Social Practice
In spirited collaboration with the Baltimore chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and Wide Angle Youth Media, Two-Way Mirror is an ongoing guided workshop series exploring the intersection of lens-based creative expression and mental well-being. Through a structured photo walk and a facilitated group dialogue, I guide participants through an understanding of landscape photography as a contemplative practice of mindfulness.
These workshops are geared towards beginner photographers and attendees are introduced to fundamental imaging concepts including exposure, color, and composition. These tools are framed not only as technical controls, but as creative elements that translate perception and feeling into visual form.
Through the analogy of a two-way mirror, these workshops approach photography as a medium for both external observation and quiet introspection. Each workshop culminates in a group conversation where participants share observations from the walk, discuss their images, and explore how attention, perception, and emotion shape deeper narratives within their images.
Two-Way Mirror
2026 — Present
Exposure: A Photographic Meditation on Masculinity, Stillness, & Being Seen
May 2026
Developed in partnership with Baltimore-based men’s wellness initiative When Men Are Silent and the Baltimore Museum of Art at Lexington Market, Exposure was a photo-led group art exhibition I curated to explore themes of men’s mental health, visibility, and identity. This free public installation brought together ten artists whose photographic and visual work examined what it means for men across race, culture, sexuality, and lived experience, to be truly seen by both others and themselves.
Through invaluable support from local mental health initiative When Men are Silent, Exposure was grounded in the research-backed reality that men, and particularly Black men, are among the least likely to seek therapy or name emotional distress, yet are among the most affected by the consequences of untreated mental illness.
Alongside this installation, I organized and facilitated a public artist talk, creating space for attendees to engage directly with the artists and with one another around questions of masculinity, vulnerability, and mental wellness. Resources provided by NAMI Metro Baltimore were present to connect attendees with local mental health resources, grounding the group conversation in concrete access to care beyond dialogue alone.
The Columbia Effect: Howard County Then...and Now
June 2025
The Columbia Effect was a community activation I contributed to as a member of the Howard County Library System's Racial Equity Alliance, a strategic working board dedicated to strengthening the library system's commitment to spotlighting racially marginalized voices across Howard County. Presented in partnership with the Columbia Housing Center and made possible through the Civic Engagement for Racial Justice in Public Libraries Exemplar Library Grant, this program brought together neighbors from various locations of the county to reflect on Columbia's founding, Howard County’s present-day realities, and the future of this historic area.
This workshop was structured around a presentation hosted by long-time resident Beverly White-Seals on founder Jim Rouse's original vision for an inclusive Columbia; a panel discussion on contemporary challenges including housing affordability and immigrant safety; and small-group conversations grounded in personal storytelling. Our event created space for residents to bridge experiences and reflect on the concept of belonging in Howard County.
More broadly, this project served as the culmination of my role as a Racial Equity Alliance nominee, and reflected my commitment to institutionally anchored public programming as a tool for equity-centered civic dialogue.
Community Movie Night (‘movie night’) was a grassroots microcinema that I founded and organized for three years between 2022 and 2025. Inspired by the consciousness-raising circles of the second-wave feminist movement, this program facilitated free film screenings and post-viewing dialogue circles amongst community members in the DC-Baltimore metro area.
Through the generous support of Columbia Community Care, Maryland Art Place, Four Ten Lofts, and the 2025 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant, movie night served as a space for serious engagement with the concepts of intersectionality, relationality, and media literacy. Through careful curation of undercelebrated world cinema, this initiative created space for neighbors to connect deeply with one another through meaningful dialogue and storytelling.
movie night
2022 — 2025
