In 2024, I joined
Inzovu, a collective of stellar designers and researchers working to solve institutional and organizational challenges, led small sustainability-focused businesses through brand strategy processes, helped envision a new way to bring music to life, and opened myself up to new opportunities in spaces like climate resilience, education, music, arts & culture, tech equity, mental health, community wellness, and affordable housing.
In 2023, I helped guide brilliant teams at Bandcamp as they launched
Listening Parties and
Playlists, Flower Press published
stunning new work, I completed a residency at
Salmon Creek Farm, I taught myself to play piano (slowly, gingerly) in a Covid-induced haze, I made and released
my first solo tunes, I wrote a joke book about birds, I drew
so many hearts. I also learned a lot about grief, about the importance of good friendship, about myself. I rode my bicycle through France, I drove across the country, I went to a rodeo on the fourth of July, I saw fireworks and watched them fizzle out. I wrote poems, songs, reflections, investigated new paths.
In 2022, I collaborated with
Cyrah Dardas to present
Accessing Queer Sanctuary through Printed Media & Digital Realms at the Allied Media Conference. Flower Press published several ambitious works, including
Care Manual by Kamra Hakim. We participated in the Brooklyn and Detroit Art Book Fairs, as well as several pop-ups. I also spent a month in Paris eating, resting, walking, looking, and gleaning inspiration from community infrastructure and independent bookstores.
In 2021, I learned to throw pots, mugs, bowls, and more at
Ceramics School. Flower Press published nine new titles and participated in three art book fairs and numerous pop-up events. I also fell head over heels with roller skating (and, incidentally, fell head over heels a lot).
In 2020, I focused on supporting my neighbors, friends, and community. My team and I released
Bandcamp Live. Flower Press grew, publishing media for liberation and joy, ranging from
poetry to
plants. You can read more
here. Before the pandemic, I participated in the first inaugural
Sou’wester Arts Week, a convening of 30 artists completing week-long residencies on the grounds of the historic Sou’wester Lodge.
In 2019, I started Flower Press. We debuted work at the
Detroit Art Book Fair and the
Chicago Art Book Fair and organized a small holiday fair for
Ochre Bakery. At the beginning of the year, I worked with
Blue Sky Center,
Corbin LaMont, and two stellar local women to pilot a taco truck in New Cuyama, California. As winter turned to spring, my collective
Homeboat and I did some renovation and community programming at the
Yes! House in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Over the summer, Homeboat hosted Beach Blanket Babylon, a three-day summit on peripheral practice in Green River, Utah. Later, Christine Hucal and I put on
Golem, a multi-sensory dinner of wild and foraged delights in a garden. In the fall, I participated in
Ellipsis Open School, a community-based pedagogical residency situated in the Algarve.
In 2018, I got to know people and places with Homeboat in
Southwest Minnesota, hosted
The Changing Times in a one month residency which culminated in a newspaper issue about Detroit, completed a residency at
The Sanctuary in Arcata, California, made dinner for thirty writers in a garden for
Room Project, and cooked for fifty designers, researchers, organizers, and artists in a very large bubble at SPACE SPACE SPACE.
In 2017, I was a co-conspirator in
Peace Meal Kitchen, a co-organizer of the
Detroit Kite Festival, a co-founder of the
Detroit Pop-up Alliance, and a collaborator with
The Work Department.
In 2016, I completed
Field Work, a research road trip focused on exploring community food systems and alternative community infrastructure across our great big nation. Along the way, I fell in love with Detroit and moved there.
Before that, I was a UX designer at
Google making entertainment apps more useful, beautiful, and accessible to listen to, read, watch, and play for a billion people.
Meanwhile, I started
Victory Kitchen, a community resource center focused on shared meal experiences, personal growth through creative expression, and direct community service.
Previously, I worked with nonprofits, NGOs, local businesses, educational institutions, arts organizations, cities, corporations, and bright individuals at
Tomorrow Partners.
Before, after, and in between,
I’ve done other things with design, food, friends, community, classrooms, and more.