About the Participants
Evangeline Getty Brooks is a native Pennsylvanian and interdisciplinary artist based in Philly. Her work revolves around Black Trans divinity, feminine Poz divinity, and the richness, weight, and cost of living in a body that is both desired and discounted.
Michael J. Ivory, Jr. is a Worker of the Word—in other words, a writer. A Miami, FL-native, he currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the queer son of Pentecostal preachers, Michael lives out his sacred mission to affirm the inherent divinity of all people, but most especially Black queer “outcasts” like himself. He does this through his writing, which can be found on his Substack, as well as in his work with O, Miami Press, Iansá Mag, Duke Magazine, and Oxford American. He is currently working on his debut novel.
Raina J. León, PhD is Black, Afro-Boricua, and from Philadelphia (Lenni Lenape ancestral lands). She is the 2026–2027 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. She is a mother, daughter, sister, madrina, comadre, partner, poet, writer, and teacher educator. She believes in collective action and community work, the profound power of holding space for the telling of our stories, and the liberatory practice of humanizing education. She seeks out communities of care and craft and is a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, Cave Canem, CantoMundo, Macondo. She is the author of black god mother this body, Canticle of Idols, Boogeyman Dawn, sombra : (dis)locate, profeta without refuge and Areyto to Atabey: Essays on the Mother(ing) Self. She publishes across forms in visual art, poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and scholarly work.
indira allegra is a conceptual artist and founder of Cazimi Studio. Using weaving as a framework to creatively transform tension within different sites, the studio emphasizes performance, publication and the integration of spiritual care as preferred design solutions. allegra’s work has been featured in The Art Newspaper, Artnet, Art Journal, BOMB Magazine, e-flux, ARTFORUM and in exhibitions and performances at the Museum of Arts and Design, Blaffer Museum, Center for Craft Creativity and Design, Museum of the African Diaspora, and SFMOMA among others. They are the author of Tension Studies and Dispersal of a Feeling: Bloodnotes on Choreography and Illness (Sming Sming Books). allegra has been the recipient of numerous awards, including United States Artists Fellowship, Burke Prize, Creative Capital, Gerbode Choreographer Award, and CripTech Metaverse Fellowship.
ArtPhilly’s What Now: 2026 represents a major collaborative moment in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. This city-wide multi-disciplinary festival will foreground Philadelphia’s creative voices, placing artists, neighborhoods and arts organizations at the center of critical civic dialogue on our country’s past, present, and– most importantly– future. ArtPhilly’s collaborators include WXPN, WRTI, The Museum of the American Revolution, The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts, PHILADANCO!, BalletX, Mural Arts Philadelphia, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, and more.
