Aaliyah Fafanto has been a star since birth, walking in a purpose rooted in education, advocacy, and radical artistry. Their work exists to uplift Black artists and give language to those who can’t, or refuse, to speak. A Las Vegas native with New Orleans and Los Angeles roots, Aaliyah’s DNA is saturated with flavor, culture, and community. Everything they create is original, deeply personal, and ancestral. Their art spans the spectrum from heavy, trauma-rooted truths to empowering, liberatory joy. Aaliyah has graced stages from underground poetry slams to college graduations and major arts festivals, delivering not poems, but mantras that linger. A multi–poetry slam winner, regional finalist, multi-published author, and award-winning filmmaker, Aaliyah uses performance, versatility, charisma, and wordplay to put audiences in a trance. Inspired not by icons, but by their village, upbringing, and city, Aaliyah’s work is an ode to their ancestors. Beyond writing and film, Aaliyah is a community djembe player, former dancer, educator with over ten years of experience, entrepreneur, and world traveler whose lived experiences shape their creative lens. Aaliyah is a Black queer artist who challenges audiences to critically examine inequality, identity, and their role in the world, then dares them to move differently once the mirror has been held!

Jennifer Kleven is a life-long Las Vegan who is committed to expanding access to arts and culture to all communities in Las Vegas. She honed her artists practice and community planning during her time at the University of Nevada Las Vegas where she received her BFA in Art and a BA in Art History. Upon completing her degrees in 2009, she opened Kleven Contemporary gallery in the now closed Emergency Arts building on Fremont Street, where she exhibited local, national and international artists who received great praise for their innovative work. She is a Deputy Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Director for the city of Las Vegas and in that role she oversees the Cultural Affairs division: public art and galleries, festivals and performances, and special events. Previous to accepting the Deputy Director position in April 2024, she spent 13 years at the Neon Museum and was part of the team that opened the museum to the public in 2012. As the Director of Advancement for the last three years of her tenure, she oversaw fund development, membership, grants and events. She is a Creative West (previously WESTAF) Leader of Color, past president of the Nevada Museums Association, serves on the Las Vegas Arts Commission and is president of the Southern Nevada Arts Coalition. She is a practicing visual artist, independent curator and consistent consumer of the arts.

Ashanti McGee (she/they) is the Grants, Awards, and Programs Manager at Creative West (formerly WESTAF), one of six U.S. Regional Arts Organizations. In this role, they manage grantmaking for traditional artists and accessibility initiatives. Ashanti also hosts the Creative West Capacity Building webinar, sharing resources to promote greater accessibility and professional development within the arts community. Deeply committed to advocacy, Ashanti serves on the board of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+). They also contribute their expertise to several national and regional committees, including the National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER) working group, the SAA/RAO Accessibility Peer Group Steering Committee, and the American Folklore Society's 2025 Accessibility Committee. Previously, Ashanti worked as a District Staffer for a U.S. congressional representative, where they assisted constituents in resolving federal matters. They have been an active advocate in their home state of Nevada, working with groups such as the Cultural Alliance of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Arts Coalition. Ashanti is also a multidisciplinary artist who has curated and exhibited work throughout the western United States.

Emmanuel Muñoz is a curator and architectural designer based in Las Vegas. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he is interested in how art and design bring people together and reflect the places they come from. He got his start at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, where he supported exhibitions and programs, as well as took on roles in collections management and archiving. In 2022, he co-founded Scrambled Eggs, a small art gallery that grew into a collective of artists working on projects across the city.

Sarah O’Connell has led The Asylum Theatre as its nonprofit Artistic Director since 2003 after relocating to Las Vegas from the San Francisco Bay Area to establish AxisLights Inc., an entertainment lighting company. An award-winning international theatre artist, she has realized dozens of world premiere productions and holds a Master of Drama in Directing from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In addition to producing theatre, Sarah is an adjunct professor and creative economy consultant for UNLV’s College of Fine Arts, and the former Executive Director of Henderson Symphony Orchestra. Honored with the Forgotten Song Foundation’s 2024 Vegas Icon Visionary (VIVA) and the NV Women’s Film Festival 2025 Spirit of Community awards, she founded EatMoreArtVegas.com in 2015, a platform dedicated to the development of Southern Nevada’s arts community and creative industry. A proud advocate for lifelong learning and public access to humanity’s cultural legacy, she created the 2021 Create Our Recovery COVID concert series in vaccine clinics, the statewide Community Learning Project in partnership with the NV Department of Education, and is honored to serve as a founding co-Vice President of Nevada’s Arts Creative and Entertainment (ACE) Chamber.

Geo is a Las Vegas Chicane artist working through a variety of mediums. Their largest works have been Tres Fases, This is Fine, Nuestras Máscaras, Autorretrato (Saturno Devorando un Burrito), and most recently Welcome to Fabulous Chihuahua, as part of a team of artists. In 2023, they co-curated Hija/e/o/x(s) de Su—, a traveling exhibition from Reno to Las Vegas, NV that included a total of 17 artists. Their work has been displayed at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, Holland Project Gallery, Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center, Desert Biennial Project, and the Bullfrog Biennial.