Artists:
Tino Rayos was raised in Central California. His mother’s parents are Chiricahua Apache and Cherokee. His father’s parents are of Yaqui and Irish. He’s on the journey reconnecting with his ancestry. He graduated from California State University Fresno with a B.A. in English and Chicano Latino Studies and a Minor in Ethnic Studies. Presently he is a Youth Prevention Coordinator and a Diversity Equity and Inclusion trainer. He's performed poetry, comedy, song, Hip-Hop, Drum Circle, Aztec dance and drumming at the Arts Consortium, HMTC, Headliner Open Mic, Carnegie Hall, The Cellar Door, Recovery Rocks, The Tower District, Stand Up in 559 Comedy House and more. He placed in the Berkely Poetry Slam and Zoom in Canada and San Jose. He is a Champion of Visalia Loudmouth Poetry Slam and on to the Valley Team. He won first place at Fresno’s Inner Ear Poetry Jam. He made it to BlackBerry Peach National Slam Poetry Competition in Orlando Florida.
Anna Sul has been time traveling forward for five and a half decades and almost as many roles.She is a wife, a mother, an eccentric, and a seer of connections with experience in education, healthcare, trauma, musical theater, and the arts. Born within the intersections of brown/beige, grit/plenty, the typical/the neurodiverse, and the commonalities of resourcefulness, creativity, agriculture, and rural life, she has been observing, exploring, and occasionally letting it out, writing it all down.
Shane Lara aka Walks-Between-Worlds was raised in Fresno, CA. Through many difficult situations in his life he developed a love for music and poetry as a getaway. Shane has been rapping since adolescence and has just started recently competing in poetry competitions. As he grew older he discovered his Native American roots with the Natchitoches Tribe of Louisiana and has then grew his artistic talents as a spoken word artist throughout his Native community. He gathers inspiration from his ancestors and other individuals. He continues to practice his talents on a daily basis so that he can continue to improve his abilities. Being part of the Loud Mouth Poetry Slam team, Mid-Valley Mystics as the current Reigning grand slam Poetry Champion, has continued his journey. And his hopes to becoming a better poetry artist has flourished.
Linda Amayo-Hassan is a Chicana & Native American playwright, actor, director, and singer/songwriter. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Cultura and a theatre professor at Cal State University East Bay and Chabot College. Linda’s play LA VIDA LOBOwas commissioned by PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts and was in Best of PlayGround 23. Her most recent performance was in her solo show at Potrero Stage, The Missing Songs, about missing and murdered indigenous women and in Beth Piatote’s film Indian Reality Show for Native Writers’ Theatre. Linda is a member of PlayGround, The Pear Playwrights Guild, SameBoat Theatre Collective, Native Writers’, and Actors’ Equity.