EVENTS
GUEST SPEAKER BIOS
BRITTANY BASS
Brittany Nicole Bass holds a Bachelor’s degree in dance from the University of Houston. She serves as a Teaching Artist in Houston Ballet’s Education and Community Engagement Department and is part of the faculty at Houston MET Dance. She is an artist in the MET's Creative Incubation Residency program. Additionally, Brittany acts as the Program Manager for Dance Source Houston and has been a Karen Stokes Dance Company member since the Spring of 2014. Several Houston performances have showcased her choreographed works, including Mix-MATCH, Fall Extravadance, Barnstorm Dance Festival, Choreographer X6 at ERJCC, Houston’s 2019 Fringe Festival, and Mind the Gap.
JENNIFER BOWMAN
Jennifer Bowman is the Houston Grand Opera Director of Community & Learning: which has been celebrated for providing authentic and enriching experiences through collaborative partnerships with schools, families, community organizations, and curious members of society since 2007.
As Director of Community & Learning, Bowman leads HGO’s strategy and development of initiatives including, the development of programming that resonates thematically with the Opera’s audiences, performances and events for students, families, and educators, and community-centered initiatives that bring HGO together with the surrounding community. Under her leadership, HGO was awarded a $300,000 public programs grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and HGO’s community and education initiatives served over 60,000 kids, families, and adults during the 2023-2024 season.
As the former Kennedy Center Director of Music Education, Bowman developed performance programming and educational initiatives in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), Washington National Opera (WNO), and the Center’s hip hop, jazz, and chamber music programs. Among her notable achievements, she served as the Center’s lead representative for the Washington Musical Pathways Initiative for young BIPOC instrumentalists; spearheaded WNO’s 18-month community engagement project in support of the opera Blue; revamped the Center’s training programs for young musicians; commissioned new works that reflect the population of the region served by the Center; and introduced youth and family audiences to diverse artists making their Center debuts.
The Houston, Texas native’s career began her career coordinating professional development programs for chief executives and staff for over six hundred arts and cultural organizations in the U.S. and abroad. She also spent six seasons managing The Folger Consort, the early music ensemble at the Folger Shakespeare Library. In 2020, she co-led Music Academy of the West’s transition to an online summer festival in response to the pandemic; she remains a regular consultant.
Bowman is an alum of the Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts & Diversity) program, and serves on the board of Equity Arc and the Innovation & Education Committee of Music Academy of the West. She graduated from Dartm
BRIAN ELLISON
Brian Ellison is a Houston-based conceptual artist with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston, earned in May 2023. Grounded in the belief that art is a universal language and a catalyst for healing, he delves into cultural misconceptions such as one-dimensional expressions and emotional inaccessibility. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, including performance art, Ellison captures the intricate facets of the everyday Black experience. Themes of his work span the impact of gentrification on legacy communities, the physical and emotional toll on Black bodies, the lesser known tales of Black love and solidarity, and the resilient spirit of Blackman and women.
MARK FOLKES
As President and CEO of The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Mark provides strategic leadership for the organization, one of Houston’s largest nonprofit performing arts institutions. Mark is responsible for partnering with the board and staff team to advance programmatic and operational goals including meeting earned and contributed revenue targets, as well as ensuring the Hobby Center demonstrates strong community leadership through education, engagement and access initiatives. Previously in the role of Managing Director at Stages, a nonprofit regional theatre in Houston, Mark successfully led a $35.8 million capital campaign to build a transformative new three-theater campus, The Gordy. Prior to joining Stages, Mark served as Senior Director, Development, for the Houston Symphony where he helped raise over $16 million annually in support of operations, sustainability and endowment. Mark has worked for a variety of other organizations including Greater Houston Community Foundation, Canada’s National Arts Centre, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Houston Grand Opera, and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. Originally from Canada, Mark first moved to the U.S. to complete an arts administration graduate program at the University of Cincinnati conferring a Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts. As an undergraduate, he studied at the University of Waterloo and the Canadian College of Performing Arts.
NAIMA J. KEITH
Naima J. Keith is the Vice President of Education and Public Programs at LACMA. Within her role, she ove rsees all aspects of and sets the vision for LACMA’s innovative and exhibition - driven educational programming that serves more than 650,000 community members annually. Naima, along with Rita Gonzalez, is also co - curating a survey of artist Simone Leigh's w ork to be exhibited at LACMA in 2024. Prior to her position at LACMA, Keith was the Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the California African American Museum where she guided the curatorial and education departments as well as marketing and communication s. She was the 2017 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize in recognition of her contributions to the field of African American art history and was co - artistic director of Prospect.5 in New Orleans in 2021. As an associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2011 – 16), she curated several critically acclaimed exhibitions, including the historical survey, Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974 – 1989 (2014). She has lectured extensively and her essays have appeared in numerous publications. Keith holds degrees from Spelman College and UCLA and is a proud native of Los Angeles.
