Josiah Valle Ellis, Interdisciplinary Artist
Josiah (they/them/theirs) is an interdisciplinary artist, community organizer in training, and human animal guided by intuition, who works in painting, ceramics, poetry, performance, and direct action. With many growing edges, and grounded in radical love, they have a humble determination to act in service of life held in common: to empower and enliven shared creative capacities, and collaboratively shape culture toward dismantling patterns of oppression destroying life systems on earth. They’re interested in being more than one person, in gatherings, collectives, co-operatives, assemblies, coalitions, bridge-building, peace-making, and bread-breaking. They grew up a middle child in a bicultural family in western Queens, and studied Art at the Cooper Union.
TAP Work:
"Stepping into the role of teacher has been an aspiration for a long time, and facilitating creativity through art teaching I've held in high esteem, as sacred work—but it's been a huge mental hurdle to believe in my own capacity to lead a classroom. TAP gave me tools, a safe space to learn and experiment in a community of peers, and some time in classrooms watching talented teaching artists try to make magic happen. The pandemic shut down the city before I got to try out these new tools with a class—*a sigh of relief with a hint of disappointment*—I didn't feel ready, but know that leaning into uncomfortable territory makes a pathway for growth. Maybe I'll believe in myself enough to really step into teaching-artistry before we're on the other side of this portal (the pandemic)... Shoutout to Amanda Newman and Libby Mislan, Jay Howard and Gary Devirgilio, whose classrooms I had the privilege to witness."
Find out more about Josiah here:
