Dylan is a musician and educator in New Haven who seeks to create and expand community through collaboration in a variety of musical styles. In virtually every project he takes on, Dylan seeks to challenge the audience’s perceptions of what the flute is supposed to be and do in a space: he pursues percussive and harsher elements alongside the “prettiness” and clarity often anticipated by listeners, in order to express more holistically. A woodwind multi-instrumentalist, Dylan is indebted to the work of ‪Rahsaan Roland Kirk‬, Brandee Younger, Elena Pinderhughes, and Moses Sumney, to name very few of the many. Though his recorded output has primarily been as a supporting player, he seeks to challenge his own limits as a performer through solo loop arrangements of songs he loves and newly explored soundscapes and grooves.

An active performer in New Haven and the surrounding area, Dylan can be seen and heard playing full-time with Phat A$tronaut (experimental soul) and Tariku (Mande West African court music), and more sporadically with the Let Loose (roots rock n’ roll), Thabisa (soul and beyond from Port Elizabeth, South Africa), and Lost Tribe (afro-funk fusion). As an educator, Dylan seeks to make opportunities for aspiring musicians in New Haven not only to build technique, but to expand their musicianship, creativity, and leadership skills through participation in encouraging performance environments. As he was welcomed as a colleague by his teachers, so he seeks to embrace moments for his students to perform with him, especially as leading players in their own compositions or arrangements.

Come and explore this interdisciplinary journey with Allison's visual and performance piece titled "Corp R Us," inspired by the idea that the body is an incorporated entity with all of its microbes, organisms (and waste.)

“As an black artist, I realized by looking at my own life and struggles from assault, mental illness, and racism, many others are unable to heal in similar ways. By making art about cycles of intergenerational mental illness that we as black people experience, I hope to show them that they’re not alone in navigating their complex, personal and communal histories

I use my background as an artist, comic maker and illustrator to create conceptual narratives around the various aspects of Black life, capitalism and the generational cycles that we unknowingly facilitate through our lives.”

Logan Sidle, 18, is a senior in high school and one the newest and upaand-coming drummers of the modern jazz in New Haven’s contemporary music scene! Sidle has been the drummer for artists such as Thabisa, DREAMFIELD, Owen Mack, The Logan Sidle jazz collective , and the 2019 Connecticut All State jazz band. Sidle continues to learn and grow as a musician and artist, with purpose of forever serving music as an art.

K’la Lawson is the artistic director and creator of Noel Muse - A brand that enhances creativity through artistic innovations. Noel Muse prides in its ability to be versatile by collaborating with other brands in order to enhance creativity. We offers services such as film, video production, photography, web designing, and fashion designing. We assist individuals with finding their inner Müse by promoting the freedom of expression and raw artistry.

Alexis Robbins graduated from Hofstra University with a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Exercise Science. She founded her project-based dance company kamrDANCE in 2015; the work intricately fuses tap, percussive movement, and contemporary dance with humor to investigate the female experience, laughter, and absurdity. She has choreographed, directed, and produced two dance films which have been screened in NYC, New Jersey, Texas, and Bergen, Norway. In 2018, Robbins was the featured artist of the NACHMO Theater Performances and produced her first full length show at SMUSH Gallery for two evenings of sold out audiences. Her work “Defining Characteristics” was performed at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn as a part of “PLATFORM”. kamrDANCE has performed at venues including Woods Hole Community Hall, Arlington Center for the Arts, Triskelion Arts, Center for Performance Research, Dixon Place, Actors Fund Arts Center, Symphony Space, AS220 and more. Robbins is a dance educator; currently hosting her own adult tap and contemporary classes in New Haven, teaching at Neighborhood Music School, and an active substitute teaching artist for New Haven Ballet. She has also been an adjunct professor teaching tap and jazz at Hofstra University. Most recently, she created a new original dance film on the dancers of One Day Dance and is a commissioned artist through Artspace New Haven for this year’s City Wide Open Studios.

Colleen Hugo (she/they) is a sophomore at Tulane University studying French and Studio Art. She loves to make paintings and drawings utilizing collage and eclectic colors/patterns in pieces that seek to convey emotion and the human experience. More of her work can be found on Instagram @lysergic.art

Alec Rice is a multi-faceted musician based in the CT area. His focus in music ranges from performance, composition, and engineering. Originally trained as an orchestral percussionist, Alec has expanded his abilities to perform in several improvisatory settings including jazz combos, R&B bands, and funk groups. Alec specializes in vibraphone but his versatility as a percussionist grants him mastery over many different instruments.

“As a young artist, the world shows many faces, yet we only recognize the ones who want to show themselves. The world shows me that one day my thoughts will become

reality — reality that can be taken in any way from any perspective, any eye, any being, and any animal. Many industries of work show what the people want, yet what about the truth? The ‘truth’ that is presented only shows one side to a two sided situation; that one side that is never shown in the dark and would kill to see the light. You feed into the industry of the weak and never realize the chain that will never end that will only keep growing till the chain ends in a cup of blood...you drink with one sip you fade. This project is based on resistance to world farming, specifically.”

“The heavy vibrations of a garmoshka, a traditional Russian relic, overwhelm my chest. My mother walks me through how to fall asleep, an act that has stayed with me since the times we had to share a bed. My breaths follow the movements in my chest, addressing burdens with control. I recite a misunderstood narrative from a Soviet cartoon, exposing the hidden truths unseen by childhood innocence. Before I can experience repose, the narrative rewinds and a comical explosion marks a return to the overwhelming vibration of the cycle.

It feels more comfortable to address trauma and resistance through an empowering, resilience narrative; however, the reality feels more like new struggles are always arising, either overlapping or filling the place of the old ones. Cyclic explores this frustrating cycle and longing for rest through a vocabulary of symbols and experiences that are familiar to me.”

”In a few words, the art I create is for myself. Each moment for me is a stepping stone towards the mastery of my instruments, the honing of my craft, and the happiness I deserve. The fruit I bear could only be made possible by my obsession, and I am thankful for those who choose to listen to my offerings and continue to inspire me. And though my work is selfish, it would delight me if it were to reach the creatures of earth— to know that once it has left my hands, it no longer writhes within my scrutiny.”

Cliff Schloss is a New Haven born multi instrumentalist pursuing a degree in audio production and teaching in the New Haven area. An attendee of Hofstra University in Long Island New York, Schloss is now a faculty member at Neighborhood Music School and holds the responsibilities of ukulele teacher and ASAA program assistant. As bassist of the Hamden/New Haven based band Soap and other various group and solo projects, Schloss is an active member of the New Haven music scene.

Lydia Mattson is a sophomore at Tulane University originally from North Branford, CT. She is currently pursing a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Digital Art. She is also studying Communication. Lydia enjoys nature, writing poetry, and animals. She plans on working in graphic design or publishing after graduation. To see more of her work, follow @mudmaid on Instagram

Maxim Tobias Schmidt (he/him/his) is a multidisciplinary artist working out of New Haven, Connecticut. As of May 2019, he graduated with his BA in Art Therapy from Albertus Magnus College. Schmidt currently serves as the gallery coordinator for the Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven, and has had a longstanding relationship with ECOCA. As a young trans masculine artist, much of Schmidt’s work is informed by his growing up in queerness, in both overt and more non-obvious ways. His work also reflects his love of collecting and found objects. Schmidt yearns to attach deeper meaning to what is otherwise considered uninteresting or disposed.