August 20, 2024 Uncategorized
Malaika Ross
Ross is a Caribbean-American visual artist observing and documenting nature through painting and drawing as a black woman as a means to liberation, environmental stewardship, and anti-oppression work. She studied Painting and Drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design, San Francisco Art Institute and the Marchutz School of Fine Arts and completed intensive coursework in sustainable farming, ecological restoration and Hawaiian ethnobotany at the University of Hawai’i, Hilo.
She spent the vast majority of her childhood playing outdoors in St. Croix’s soil, walking among its tall grasses, and learning about the healing qualities of plants from all the women in her family, from which she draws inspiration.
Most recently, Ross was apart of the 2023 cohort of ValleyCreates Project Evolution Grantees. ValleyCreates Project Evolution Grants fund current and former grantees of ValleyCreates’ Capacity-Building Grant Program. The initiative is a multi-faceted grant that combines project grant support with cohort learning, 1:1 coaching, and additional project-administration-oriented professional development, to ensure that artists have the tools they need for their project to succeed.
