Co-Directors

Samantha Curley

I love supporting the creative vision of artists of all stripes through strategic planning, budgeting, funding, scheduling, team building, and idea generating together. I see my role as one of creating and protecting space for artists to experiment, collaborate, and think bigger than they have in the past.

yétúndé olagbaju

yétúndé ọlágbajú is an artist, organizer, and educator currently residing on unceded Tongva land (Los Angeles, CA). They utilize video, sculpture, photography, gesture, and performance as through-lines for inquiries regarding Black labor, memory, legacy and processes of healing. They are rooted in the need to understand history, the people that made it, the myths and realities surrounding them, and how their own identity is implicated in history’s timeline. They hold an MFA from Mills College and are the recipient of the inaugural Nancy Cook Fellowship, the Jay Defeo award, the Murphy Cadogan award, and a Headlands Center for the Arts Fellowship. They are a member and co-founder of multiple Black and Brown liberation focused artist and worker-led collectives.

Board Members

As a milestone of becoming a cooperative community, the Level Ground Board now consists entirely of community members. Every year, new board members are nominated and voted on by members within our community to serve a 24-month term.

yétúndé olagbaju

Samantha Curley

Samantha Curley is an award-winning documentary producer and creative entrepreneur who helped start Level Ground in 2013. She loves supporting the creative vision of artists of all stripes through strategic planning, budgeting, funding, scheduling, team building, and idea generating together. She sees her role as one of creating and protecting space for artists to experiment, collaborate, and think bigger than they have in the past.

Chance Calloway

Chance Sion-Raize Calloway is an author, director, producer, singer/songwriter, and showrunner of the hit series Pretty Dudes.

Labkhand Olfatmanesh

Labkhand Olfatmanesh, born in Tehran, Iran, is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist and curator examining themes of feminism, race, isolation, and borders in underrepresented communities. She blends fictionalized narratives with documentary techniques, portraiture, and social practice to explore intimacy, humor, psychology, and transitory states that bridge one identity with another and how these forces take shape in the United States and her birthplace of Iran.

Tamisha Tyler

Tamisha A. Tyler, Ph.D. is a Theopoet, scholar, liturgist, and artist. Her work explores the ways creativity helps us articulate sensibilities about the divine. she has served in numerous capacities, including executive Director of art religion and culture, and currently serves as vice chair of the board of the Grunewald Guild an art and spirituality retreat Center.

Jaden Fields

Jaden is an LA-based poet, cultural worker, and cannabis enthusiast whose work centers the healing possibilities of marginalized communities. He self-published his first poetry chapbook, Intentional Musings on Staying Alive When I Want To Die (2019), an honest depiction of navigating mental health and systemic oppression.

Patrick Jones Bayón

Patrick Jones Bayón thrives working behind the scenes to align operations with values. He relies heavily on his neurodivergent "superpowers" to access creative solutions.

Shontel Horne

Shontel Horne is a writer, artist and entrepreneur dedicated to telling stories about historically excluded communities and pioneers. She is based in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

Huge thanks and gratitude to the board members who are responsible for the vision and creation of our 2021-2023 Strategic Plan: Micah Bournes, Avril Speaks, Patrick Jones Bayòn, Elizabeth Villa, Labkhand Olfatmanesh, Ra Avis, Terrell Brooke.

Andy Motz
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Co-Directors

Board Members

Andy Motz
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In addition to our Contributing Members, Level Ground is supported by

Co-Directors

Samantha Curley

yétúndé olagbaju

Board Members

yétúndé olagbaju

Samantha Curley

Chance Calloway

Labkhand Olfatmanesh

Tamisha Tyler

Jaden Fields

Patrick Jones Bayón

Shontel Horne

Andy Motz title

Andy Motz
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