Program Coordinator Community Advocate
Resume:
NINA WELLS
**********@*****.***
Columbus, Ohio *3201
PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT
I am an arts professional and community advocate specializing in social practice, blending creativity, connection, and social impact. Through photography, design, and performance, I explore "the possibility of an image," crafting immersive narratives centered in collective catharsis. I curate exhibitions, organize safe spaces for expression, and lead adult artist workshops, while also mentoring K-12 students in chess to instill the values of their decision making and encourage a commitment to their goals. With expertise in marketing and event promotion, I am committed to fostering inclusive environments where artists can thrive, using art and mentorship as transformative tools for creativity and collaboration. EDUCATION
Columbus College of Art & Design Columbus, OH
BFA, Photography 2022
New York School of the Arts New York, NY
Summer Arts Intensive Program 2024
Printmaking, Mixed Media, Sculpture
ARTS/ CULTURAL PROGRAMMING/ LEADERSHIP
Program Coordinator, The QueenMakers Program, The Royal Oak Initiative 2023-Present Cultivate programming and marketing that engages girls & women in the game of chess. In 2023, we engaged over 50 girls and women in the Columbus area with various community events including an all-ages STEAM collaboration with See-Brilliance, a yoga and mindfulness session, and chess tournament. We now host intergenerational gameplay monthly for families at The Cooperative Cultural Chess Center.
Co-Coordinator & Host, Eclectic The Collective Ministry 2023-Present Coordinate events for marginalized adult artists to express themes of love, spirituality, and identity through performance and conversation. As a collective of four working-artists, we run creative campaigns for programming that engages our growing community of 200+ artists in the Columbus area. Since 2023, we have hosted over 30 events including concerts, open-mic nights, craft nights, and ministry. Coordinator & Host, Safe Space: an open mic, Streetlight Guild 2023 Organized performance space for free verbal expression. Artists were encouraged to come share their perspectives in a rap, a poem, a rant, or a song. Required coordinating with owner and gallery director, Scott Woods.
Coordinator & Host, Loveball, W*nder 2023
Moved by the power of love, This space was created to celebrate 40+ paying participants in the value they bring to the world. I organized affirmations, questions, sweets, and music while 3 select vendors sold their handmade art.
Artist Critique Workshop, Streetlight Guild 2023
Promoted and facilitated space for 9 Columbus-based artists to convene and obtain tools of how to see and communicate their perspectives of art. Session ended with each artist receiving in-depth feedback. Coordinator & Host, FEED YOUR SOOOOUUUL!, Potluck Dance Party, The Citadel 2022 Fourth event of the promotional lineup for “Mind, Body, Spirit, & Sooouul : A Visual Exploration Coordinator & Host, CONNECT TO SPIRIT!, Nature Walk, Scioto Audubon 2022 Third event of the promotional lineup for “Mind, Body, Spirit, & Sooouul : A Visual Exploration Coordinator & Host, MOVE YOUR BODY! Movement Workshop, The Citadel 2022 Second event of the promotional lineup for “Mind, Body, Spirit, & Sooouul : A Visual Exploration Coordinator & Host, SPEAK YOUR MIND! Open Mic Night, Streetlight Guild 2022 First event of the promotional lineup for “Mind, Body, Spirit, & Sooouul : A Visual Exploration President of the Black Student Leadership Association, CCAD 2019-2022 Advocated for Black students at Columbus College of Art & Design by organizing events such as art exhibitions, artist panel discussions, and consistent co-working meetings. TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Chess Mentor, The Royal Oak Initiative Columbus, OH Instilling Wisdom & Wellness in children K-12 through the game of Chess. 2023-Present This position requires traveling to various schools, libraries, and recreational centers to engage and uplift the youth in their decision making. Visiting Artist, Arts Impact Middle School Columbus, OH Monthly workshops with 6th-8th grade students empowering them in their 2024-Present creative expression through performance, collage, and photography. Art Instructor, Saturday Morning Art Class, Columbus College Art & Design 2024 Taught “Art & Storytelling” course to Columbus-based highschool students where participants were encouraged in cultivating their personal narratives. Students were required to show up each Saturday morning for a span of 8 weeks and produce a body of work. Their work was then shared in the Spring end-of-program student exhibition.
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
Artist Commune: The Poetry Ball, Urban Arts Space, Columbus, OH 2024 Performance art in collaboration with House of Vanguard. This evening included a night of ballroom- vogue dancing, costumes, and poetry. This event required 4 months of planning and communication between the performers and the administration. I served as a performer and assistant to the coordinators, Ky Smiley and Travis McClerking.
Artist Commune: Critique Costume Night, Urban Arts Space, Columbus, OH 2024 A creative critique space for Columbus artists in collaboration with Elaff Houmsse. Artists were encouraged to bring an artwork in progress and dress like their favorite artist. Elaff and I organized the space and led discussions around the work of each artist, whilst being bound to each other by a 6-foot rope.
