If I were to be awarded the Lucie Fine Art Scholarship, I’d use the funds to help in the production of my first monograph titled Tha Crossroads. This project is the culmination of over 10 years of photographs that explore the ways in which we, as Black Americans, continue lineages of spiritual practices that have followed us through the diaspora. I was first approached by For The Birds Trapped In Airports (formally known as Candor Books) in 2022 for the publishing of Tha Crossroads, and we’re now working on a late 2024/early 2025 release date as we continue to bring more folks onto the project. I intend to use the funds for regular travel to FTBTIA’s Los Angeles production house, compensating the multiple Black writers/musicians who are being brought on to the project, analog film to create the remaining images for the book, and archival paper to create prints for the solo show I’m planning to coincide with the project’s release. 5 Tangible Goals: * Create 5-10 large-scale prints for my solo show at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon. * Produce 10 - 20 new Polaroid starlight images that can be used for the book’s covers/dust jacket. * Work with an academic writer to create the introduction. Oversee production of the music that’ll accompany the special edition, created by award-winning jazz bassoonist Joy Guidry. * Write my 4-page outro for the book that tells the story of my family lineage of spirit workers.
