August 20, 2024 Community Stories
Celebrating Creativity: Featuring ValleyCreates Artist Grantee Malaika Ross
We are thrilled to feature the artwork of Malaika Ross on the cover of our Community Foundation ValleyCreates greeting cards. We have chosen to share this beautiful collection of images created by Malaika as a representation of the creativity and talent of our artist grantees. By featuring their artwork, we not only highlight their remarkable contribution to our world but also shine a spotlight on the importance of providing artists in our communities with opportunities and platforms to share their voices.
At the heart of our support of local artists is our commitment to creating tangible opportunities for artists to thrive. By engaging artists for creative services, we ensure that their talents are not only recognized but fairly compensated. It keeps our work vibrant and refreshing, while directly contributing to the sustainability of the local arts community. We believe that when artists are supported financially and creatively, they can continue to enrich our region and infuse their perspectives and ideas, benefiting everyone touched by their work.
About Malaika
Malaika is a Caribbean-American visual artist. She observes and documents nature through painting and drawing as a black woman, as a means to liberation, environmental stewardship, and anti-oppression work. 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. She studied painting and drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design San Francisco Art Institute and the Marchutz School of Fine Arts. She completed intensive coursework in sustainable farming, ecological restoration, and Hawaiian ethnobotany at the University of Hawai’i, Hilo. We invite you to visit her website to learn more about her journey and view her artwork.
Most recently, Malaika was a part 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 projects to succeed.