What Are You Willing To Let Go Of?, The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH 2023 Social Practice in collaboration with Elaff Houmsse. Together Elaff and I crafted a design for a sculpture that evoked a sense of open-ness. We brought this sculpture to The Wexner Center for the Arts and invited people to consider something they were carrying and perhaps no longer needed. We photographed their last moments with this object and asked them to place it inside of the sculpture. At the end of this project, we destroyed the sculpture along with all of the items in it. This project entailed a trust and immaculate communication between myself, Elaff, Jean Pittman, the Education Programming manager.
PANELS / PRESENTATIONS
Harlem Renaissance Remix, Streetlight Guild 2025
Black History Month Panel, Columbus College of Art & Design 2025 Pitch Black Presenter, Epiphany Printing Co., Maroon Arts Group at The Maroon 2025 The Poetry Festival, Grange Insurance Audubon 2024 Black Women Imagemakers, Columbus College of Art & Design 2024 Black History Month Panel, Columbus College of Art & Design 2024 Stories of Resilience: Black History Journey Through the Arts 2024 Rudy Would Listen, Upfront Stage at Shadowbox Live 2024 Artist Identity Crisis: Virtual Artist Talk 2024
GRANTS & HONORS
Short North Artist Spotlight, Orange Barrel Media 2024 First Artist spotlighted on High St. Kiosk in Columbus, OH Greater Columbus Arts Council Grant Recipient 2023
$1,200 stipend that aided Solo Exhibition “I Got Angels All Around Me” RESIDENCIES/ FELLOWSHIPS
Zoras House Leadership Incubator Program 2025
Lincoln Theatre Performing Arts Design and Development Initiative 2025 Arts Impact Middle School Artist-In-Residency Program 2024-2025 ROYGBIV Gallery BIPOC Artist Residency 2023
Streetlight Guild Artist In Residence 2022
Wild Goose Creative Incubator Program 2022
ARTISTIC & CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
Solo Exhibitions
“I Got Angels All Around Me” Solo Residency Show ROY G BIV Gallery, Stipend 2024
“Subject to Change” Solo Thesis Exhibition, Blockfort Gallery 2022 Group Exhibitions
“Intersections”, The Urban Arts Space, Columbus, OH 2025
“Black History Month Show”, The Kee, Columbus, OH 2025
“I Was Here”, Beeler Gallery, Paid 2024
“Ideas of Ourselves”, Limelight Gallery, Atlanta GA 2024
“Freequency”, The Urban Arts Space, Paid 2024
“Portable Paradise, Urban Arts Space 2024
“Looking for Family”, Beeler Gallery 2024
“small works”, ROY G BIV Gallery 2023
“Irrepressible Soul” Urban Arts Space, Paid 2023
“Incubator Program Group Show” Wild Goose Creative, Paid 2022
“Stacked”, Participant & Best-In-Show, ROY G BIV Gallery 2022
“Assembled Identities”, Group Exhibition,2022
Promotion Designer & Participant, New Byers Gallery
“Death. Taxes.” 83 Gallery Group Exhibition, Blockfort Gallery 2022
“Breaking Boundaries:2022
A Gallery Show Celebrating CCAD’s Black Creatives”, Byers Gallery
“Creative Minds: An Exploration of Visual Artists” Sean Christopher Gallery 2021
“Packed” Group Exhibition, ROY G BIV Gallery 2021
“Resilience in Nature”, Franklin Park Conservatory 2021
“John McCutcheon’s Young Hearts 9", Sean Christopher Gallery 2020
“Creating History: A Gallery Show Celebrating CCAD’s Black Creatives”,2020 Wild Goose Creative
Voltron: Defenders of the Arts” Group Exhibition, Blank Canvas Cleveland 2019 Curation
“I Got Angels All Around Me V1”, Solo Exhibition, ROYGBIV Gallery 2024
“MIND, BODY, SPIRIT, SOOUUUL: A Visual Exploration of What Makes Us”,2022 Streetlight Guild
“Subject to Change” Solo Thesis Exhibition, Blockfort Gallery 2022
“Assembled Identities”, Group Exhibition, New Byers Gallery 2022
“Breaking Boundaries: A Gallery Show Celebrating CCAD’s Black Creatives” 2022
“Creating History: A Gallery Show Celebrating CCAD’s Black Creatives” 2020 PUBLICATIONS
Greif Guest Room, Wortbildsalat / word-image-salad, Der Greif 2024 Black Minds Mag Issue #25, Happy Home 2023
Life & Work with Nina Wells in Voyage Ohio Interview published in Columbus Underground 2022 City Pulse Guide to Columbus 2022
aNOID TV Podcast Interview, Episode 14 2022
Botticelli Magazine, CCAD’s campus magazine 2020
REFERENCES
Ani Mwalimu
Ann Hamilton
Scott Woods
(ask for reference information)
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