Image of artwork by BakiBakiBaki: “Trunkette.” Close-up image of a wooden travel trunk. The trunk exterior is made of dark and medium brown, worn and scratched wood. Seated on the right corner of the trunk is a beaded figure of a cherub with dark skin, black hair, white wings, and light blue clothing. The inside of the open top is a lighter wood with water stains. Burned onto the inside of the open top is the shape of a human eye, or a circle that comes to a point on either side. Inside of the shape is a depiction of a small town with railroad tracks, a water tower, and buildings.
Accessibility
Recorded Audio Description tour will be available.
For folaṣade’s exhibition, language will be offered in American Sign Language and English.
Masks will be required for Community Events.
Fresh Eye Gallery is wheelchair accessible.
Two All Gender Restrooms are available.
Care Attendants will be present for all Public Events.
For more information or surrounding accessibility, please email access@emergingcurators.org.
Information on the Fellowship Experience
As part of the 2024-25 cohort of Emerging Curators Institute Fellow, folaṣade participated in a dynamic 10 month learning cycle that involved monthly cohort meetings exploring curatorial practice, intersectionality and accessibility, site visits to local museums & galleries, and engaging in dialogues with national curators; leading to dedicated time to manifesting their exhibition and engaging in various meetings, studio visits and administrative work.
Towards the end of the fellowship period, each Fellow was paired with a mentor. folaṣade was supported by Twin Cities based noted Culture Worker Mankwe Ndosi, with overall guidance throughout the learning cycle and manifesting of their fellowship exhibitions by Barak adé Soleil, Director of ECI and Founder of Yearly Emerging Practices.
Gratitude to exhibition partner Fresh Eye Gallery, residency support from Pillsbury House+Theatre, and research support from both the Givens Collection of African American Literature and Life, Archives and Special Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries, and the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies.
About the Emerging Curators Institute Fellow
folaṣade (they/she) is a blooming neuro/quirky poet, curator, and organizer concerned with the immediate survival and ongoing liberation of people of the global majority. Intuitively guided by her ancestors, they have self-published three poetry chapbooks including bodies are deep wells. This is their first solo-curation. They have additionally co-curated art exhibitions and film programs as a member of Studio AGD, and has published writing with Moody the Zine, Blue Earth Review, The Kitchen, and more.
About the Participating Artists
BakiBakiBaki is a Black Native multidisciplinary artist, teacher, and puppeteer. Their sole goal is to live the full time artist dream of their Grandmother. Turning towards spell and root work at every turn, BBB’s art pulls from the metaphysical magic of their culture, faith, and sensuality.
Paige Oyaleke Reynolds (they/them), also known as Mabolé Inawale, is a queer, gender-shapeshifting, transdisciplinary artist and ritualist. Their practice draws from ancestral arts and liberatory traditions across the African diaspora. A practitioner of Hoodoo and an initiate in New Afrikan Vodun, Paige’s art exists at the intersection of spiritual practice, abolitionist organizing, and cultural masquerade. They hold a certificate in Masquerade Design and have created public sanctuaries such as The Other Side House, a refuge for Black femmes and gender non-conforming people. Paige also supports the community as a full-spectrum birthworker and through networks like REP for MN and Birth Revolution.
Qamar Yochanan (he/him) is a Black trans Jewish organizer and multidisciplinary artist with a career spanning 28 years. He is a New York University Tisch School of the Arts alum, a member of SAG-AFTRA and the voice of five trans audiobooks. For his first SUNSET SPRINGS, he was nominated for an Audie Award alongside Barack Obama and Cynthia Erivo. His experimental theater work Mx 4 Minneapolis was part of 20% Theater Company's final Q-Stage. He has served on the Transgender Equality Council, the Minneapolis Arts Commission, and the board of Trans Lifeline. He is the CEO of Your Trans Fundraiser, where he teaches financial mutual aid to trans and gender non-conforming people fundraising for healthcare.
About Yearly Emerging Practices
Emerging Curators Institute (ECI) is a groundbreaking initiative designed to support the practices of emerging curators from diverse backgrounds through in-depth research, professional development, and presentation. In 2025, ECI became a project of Yearly Emerging Practices, seeking to support the expansiveness of creativity across curatorial and artistic practices locally and globally.
as i lay changing is part of Yearly Emerging Practice’s ReFrame Series, made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
