2025 FORGE FELLOWS
Adrienne Mackey (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the potential of performance and play. With her company, Swim Pony, she’s created works like SURVIVE!, a 22,000 square ft choose-your-own-adventure installation exploring the cosmic scale; LADY M, a feminist reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth; THE GIANT SQUID, a “crypto-zoology-horror-comedy” performed in real--life science lecture halls; and THE BALLAD OF JOE HILL, a play created for historic Eastern State Penitentiary exploring the famed labor icon. She’s the originator of CROSS POLLINATION, an interdisciplinary residency program. More recently she’s focused on fusing games and theater in projects like TRAILOFF – a mobile app performance using GPS to embed original BIPOC and Queer-authored stories onto nature trails; THE END – a month-long mixed reality game about mortality played via text message; AQUA MAROONED!, a wildlife card game commissioned by the Alliance for Watershed Education that released 15,000 copies across three states; and WAR OF THE WORLDS, a game/theater hybrid with Drexel's Entrepreneurial Game Studio casting gentrification as an invasive force. In 2024 she premiered THE STUPIDEST, SCARIEST TIME, a participatory productivity BootCamp satirizing American obsession with work.
Mackey has received two Knight Arts Challenges, an Independence Foundation Fellowship, FringeArts LAB Fellowship, CEC New Edge Residency and was named a Philly Magazine “Best of 2023.” She’s received grants from the NEA, Barra, Knight, William Penn Foundation, been a finalist for the USA Artist Fellowship, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge and 2023 Games4Change's Best Game Award. She’s also a classically trained soprano and former chemist. www.swimpony.org
Photo by Shawn Poynter
Boo McCaleb (he/him), aka Booscapes, is a Minneapolis-based Projection Artist, Filmmaker, and Public Arts Consultant. Grounded in intuition, spirituality, and kindness, Boo blends sensory experiences and creative technology to foster holistic wellness and pathways to community. A graduate of Macalester College in Media and Cultural Studies, Boo is driven by a passion for public art, community engagement, and entrepreneurship. As a Black Trans artist Boo brings unique perspectives to his work, believing in its power to promote wellness, joy, and healing for our communities.
Taylan De Johnette (she/her) is a Minneapolis-based Brand Designer, animator and Public art project manager, who brings over five years experience in crafting diverse branding identities and marketing materials for businesses. Following her education at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she received her BFA, she has since spent time collaborating with notable organizations like the Minnesota Orchestra, University of Minnesota, The Loppet Foundation, Target, the MSP Airport and more. She is also a consulting partner at Forecast Public Art and cultural producer at the Office of Cultural Work.
Boo + Taylan
Our mission is to use design, experimental media and animation to drive meaningful change, amplify untold stories, and break down systemic barriers. We are dedicated to empowering our local communities through creative expression. We use digital mediums including brand identity, projections, animation, and design to reimagine and create stories that reference our shared history as Black Americans to challenge cultural norms and redefine shift power structures.
Courtney L. Black (she/her) is an Ohio-born poetess and multidisciplinary artist. Her background in Cultural Anthropology and Sociology, Theater, and Media fuels her passion for connecting people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The American Folklore Society, Assembly for the Arts, the Association for Art History, Fernland Studios, FORGE NYC, GrubStreet’s Boston Writers of Color, and the National Social Science Association have all supported her creative ventures. Her ongoing work includes readings from her poetry collection ANIMALIA (2020) and her work as Artistic Director of Sankofa Sol Arts Inquiry Collective (SSAIC) and the prize-winning project, The Nanny Project: Centering the Experiences of Black and Brown Nannies During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era (2020–2023). Ms. Black divides her time between her hometown of Cleveland (where she is the Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Lillie B’s House) and wherever her spirit leads her.
Felicia V. Black (she/her) has expertise in education, practice-based spirituality, interspiritual literacy, and the identity development of Black and Brown women and their communities. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, an Ohio Teacher Licensure in Early Childhood Education, and an Interfaith Clergy certification and ordination, all of which enable her to offer a unique combination of spiritual, healing, and education services to communities. Rev. Dr. Black has conceptualized and taught courses in curriculum, pedagogy, early childhood education, and human development. She has been recognized for outstanding teaching and service in higher education and public school contexts. She is also one of the founding lead members of The Sankofa Sol Arts Inquiry Collective (SSAIC), with its award-winning flagship storytelling initiative, The Nanny Project, that centers the experiences of Afro/Black and Brown nannies who worked during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rev. Dr. Black is committed to caring for the whole person in mind, body, spirit, and soul, and to advancing equity and social justice in diverse settings.
