2025–26 Teaching Artist Fellow* Simmia Nelson is a music producer, sound designer, and teaching artist who helps young people explore emotion and identity through creative technology. He guides students in transforming their feelings and experiences into original art using music production, photography, and digital storytelling. His teaching practice is collaborative, student-centered, and rooted in building [...]
Biig Miic
Mike “Biig Miic” Brooks, a Chicago native, is a multi-faceted artist who utilizes his artistry to teach, mentor, and inspire the masses. An innovator who developed the curriculum for his class Hiptronic that he taught for two years at Maranatha Christian Academy. He honed his teaching skills throughout his nine years at Urban Ventures as [...]
Dj Piecemeal
Minneapolis-based artist Dj Piecemeal is best known for his genre-bending sets. Steeped in hip-hop and nerd culture, Dj Piecemeal strives to push the classification of how a DJ should look and sound. From livestreams, live performances and community events, Dj Piecemeal strives to create a memorable and in-the-moment soundscape for his listeners. Teaching Artist Statement [...]
Stefon “Bionik” Taylor
As a teaching artist and music producer, Stefon “Bionik” Taylor has discovered a profound commitment to guiding and inspiring people to express their creative voices using music and songwriting. Using modern tools and technology, Bionik helps participants tell their stories through the creation and recording of original music and lyrics. Bionik’s passion for music started [...]
SOLI Hughes
SOLI Hughes is a world class ensemble and concert guitarist who has performed many musical styles and genres throughout his career. He played in the Umbria & Espoo World Jazz Festivals in Espoo, Finland & Perugia, Italy with Moore By Four. He performed in Tokyo, Nagasaki, Osaka, Yamagata, and Hamagata, Japan with the Sounds of [...]
SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE
See More Perspective stands, works, and creates in solidarity with movements of struggle for liberation here and abroad. See More is a non-traditional, self-taught Xicané MC, Producer/Composer, Spoken Word Poet, Graffiti and Projection Mapping Artist, Filmmaker, and Educator based out of the Twin Cities, MN. Their work interweaves liberation narratives, mythology, science fiction, spirituality, and [...]
DJ Kool Akiem
DJ Kool believes that within Hip-Hop culture is an often misunderstood form of creativity, ingenuity, and originality which can be applied to any path in life. As a teaching artist DJ Kool attempts to communicate these practical lessons he has learned throughout his career in an inspirational, thought provoking and ‘cool’ exploration of history and [...]
