Featured Keynotes, Facilitators, Practitioners and Artist

Melana Bass is a contemporary painter and muralist born and raised on the southside of Chicago. She utilizes acrylic paint and mixed media objects to tell the magical stories of black women through portraiture. Her inspiration comes from the Lense of her experience as a Black woman from a big city. It is her surroundings that drive her visual expression as she amplifies the beauty in the slang and culture of black and brown people. In 2013, Melana studied Fine Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On that journey, it became clear that although she had a love for the arts, blacks were not historically represented in that field. As an under grad, she began her professional career as an artist, starting a business called MB Art. Since 2016, MB Art has become a movement of her own, A campaign that uses paintings, prints and custom products that illustrate stories that the past has prohibited. Since graduating with her BFA in 2017, Melana has become even more passionate about creating and displaying Art that celebrates Melanin, Black History and Natural Hair. Her work is a testament of the historic manner in which she has fought for the positive portrayal of blacks as she continues to carry her ancestors with pride in the face of injustice. Each piece is a love letter to black people and a unique opportunity to adorn the world with the illustrious standards of black beauty.