Lillie B's House
Rev. Dr. Black owns and operates Lillie B's House, with her daughter, Courtney L. Black, where they provides spiritual life companionship, education consulting, creative workshops, and community engagement experiences.
Jamie McGhee (any pronouns) is a novelist and historian who explores how language is constructed, deconstructed and policed around the world. Her books include "You Mean It or You Don’t: James Baldwin’s Radical Challenge" (co-authored with Dr. Hollowell of Duke University) and "What I Must Tell the World: The Story of Lorraine Hansberry" (with director Lena Waithe). The latter won a national 2025 Stonewall Book Honor for LGBTQ+ literature.
McGhee’s work has been supported by art fellowships from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Zürich University of the Arts and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. She has also received artist residencies at Künstlerdorf Schöppingen (Germany), La Maison Baldwin (France), Nawat Fes (Morocco), Vermont Studio Center (US) and Instituto Sacatar (Brazil).
McGhee lives in Berlin, where she teaches writing at Humboldt Universität.
Photo by Jara Nassar
Lee "Lee Lee" Erin Leonard (she/they)
Grounded in designing multi-faceted frameworks for creative acts of restoration; my practice consists of weaving together collaborations for projects that are left within the public sphere. Although tangible artworks are created during the process, the focus is directed towards relationships within social and natural ecosystems. Upon returning home to Denver, I've continued work within the African diaspora by establishing the Stiles African American Heritage Gardens with a grant from Denver Arts & Venues. Working with the Colorado Native Plant Society, the Colorado Council of Black Nurses, the People & Pollinators Action Network and the HABITAT Library, we are broadening these ‘living seed libraries’ throughout the urban Five Points neighborhood to share plant histories and relationships from Black perspectives.
Photo by Daniela Jules Garza
Thatcher Gray (he/him)
Growing up as a toddler in Taos New Mexico and later moving to Denver Colorado, I’ve always had a great love of the mountains and the American west. I participated in a residency with Green Olive Arts based in Tetouan Morocco, to learn from the individual practitioners of the acequia systems--an ancient palette for complex irrigation systems. In my individual experience with irrigation, I’m working on the Lazy Shamrock ranch in Heeney, Colorado with over 800 irrigated acres, the same ranch my grandfather started working on sixty years prior. With the influence and the artistic resources of my mother, Lee Lee, my experience with Acequias systems is ingrained with personal experience around the acequias in Taos. I plan to make the Taos house both a lucrative business and an important place for education and community involvement to further my own knowledge, and the knowledge of my collaborators. During my partnership with Lee Lee, and in my own practice, I’ve learned from several local populations and gained an understanding of this ancient system and I hope to bring my expertise to the community through guidance from Forge NYC.
Photo by Lee Lee
Lee Lee + Thatcher
Our Acequias project is made up of creative acts and conversations that transcend disciplines to engage land workers, visual & culinary artists, storytellers & ecologists across Steppe ecologies to deepen understanding of how this ancient practice may help alleviate the pressures of a changing climate through the community centered practice of sharing water. The project has unfolded in collaboration with Thatcher Gray at Green Olive Arts in Tetouan, Morocco, and with Daniela Jules Garza at AADK in Blanca in la Huerta of Spain, at Terra Madre in Turin, Italy & at the TAOS Distillery with support from Creature Conserve. Our works are currently being published by the Center for Humans & Nature and was featured as part of the Re-imagining Conservation exhibit at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY.
Maya Quetzali Gonzalez (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based, Texas-raised artist and arts worker. Her directing and choreography has been seen at The Tank, Judson Arts, The Brick, and UCLA’s Dancing Disability Lab.
As an associate/assistant, she has worked at Playwrights, Signature, MCC, Roundabout, and on Broadway. Maya serves as the Grants Manager for the MAP Fund, where she has facilitated the distribution of millions of dollars to artists around the country. She has been a reviewer/panelist for organizations such as YoungArts, NYSCA, and Page 73.
