As a child my list of future occupations were fairy, potion maker, geologist and set designer. Although I studied in visual arts and communication those initial interests are an ever present filter on my lens. I became enmeshed in Seattle’s cultural landscape as a founding member of LOVECITYLOVE, a DIY arts collective praised for its unparalleled diversity, now recognized by the city as a cultural landmark. There I produced exhibitions and activations in partnership with the wider community. I am currently exploring the alchemy of disciplines and mediums; the collapsing of categories; the intersections of modalities via still image, motion, sound, durational performance, ceramic sculpture, printmaking, natural building, permaculture, systems thinking and collective healing. My work/play is a practice in externalizing internal queries about phenomenology and human constructs such as value, ownership, authorship, identity, time, performativity, language, labor. I feel most compelled towards the union of opposites and the notion of the emergent third. At present I am drawn towards pattern literacy and narrative intelligence as it pertains to the ecosystem and the egosystem. My perpetual passions trace back to the life/death/life cycle and the mysterious wild feminine. For the past 7 years I’ve been collating research and engaging in experiments related to community living, land stewardship and collective governance with the intent of establishing a space for friends and family to take refuge and develop the resilience needed to transmute our future hardships into potential future flourishing.
Jamese Kwele
Jamese is the first Director of Food Equity at Ecotrust. In this capacity, she oversees the organization's farm to institution initiatives while guiding the development of partnerships and new bodies of work at the intersections of food & land justice, soil regeneration, and climate resilience. She also serves as an Advisory Board member for the National Farm to School Network and on the Board of Directors for the Black Food Sovereingty Coalition. Originally from California, Jamese spent twenty years living and working in the greater Philadelphia area before returning West with her husband and two children in March 2019
Sara Johnstone
Sara is a recovering tech consultant that became disillusioned with the sharing economy and business as usual a few years ago. She was introduced to the “new paradigm” through her work with the startup NuMundo, a global network of impact centers (eco-villages, intentional communities, permaculture farms, social projects and retreat centers). She is currently working with CYCLEffect, a multi-stakeholder hybrid Venture Capital Cooperative Fund. CYCLEffect prioritize investments in companies that focus on restoring the planet’s biological and social systems to a healthy state. Sara is also a member of the GENNA (Global Eco-village Network North America) alliance which believes communities of practice, place, and purpose offer essential solutions to many of the world’s pressing social and ecological crises . Sara is currently honing in on expanding her knowledge in regenerative agriculture, impact investing, sustainable fibers and permaculture. She is committed to being apart of projects that focus on regenerative solutions, specifically with climate change.