Directors
Rebecca Bair
Rebecca Bair is an interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver - the traditional and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish peoples - and a 2020 graduate from the Masters of Fine Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Bair has shown her work broadly across Vancouver since graduating, and her artistic, professional and educational goals revolve around common themes of celebrating Black plurality, Black possibility, as well as enabling interpersonal and intercultural care. Her work acts as a vehicle through which the complexities of history and identity can be uncovered, redefined and expressed.
Hafiz Akinlusi
Hafiz Akinlusi holds a degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University, and is focused on developing more sustainable, and equitable systems. He has worked in various roles spanning from tech to finance, and is now focused on the arts. He is specifically interested in ensuring more equitable distribution of resources to black, Indigenous and other BIPOC artists. He is also one of the founders of Madebywe; a collective that uses different mediums to explore ideas around identity and community. He is also currently learning to play the piano.
Cecily Nicolson
Cecily Nicholson is the author of four books and a past recipient of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. She was the Ellen and Warren Tallman Writer-in-Residence at Simon Fraser University and the Write- in-Residence at the University of Windsor. She teaches at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and collaborates with community impacted by carcerality and food insecurity.
Advisory Board
Adam Rudder
Denise Ryner
Jordan Strom
Minnijean Brown Trickey
Oluwasola Olowo-Ake
Vanessa Richards
Annie Canto
Edward Westerhuis
Khari Wendell McClelland
Missla Libsekal
Pablo de Ocampo
Olumoroti Soji-George
Vanessa Fajemisin (she/her) is a student, writer, producer, cultural curator and consultant based in Vancouver, BC working as a co-director at Solid State Community Industries, a co-op incubator in the heart of Surrey. Passionate about all things arts, culture and media, much of Vanessa’s writing and work focuses on the intersections of digital culture, art, Blackness, community, and sociological theories. She is also a senior writer at Tokyo-based magazine Sabukaru.online and a member of Black-owned and operated collaborative project and creative consultant agency Made by We. Vanessa is the recipient of the CANIE 2021 Black Entrepreneur Award and the Surrey Board of Trade’s ’25 under 25’ Award.
Board of Directors
Fegor Obuwoma
Ogheneofegor Obuwoma is a Nigerian filmmaker, writer, film theorist and storyteller. Ogheneofegor’s filmmaking practice revolves around the themes of exploring their embodiment in relation to the world, spirituality and spiritual entities, Nigerian mythology and the decolonization of one's mind and memories.
Olumoroti Soji-George (He/They) is a curator, film theorist, writer, and educator based in Vancouver, BC. They are currently an MA candidate at SFU's School for the contemporary arts, focusing on contemporary art studies. Olumoroti is the curator at the Black Arts Centre in Surrey, BC, and the artistic director of Gallery Gachet in downtown Vancouver. Their curatorial practice centers around exploring the diverse expressions of Blackness in art and the post-modern perspectives of Black contemporary artists. They also strive to create accessible and community-centered art spaces, challenging the Western status quo and amplifying marginalized voices. Olumoroti is interested in envisioning a police-free future and examining narratives surrounding the Black Male Body.
Vanessa Fajemisin
Arshi Chadha
Arshi Chadha is a film-maker with ties to the community of Surrey having attended high school and grown up here. The lack of youth representation in the arts and accessibility to the arts drives her to ensure that she plays a part in creating that space. Arshi’s purpose at BLAC and at everything she does is to help create an inclusive environment for black artists and create accessibility to art for the community.
Anthonia Ogundele
Elizabeth Mcintosh
Lucie Chan
Nanyamka Sisi
Phen Ray
Chantal Gibson
Jim Adams
Michelle Jacques
Nura Ali
Valérie d. Walker