CEO DNA®: Learn, Love + Leverage Your Unique Leadership Genius

The business world tells us if you're not a leader who wakes up at 5am, you'll never be "successful". That you must be a visionary extraordinaire and the perfect project manager. It's as if you stepped out of the womb knowing how to manage a team, media, marketing, suppliers, projects, budgets, production, and, well, yourself. Whew. Make it make sense.

In this presentation, Business + Leadership Strategist, Lena West, of CEO Rising®, will outline how to unapologetically learn, love and leverage your unique leadership genius in a way that pulls you forward into your destiny. Make no mistake, you are a genius. You're going to learn how to own that fact and why you need to...so you can show the rest of the world.

Presenter 1: BOA of OI Studio

Presentation 2: Jennifer Turner Fine Art of Jenn

A conversation about wellness. We'll start by chatting with Penda N'diaye of Pro Hoe to address the state of Black wellness. Then, we will chat with BADG-Creators on how to design a space that prioritizes your self care with Kesha Franklin, Penda N'diaye, Kiyonda Powell, Nikki Klugh, and Bernadette Berry.

Where to start and how to get it right with Kesha Franklin, Sheryl T. McLean, and Cheryl R. Riley.

A fresh look at tips and techniques for designing a modern, and highly efficient kitchen with Beatriz Sandoval and Kelly Finley.

An exploration of OBSIDIAN's architectural design, and a chat on all things pleasure, comfort, and luxury in a modern home with Asad Syrkett of Elle Decor and Leyden Lewis.

A deep dive into the inspiration and intention of OBSIDIAN's spaces for art, entertainment, and recreation with Kesha Franklin, Linda Allen, Lisa Turner, and Everick Brown.

Redefining Taste features Leyden Lewis, Linda Hayslett, Kiyonda Powell and Erin Shakoor, four of the acclaimed creators involved in the making of Obsidian House, moderated by Elle Decor editor Kelley Carter. The conversation will focus on how these trailblazing Black designers have challenged notions of white traditional ideas of "good design" and developed their own formations of taste in general, and specifically related to the contributions for Obsidian House.

RSVP here.

A candid conversation among BADG-Creators Erin Shakoor and Linda Hayslett - exploring best practices in designing with wallpaper and textiles.

Exploring wine storage and brewing at home through OBSIDIAN featuring Kesha Franklin, Penny Francis & Casi St. Julian, and Cornelius Tulloch.

Tracing Figures considers the far-reaching impacts of the visual arts of the Black Diaspora. Moderated by artist and furniture designer Cheryl R. Riley, featuring visual artist & educator Zoe Charlton and curator & art historian Antoine Girard. The panelists will each share their reflections on the impact of the visual arts of the Black Diaspora on their lives and work as brilliant lights in the field.

Visual artist Zoë Charlton (Baltimore, MD) creates figure drawings, collages, installations, and animations. Using the nude body, often of Black women, she depicts her subject’s relationship with their world by combining images of culturally loaded objects and landscapes with figure drawings. Charlton received her MFA degree from the University of Texas at Austin and has participated in residencies at Skowhegan (ME), the Creative Alliance (MD) and others. She is in collections including Studio Museum in Harlem (NY), The Phillips Collection (DC), and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (AR). Charlton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at American University in Washington, DC. She holds a seat on the Maryland State Arts Council, is a board member at the Washington Project for the Arts (DC), and is co-founder of ‘sindikit, a collaborative, research-centered, art initiative.

Arts professional and a cultural strategist, Antoine Girard is passionate about the arts and social change. Professional and scholarly interests include Black visual culture, and inclusive engagement strategies. He earned his B.A. in Art History from Howard University. He began his work in the museum field working with The Broad and CAAM and most recently The Underground Museum. His upcoming curatorial work will be seen at Jeffrey Deitch Projects in Los Angeles.

Cheryl R. Riley is an artist, designer, mentor and art advisor focused on artists of the Black African Diaspora. Her art explores similarities between seemingly disparate cultures viewed through the lens of gender, history, rituals, implements and symbols. Recent sculpture projects address societal structures, nourishment, representation, survival, aspiration and transcendence. Her public art is permanently installed in New York City, San Francisco, Sacramento and Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. Furniture designs and  artworks are in private collections throughout the U.S., as well as two Smithsonians, The Mint Museum of Craft & Design, The Oakland Museum and San Francisco’s MoMA.

Explored through the lens of Ishka Designs and their work on the OBSIDIAN house featuring Joy Moyler of Joy Moyler Interiors and Veranda Contributor, and Anishka Clarke and Niya Bascom.

Aesthetics have long been signifiers of aspiration, identity, and solidarity. In the face of this global pandemic, many have realized the power of intentionally creating dwellings that offer inspiration, respite, and ancestral resonance. Our Homes, Our Stories: we will gather designers, scholars and for a roundtable conversation on the role and transformative power of Black aesthetics in home settings. The conversation is moderated by Jessica Stafford-Davis and features Jae Joseph, General Judd and Michelle Joan Wilkinson.

Jessica Stafford Davis is the founder of The Agora Culture LLC. This arts platform supported emerging artists of color and collectors through educational programming, art salons, and its annual Art On the Vine exhibition in Martha’s Vineyard. One of the only contemporary African-American art fairs presenting critically-acclaimed, institutional-level work in the United States, Art On the Vine also features a four-week residency to pay tribute to acclaimed visual artists Augusta Savage and Norman Lewis. Through the Savage-Lewis residency, AOTV provides select artists with an opportunity to collaborate and create new works as part of an effort to help them grow and explore their creative practices.

