed her graduate studies in Transformative Language Arts for Personal and Social Change and Creative Writing. She publishes on the topics of intersectionality, diversity and inclusion, transformative narratives, and "women as leaders of their lives." The Community Foundation of North Florida ArtVentures recognized Yvette’s writing and awarded her a grant to support the completion of her essays and letters project. Jennifer Chen Tran, Fuse Literary Agency, represents Yvette’s work.
New England Regional Envoy
Devon Kelley-Yurdin is a maker, educator, and community arts activist living in Portland, Maine. She specializes in illustration and design, printmaking, and art direction, as well as community arts administration and collective/cooperative models. As a Vermont native and graduate from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn who has also lived in the Bay Area; Austin, TX; and rural Maine, Devon carries a diverse set of skills and community experiences in her tool belt. She believes creativity can be found everywhere, and that putting together a well curated outfit or finding the perfect bread-to-filling sandwich ratio are perfectly viable creative activities. Her activism and personal art practice are formed around the belief that art is a powerful avenue to learn new technical skills, discover ways of thinking and looking, explore ideas of place and community, learn histories, and find points of connection with others.
Southern Regional Envoy
Harold Steward is a Dallas, Texas-based arts administrator and theater practitioner who is dedicated to social justice and cultural equity. He currently serves as the Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center and is a founding member and Director of Marketing for the Next Gen National Arts Network. Harold is also the Artistic Director of Fahari Arts Institute, a multidisciplinary, black queer arts organization in Dallas. He is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Zilphia Horton Cultural Organizing Institute in association with the Highlander Research and Education Center. Harold is a proud member of Alternate ROOTS and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Performance Network.
Don't yet have an Envoy covering your region? Don't worry! Over the next two years, we are developing a cohort of 12 highly creative and strategic Envoys who will serve as the public face of the USDAC in their regions. We plan to open a call for the next four Envoys in the spring of 2017. Please join the mailing list to stay posted on this and other opportunities: www.usdac.us/enlist