The Power of Process with Emerging Artist Fellow Jayna Dias

The Power of Process with Emerging Artist Fellow Jayna Dias Date & Time: Thursday, August 13, 2026 6:30-9PM FREE Community Program. Registration required. Maintaining an artistic practice that dedicates substantial time to think ahead of making is a valuable skill that assists in enhancing art’s content. Join us for a detailed workshop designed to develop this skill by focusing on the importance of intention and planning before creating an artwork. Participants will be guided through a series of group breathing, writing and sketching exercises created to develop finding inspiration, and reconnecting with the self. For those with artistic experience, this workshop will aid in sharpening your voice, and for those with a desire to make art, this workshop will serve as a launching point to discover it. Everyone will walk away with a deeper understanding of their drive to make and a framework for how to tap into it. Be prepared for a relaxing evening devoted to The Power of Process! All artists are welcome, ages 16+ — any experience level, background, or discipline. The workshop will include a dedicated time for hands-on “making,” so we encourage you to bring your own art supplies related to your artistic discipline and/or what you’d like to explore during this workshop. Writing materials will be provided. For questions, accessibility requests, or assistance with registration, email [email protected] or call BAC at 914-944-4278. This event is an Artist Residency Community Program. As part of a residency at BAC, we ask each artist to build and facilitate a Community Program. Community Programs are a unique opportunity for both artists-in-residence and our local community to gather, engage, and be in conversation with one another through art. Community Programs are free engagements open to the public and/or in collaboration with a local community partner. About Jayna Jayna Dias is a Senegalese-American visual artist and performer that creates works rooted in the complexity of the Black diaspora. Through drawings, paintings, and the body, Dias creates visual exemplifications of the intricacy of Black identity, Western colonialism’s intervention on it, and how deconstruction can be a powerful tool in reasserting it. Her work investigates themes of misogynoir, cultural hybridity, and fetishization channeled through lived experiences, family lineage, and academic research. Unstable compositions, expressionistic figures, boisterous colors, and found materials are all utilized in her practice to stage invitations for viewers to engage with the underrepresented themes she depicts. Above all, Dias’ practice is about visibility. Dias earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Art from the University of Southern California in 2024. She has exhibited around Los Angeles, shown in Venice, Italy during the 2024 Biennale, and has work in the Newport Historical Society’s collection for their Center of Black History. She completed an academic research fellowship through the Frank C. Munson Institute at the Mystic Seaport Museum in 2025 and was a visiting resident at Real Time & Space in Oakland during February of 2026. Currently practicing in Los Angeles, Dias also works as a Visitor Experience and Community Engagement Associate at the California African American Museum. This fellowship is generously supported by