Jae Joseph is a cultural producer and entrepreneur, working in visual arts, film and multidisciplinary platforms. He connects the traditional and experimental art worlds through art advising, brand collaboration, events and strategic communication. Joseph commits to representing artists and clients honorably and honestly, refining but not replacing their messages. He caters to private sector clients in art, entertainment, fashion, publishing and real estate.

General Judd is a Brooklyn-based interior designer. Along with his wife Cristina Casanas-Judd, he is the co-founder of Me and General Design. The full-service interior design studio’s work is rooted in minimal essentialism, rich hues and bold textures. The firm strives to develop interior environments that elevate the human  spirit, while also creating bold one-of-a-kind products which balance beauty and functionality.

Michelle Joan Wilkinson, Ph.D. is a curator at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), where is working to expand the museum’s collections in architecture and design. In 2018, she served as lead organizer for the museum’s three-day symposium, “Shifting the Landscape: Black Architects and Planners, 1968 to Now.” In 2019-2020, Wilkinson was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design.  Her ongoing research project, “V is for Veranda,” about architectural heritage in the Anglophone Caribbean, has been presented to international audiences in Suriname, England, India, and the United States. Wilkinson’s most recent work explores issues of representation in architectural renderings. She holds a BA from Bryn Mawr College and a PhD from Emory University. 

Strategies for implementing family heirlooms into contemporary life featuring Kesha Franklin
CEO/ Principal Designer HALDEN Interior and BADG Creators Malene Barnett, Cheryl Umbles, Danielle Fennoy.

Black By Design: How Blackness Shaped American Cities, traces the history and impact of Black aesthetic and cultural influence and contributions across disciplines to the color, flavor and architectural shape of America. Featuring Nina Cooke John, Kamau Ware, Tahirah Rasheed, and Anita Bateman.

Anita N. Bateman is an independent curator and art historian who specializes in modern and contemporary African art and the art of the African diaspora with additional interests in the history of photography, Black feminism, and the role of social media in activism and contemporary art. Bateman holds a Ph.D. in Art History & Visual Culture from Duke University. She has held curatorial positions at the RISD Museum, the Williams College Museum of Art, and the Nasher Museum of Art.

Nina Cooke-John is a Jamaican-born, New York-based architect and interior designer. She imbues the spirit of transformation and innovation into every design project, from the structure of a home’s interior to the streetscape of a city block. For two decades Nina has been a sought-after educator, having taught architecture and design strategy at Syracuse University and Parsons the New School for Design, she currently teaches at Columbia. 

Born in West Oakland, Ca, home of the Black Panther Party and daughter of two Black Panther Party members, Tahirah Rasheed is a scholar, organizer and artrepreneur. As an internationally traveled Disc Jockey, former lab assistant, and published biomedical researcher, Tahirah lends her many talents and experiences to each venture in service of community. Tahirah is the co-founder of “See Black Womxn,” a Bay Area collective of artists and activists raised on Black feminist theory. Tahirah is working toward a day in which her ventures are part of the sustainable support of black art in service of black freedom, black love, and black prosperity.

Kamau Ware is a multidimensional creative blending complementary yet disparate disciplines as an artist/historian. Ware retells and expands history with scholarship and visual storytelling to fuse creativity and learning into one experience. He is best known for his flagship storytelling project, Black Gotham Experience (BGX), which creates media at the intersection of scholarship and aesthetics that illustrates the impact of the African Diaspora missing from collective consciousness as well as the public square.

Exploring sustainable building practices and the needs of the modern home through the lens of the OBSIDIAN Virtual Concept House featuring Lindsey Shook of California Home & Design and Nina Cooke John.

Moderated by Novella Forde and featuring acclaimed interior designer and BAD Guild member Everick Brown, and California Home and Design Editorial Director Lindsey Shook, Designing the Future is an exploration of future-leaning cultural and design practices. The makers and thinkers gathered will share their expert perspectives on technologies ancient and new and the ways in which they may become foundations for sustainable ways of living.

Everick Brown is an interior designer with clients throughout the United States. His interiors are self described as, “modern classic with a global perspective”. Inspired by his travels throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Everick's work offers an intriguing mix of fashion, design and style. He is married, has two children and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Novella Ford is a cultural producer. She connects diverse audiences to the archives and engages history through dialogue, performance, literature, and visual arts. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Public Programs and Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research division of The New York Public Library.

Lindsey Shook is a global content and brand strategist who serves as the editorial and brand director of California Home+Design media company. Splitting her time between Miami and San Francisco, Lindsey has worked with a multitude of companies to generate meaningful stories and experiences that helped expand their global reach. In her spare time, she is an activist in support of select organizations that focus on empowerment and social justice as well as Democratic campaigns.

A conversation with Stellene Volandes, Editor-In-Chief of Town & Country and Malene Barnett, founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG), on the importance of the BADG community and the OBSIDIAN Virtual Concept House.

Obsidian will commence with a celebratory Virtual Launch Party on the eve of 29th January, 2021.

Join us for the first event in our Creators in Conversation series today Friday, November 6th at 2pm ET / 11am PT.

Architects Nina Cooke John and Leyden Lewis will be joined by educator Ericka Huggins, a former Black Panther leader, for a discussion moderated by Elle Decor Editor-in-Chief Asad Syrkett.

RSVP here.