Fields Artist Fellows are selected from a competitive pool of applicants, representing artists of all media, including writers, filmmakers, visual artists, multimedia artists, cultural heritage artists, musicians, and performing artists.
For event inquiries or other opportunities, please contact the artists directly. To learn more about the Fields Artist Fellowship program, click here.
Crystal Akins Meneses, Lincoln City | Music
2019-21 Fields Artist Fellow
Crystal is an interdisciplinary creative who activates community music and art through activism and spiritual care. Learn more about her work and arts nonprofit at activateartsnow.com.
Read Crystal’s reflection on being a Fields Artist Fellow in “Creating Joy, Art, and Social Change.”
Mic Crenshaw, Portland | Music
2019-21 Fields Artist Fellow
Artist website | Instagram | Facebook
Mic Crenshaw was born and raised in Chicago and Minneapolis and currently resides in Portland. Crenshaw is an independent Hip Hop artist, respected emcee, poet, educator and activist. He is the Lead U.S. Organizer for the African HipHop Caravan and uses Cultural Activism as a means to develop international solidarity related to Human Rights and Justice through Hip Hop and Popular Education. In his teenage years, he actively confronted white supremacist gangs that were a growing part of the hard-core music scene. Mic eventually moved to Portland, where he quickly became one of the most respected artists in the Northwest, and his community efforts have had both local and international impact. In addition to his highly-acclaimed work in spoken work and Hip Hop, Mic co-founded GlobalFam, a non-profit (EducationWithOut Borders 501c3) project to create and maintain a computer center for disadvantaged youth in Burundi, Central Africa. Over 400 people have received free training, and it is now expanding, generating revenue and creating jobs. Mic also partnered with Education WithOut Borders (EWOB), which supports education, music and art initiatives in Portland and beyond and serves as an umbrella for the local Books For Prisoners chapter and GlobalFam itself. Mic Crenshaw has toured and collaborated with Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Rakim and other Hip Hop legends. Mic was voted 2016 Portland Oregon’s best Hip Hop Artist. Since 2012 Mic has toured in Cuba, Russia, Germany, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya and other countries where he facilitates Hip Hop Cultural Exchange opportunities for youth. He is currently a Teaching Artist in Residence at multiple schools and a co-producer of the It Did Happen Here Podcast and the Rose City Rising city-wide youth Hip Hop compilation.
Read Mic’s reflections on his Fields Artist Fellowship: “We Are All Existing in an Opportunity Gap.”
Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, Chiloquin | Visual Arts
2019-21 Fields Artist Fellow
Ka'ila Farrell-Smith is a contemporary Klamath Modoc visual artist, writer, and activist based in Modoc Point, Oregon. Her work has been exhibited at Out of Sight, Museum of Northwest Art, Tacoma Art Museum, WA; Missoula Art Museum, MT and Medici Fortress, Cortona, Italy; and in Oregon she has work in the permanent collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and Portland Art Museum. Ka'ila Farrell-Smith received a BFA in Painting from Pacific Northwest College of Art and an MFA in Contemporary Art Practices Studio from Portland State University. She is a certified Wilderness First Responder and is a land defender on the front lines, fighting resource extraction projects across the Pacific Northwest.
Read Ka’ila’s reflections on her Fields Artist Fellowship: Art and Activism in Modoc Point.
Joe Whittle, Enterprise | Photography, Writing
2019-21 Fields Artist Fellow
Born and raised in rural Wallowa County, Joe Whittle is an enrolled Caddo Nation tribal member and a person who has experienced the opportunity gap firsthand. He is a photographer and self-taught writer who has gained notoriety as a freelance journalist bringing Indigenous representation to outlets such as The Guardian, USA Today, Outside Magazine, High Country News, the New York Times, HuffPost, and many other publications.
Read Joe’s reflections on his Fields Artist Fellowship: "The Value of Your Story."
Joe’s photo essay, “Reciprocity of Tradition,” was published in Oregon Humanities Spring 2020 issue.
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