Shani Peters is a multidisciplinary artist based in New Orleans, LA. She holds a bachelor’s from Michigan State University and a Master’s of Fine Arts from the City College of New York. Peters has presented work in the US and abroad at the New Museum, NY; The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NY; Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, South Korea; The National Gallery of Zimbabwe; and Bauhaus-Building Dessau, Germany. Selected residencies include Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, MI; The Laundromat Project, NY; and Project Row Houses, TX. Her work has been supported by Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Peters was a faculty member at The City College of NY, Pratt Institute, and Parsons School of Design before shifting her teaching focus to The Black School which she co-directs with Joseph Cuillier.

Joseph Cuillier is a multidisciplinary artist who examines language, space, abstraction, and Black radical pedagogies through social practice, installation, textile, and design. His practice at the intersections of education, visual art, and design centers on deconstructing histories to build counter-narratives. Currently based in New Orleans, LA, Cuillier received a master’s from Pratt Institute and previously held faculty positions at Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute in New York City. Cuillier’s work has been exhibited, collected, and presented internationally at the New Museum, NY; The Museum of Modern Art Library, NY; Bauhaus-Building Dessau, Germany; The Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY; Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, NY; The Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery, Pratt Institute, NY; among others. Cuillier has been an artist-in-residence/fellow at Sweet Water Foundation, IL via the Chicago Architecture Biennial, IdeasCity New Orleans, LA; Spillways Antenna. Works, LA; the New Museum, NY; The Laundromat Project, NY; and A Blade of Grass, NY. Cuillier is the co-director of The Black School and Black Love Fest with Shani Peters.

Works at the intersection of fashion, art and education. Born a fashion designer, Lana studied disciplines that complimented her passion like art, writing and education. She has a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Southern University at New Orleans and a Master of Arts in Teaching and Special Education from Xavier University of Louisiana. Her curatorial projects include solo and collaborative work with the McKenna Museum of African American Art, Le Musee’ Free People of Color Museum, “Exhibit BE”, and “Studio BE”. Lana first began her work in education by writing and creating curriculum for her art exhibits.  Her passion for art, design and literacy led her  to designing curriculum for local and national Non-Profits organizations. She is currently The Program Manager with The Black School and Creative Educator of All About Love Education Studio.  Her fashion brand “Meyon” is limited experience pieces that are crafted in small quantities and with notes of exclusivity that are inspired by architecture, voice, classic luxury and the aesthetics of  black culture.

Laila (b. 2001) is a Queens-Based Documentary Photographer and Social Media and Communications Director for The Black School. She manages The Black School’s Instagram, Twitter, and digital platforms including the execution of newsletters correspondence for The Black School’s network.

Prior to obtaining this role in June 2020, Stevens apprenticed for the 2018 Social Justice Artists in Residence at The New Museum, volunteered at Black Love Fest 2018 at the Sugar Hill Museum, and apprenticed with The Black School: Studio at The Bronx Museum of Arts in 2019.

Bailey is a multifaceted horticulturist, herbalist, and artist born in the historic 7th ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Bachelor in Natural Resource and Ecology Management from Louisiana State University with a focus in conservation biology. She continued independent studies supported by One Family Farm in Trinidad and Tobago and has deep roots in the Caribbean islands and the deep south. In Trinidad, she spent the majority of her time in La Lune village studying growing practices and herbal remedies from village leader Noriga Granger, his daughter Giselle Granger, and other respected herbalists and cultivators.  She is a third generation grower focusing on herbalism and ethno-botany, the study of the traditions and customs concerning plants and their medical, religious, and spiritual uses. She works closely with local and international black and indigenous communities to find creative ways to help regain food sovereignty and normalize the practice of herbalism. As the founder of Mecca X studios she has also translated her studies into visual art that celebrates black empowerment and natural living. She is currently the Garden Manager for The Black School and is helping to create a community garden for residents of the 7th ward.