Maya is a member of the Roundabout Directors Group (cohort six), an Associate Member of SDC, and a board member of IndieSpace. She also works with Jane's Due Process, a reproductive justice organization. BFA: NYU Tisch (MLK Jr. Scholar). mayaquetzali.com
Photo by Lia Chang
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Reynaldo Piniella (he/him) is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. In 2021, he was in the acting company of two Broadway shows at the same time: Thoughts of a Colored Man and Trouble in Mind. His Off-Broadway acting credits include work at Signature Theatre Company, The Public Theater, the Working Theater, Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA), and Rattlestick Theater, regionally with Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Cleveland Play House, NY Stage and Film, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, and internationally with the Sundance Theatre Lab in Morocco and NEAP Fest in Rio de Janeiro. TV credits include Reservation Dogs, Sneaky Pete, Law & Order: SVU, The Carrie Diaries, Flesh & Bone, Blue Bloods,Greenleaf, Louie, NYC 22, Us & Them, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Film: Madeline’s Madeline(Sundance Film Fest, Showtime), Shadows (HBO Max) and Broken City (20th Century FOX). His co-created bilingual Spanish-English Hamlet has been developed at Folger Theatre, The Public Theater, the Classical Theatre of Harlem, and the Acting Company. He is an alum of New Victory Theater’s LabWorks, All for One Theater’s Solo Collective, the Civilians’ R&D Group, and a former Artist-in-Residence at Hi-ARTS, the cell theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company, and Culture Lab LIC. He has received fellowships from Theatre Communications Group, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, Weeksville Heritage Center, and the All Stars Project. @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com
Photo by Marc J. Franklin
Kayla White (she/her) is a Brooklyn based movement artist, producer, and Pilates instructor. She is an advocate for opportunity: for both deep trust in ourselves and our community. Her artistic practices and teaching practice both heavily rely upon rigor and effort in conversation with relentless softening of self to listen more to our bodies and our surroundings.
Taylor Schmuelgen (she/her) is a Brooklyn based cultural worker, producer, and lover of performance. She is invested in supporting the creation of experimental art through both her role in development at The Kitchen and her own artistic projects. She believes deeply in the power of collaboration, creativity and a good cup of coffee to spark conversation and build community and seeks to be a change maker in the field of experimental performance.
Together they curate and produce THAT SHOW, a community gathering and showcase of early career performance artists. Informed by a shared vision of a performance space that provides financial and operational support for risk taking and collaboration, their curatorial style has been described as “rooted in TLC: tender loving care” and one that “makes room for unbridled expression.”
TJ Chester, Ph.D. (they/them) is a 38-year-old Floridian who lives with their parents, 15-year-old canine companion Isis, and a rotating assortment of niblings. TJ consumes a large variety of media, including TV/film, podcasts, and books.
TJ is very opinionated and welcomes any opportunity to give recommendations on what folks should be watching, listening to, and reading. This skill comes in handy in the many different dramaturgical projects they are affiliated with. If needed, you can find TJ wearing a mask, in a kayak, or doing artsy/scholarly things.
TJ believes that masking makes spaces more accessible by protecting the health of all people, including the most vulnerable members of our society.
Photo by Suede Williams
Yael Haskal (she/her) is a writer and performer based in Berlin + New York. Grounded in philosophies of exchange and ritual, she creates original performance art that intersects morbidity and whimsy. She is a member of the award-winning New York Neo-Futurist ensemble and La MaMa's historic Great Jones Repertory Company. As a performer and producer, Yael has worked with The Living Theatre, Untitled Theater Company No. 61, and Yoshiko Chuma’s School of Hard Knocks.
Yael's plays have been performed at theatres across the U.S. and Canada, including La MaMa, The Tank, IRT, the Kraine, inspiraTO Festival, and others. In 2024, she was an Artist-in-Residence and local educator at Faberllull Olot (Spain), where she workshopped her community performance project MEMENTO MORI. This year, Yael is developing several pieces for La MaMa’s CREATURES Festival, with residencies in Italy, London, and NYC. She was a National Young Playwright-in-Residence at the Echo Theater (CA, 2020) and the Ivoryton Playhouse (CT, 2018).
Recent acting credits include The Shylock and The Shakespeareans (BroadwayWorld nomination: Best Performance in an Off-Broadway Play, UTC #61), The Trojan Women (La MaMa / Andrei Serban), and The Weak and The Strong (La MaMa / Erik Ehn + Glory Kadigan). Favorite reviews call her “devastating” (Thinking Theater) and “charmingly neurotic” (Nightmare on Film Street).
Off the clock, Yael makes chainmaille jewelry, puppets, and assorted cookies. She holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.A. in Devised Theatre from arthaus.berlin.
Photo by Yael Haskal