The Power of Being Seen

Moderated by Caleb A. Smith, 2025 AWAACC Curatorial Fellow, this panel invites featured artists SpecialK, Tyler Belizaire, Dara Etienne, Mahogany Martin, and Ashante Josey to reflect on the deeply personal and creative dimensions of visibility and acknowledgment. Through candid conversation, the artists will explore how the concept of being seen—by oneself and by others—shapes their identities, informs their daily lives, and influences their artistic processes. This discussion offers an intimate look at how recognition and representation are interwoven with creative expression and self-discovery.

Meet the Panelists

SpeciàlK
“Peace and Love, Firstly, thank you for flowing to my visual creations and work! You may know me as SpeciàlK, Energy Lane, Goddess, nothing less, and nothing more. I am originally from the Divine Realm and have since then blossomed from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I am not attached to any agency and instead remain whole in curating the creations, path-work, and light of this life path whilst collaborating with the art beings that I have shared gravitation within this realm. As a chameleon art being, my art is priceless and my time is valuable, as is yours. There are no metaphors, hyperboles, or worldly definitions to define what I have created. ‘Tis a moment, memory, emotion, and feeling that has allowed itself to hurt, heal, and let go of its weight. May the creations you see merely be a reflection of the self discovery and journey: past, present, and future. Much Love.”
Website: www.specialkgoddess.org
Instagram: specialk_artist

Tyler Belizaire
Tyler Belizaire Brooklyn, 2001 is a self-taught artist of Haitian descent, currently based in Pittsburgh, PA. Tyler uses a wide range of paints to create emotional and surreal depictions. Tyler has exhibited his work at: The Red Fishbowl Gallery (currently), Oat Milk x Hxny (2024), Honest Works (2024), Mythos Art Show (2024), Unsettled 2 (2024), Monochrome Art Showcase (2024/25) and has participated in The Future is Black’s fellowship program (2024-25), The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Black Emerging Artist Grant (2025), and the BHM art crawl at the Carnegie Children’s Museum (2025).
Website: Belizaireart.com
Instagram: sketchy_princeton

Dara Etienne
Dara Etienne is a multidisciplinary visual artist and craftsperson from Eastern Massachusetts. Using both institutionally learned and self taught processes, their work expands the definition of craft through quilting, weaving, knitting, and more. They’re interested in the intersection between craft, labor, and gender, in/accessibility in fine arts, and the hidden lives of found materials. Currently based in Pittsburgh, they have completed residencies at Contemporary Craft, the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, and Bunker Projects. They have had recent exhibitions through Bunker Projects, Radiant Hall, The Future is Black, as well as a performance through the SPLICE Institute.
Website: dararara.cargo.site
Instagram: _dararara_

Mahogany Martin
Mahogany Martin is a 24 year old artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2023, she fell in love with the technical studies and applications of illustration. Since graduating, she has been able to explore her own themes in the form of book cover commissions, animations, and personal pieces in traditional graphite and digital mediums. Her work captures the beautiful diversities and imperfections within everyday faces and blending them with emotional themes of the human condition.
Instagram: pbandlead

Ashante Josey
Ashanté Josey is a Pittsburgh-based visual artist whose work explores Black identity, culture, and connection through shared experiences. Using acrylic and oil on canvas, she blends color and emotion to create deeply expressive portraits, often centered on the face as a focal point. Influenced by artists like Frida Kahlo and Kehinde Wiley, Ashanté captures the spiritual and emotional essence of her subjects, celebrating the beauty and complexity of the Black experience. Her paintings reflect both personal and collective narratives, drawing on memory, family, and cultural symbolism to create work that resonates across generations. Through solo exhibitions E11even, If God Were a Person, and Free Mind—as well as public art projects, Ashanté has developed a visual language that is intimate and powerfully grounded in healing. Ashanté has collaborated with notable institutions such as GetGo, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Whether her work appears in galleries, on city walls, or in community-centered spaces, it serves as an invitation for reflection and connection rooted in the richness of Black experience and the strength found in shared histories.
Website: www.ajoseyart.com
Instagram: ashante_dj