Jordan Alam (Literary, King County)

Jordan Alam is a queer Bangladeshi-American writer, performer, clinical social worker, and former doula based out of Seattle. Their work as a novelist and literary essayist engages with how trauma and resiliency are written on the body.

Their short stories and essays have been published in Joyland Magazine, SeattleMet Magazine, Autostraddle, Entropy, The Rumpus, and The Atlantic among others. They currently write a mental health column at The Seattle Times, co-host the podcast Nothing to Fix, and are editing a debut novel.

jordanalam.com
Artist Trust profile
@jordan_alam

Naomi Macalalad Bragin & Milvia Pacheco Salvatierra (Performing, King County)

Naomi Macalalad Bragin and Milvia Pacheco Salvatierra collaborate as Little Brown Language, a Seattle-based performance group who seek to build new forms of solidarity among artist-organizers through embodied cultural practice. They are guided by a commitment to healing their relationships with land, community and their ancestors. They use translation as a medium for communicating across forms of dance, poetry, music and visual art and work to create worlds in which hidden histories of their communities become embodied, felt and seen. They have performed in theater, gallery, community and outdoor spaces, for On the Boards, Wing Luke Museum, Artists at the Center, Base Experimental Arts + Space, Friends of the Waterfront, Black Collectivity, and A Resting Place.

Their current project, Grief Rituals, explores migration as an experience of collective grieving and reimagined ancestral lineage. Five dancers, joined by community artists, will activate sites in the International District, migrating from A Resting Place, a grief and loss cultural resource center on King Street, and ending at Buster Simpson’s Migration Stage installation at Habitat Beach/Seattle ferry terminal. Grief Rituals is funded by 4Culture, Office of Arts & Culture, and Friends of the Waterfront.

Little Brown Language website
@littlebrownlanguage

Campana (Performing, King County)

Campana is a Seattle-raised, Bremerton-born artist working across music and film. He first gained recognition as the lead vocalist of COSMOS, winners of MoPop’s 2016 “Sound Off!” Battle of the Bands, with performances at Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, and Sasquatch! Festival, and a national showcase at MUSICOLOGY at Prince’s Paisley Park.

As a solo artist, Campana expands his practice through interdisciplinary storytelling. His debut album Matter of Time was named one of The Seattle Times’ “Top 16 Albums of 2021,” alongside an award-winning short film of the same name that sold out screenings and won the Audience Award at Black Film Fest ATL.

His latest album, READY FOR MORE (2025), explores themes of love, relationships, and vulnerability alongside urgent reflections on oppression, imperialism, and resistance, blending R&B, jazz, and hip-hop into a sound that is both emotionally resonant and socially conscious.

His work has reached global audiences, with music featured in Atlanta (FX) and the Issa Rae-produced film One of Them Days.

Artist Trust profile
@campana.fm

Priscilla Dobler Dzul (Visual, Pierce County)

Priscilla Dobler Dzul is an interdisciplinary storyteller. Born in Yucatan, Mexico she received her MFA in Sculpture from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Her inspiration comes from her passion and commitment to the preservation of land, oral stories, craft and representation of her multi-Maya cultural heritage. Her research is driven by a commitment to narrative change through social justice, racial equity, and artistic mastery.

She has exhibited domestically and internationally. Most recently she has shown at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de UChile, Santiago, Chile; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; 32nd Biennial de Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain; ARCOmadrid Art Fair, Madrid, Spain and Material Art Fair, Mexico City.

Artist Trust profile
@priscilladoblerdzul_studio

Tamiko Nimura (Literary, Pierce County)​

Tamiko Nimura is an Asian American creative nonfiction writer and public historian living in Tacoma, Washington. She writes from an interdisciplinary space at the intersection of her love of literature, grounding in American ethnic studies, inherited wisdom from teachers and activists, and storytelling through history. Her memoir is titled A PLACE FOR WHAT WE LOSE: A DAUGHTER’S RETURN TO TULE LAKE (University of Washington Press).

tamikonimura.net
Artist Trust profile
@tamikonimura

James Pakootas (Media, Spokane County)

James Pakootas is an award-winning multidisciplinary cultural architect whose work bridges cinematic non-fiction, music production residencies, and interdisciplinary stage productions. Directing acclaimed films like HIStory and Metal Warrior, and producing the animated short, Sister Wolves, he asserts narrative sovereignty by modernizing Indigenous storytelling. A dynamic performer, James has brought his spoken word and musical collaborations to national and international stages, including The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian NMAI (NYC), and the National Museum of Jazz in Harlem.

Beyond his personal artistic practice, he is a dedicated ecosystem builder. He co-founded The Root Experience BIPOC Arts Festival to address systemic imbalances in the regional arts sector, and the Empower Our Future initiative to mentor and uplift young people. Currently, he is documenting the historic reintroduction of the salmon to The Upper Columbia, fusing his roles as an artist, advocate, and community leader.

Artist Trust profile
@epic.ndn