Mister Welfare

Dez'Mon Omega Fair is an interdisciplinary artist and poet living in Long Beach, California. Their work explores storytelling and self-reflection, through several different processes, including: painting with water, brushless watercolor, ink on washi, collaborative documentary film projects, and experimental forms of poetry. http://www.dezmonomegafair.com/

Colin Asare-Appiah is a world-renowned bartender and brand ambassador in the world of spirits and cocktails. One of the founders of the London Academy of Bartending, he even starred in his own show on the Discovery Channel, "The Cocktail Kings." Born in Ghana, and raised in the U.K., Colin currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife and sons.

Louisa Brown is a screenwriter, content producer, and a mentor for youth and film. Born and raised in London, Louisa has lived and worked in New York City for over 20 years, and has been screenwriting for over 10 years. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons. https://www.louisabrownfilm.com/ https://www.katcroft.com/native-sisters instagram: @lulub1

Toyin Ojih Odutola is a visual artist, currently living and working in Brooklyn, and known for her multifarious, detailed drawings that play with storytelling. Her works are included in the public collections of MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Studio Museum Harlem to name a few. http://toyinojihodutola.com/ https://www.instagram.com/toyinojihodutola/

Nick Groepler is a screen printer by trade, sometimes artist, and the guy who does all of the web-related stuff for us here on Mister Welfare. He forgot to mention that this took place a day or two before Hurricane Sandy hit New York. When he's not screen printing, he's in a band called DORKS (@dddorks) along with the two friends mentioned in his story. https://dorksdorksdorks.bandcamp.com/

Patricia A. Patton, a.k.a. the CannaBoomer, is a Market Consultant for wellness companies looking to reach out to baby boomers, who may be uncertain about what cannabis & hemp legalization means for them. https://cannaboomer.net/

Rahsaan Gandy is the founder of Gandyland LLC, and our illustrious host here on Mister Welfare and New York Minute. http://www.gandyland.co/ https://www.misterwelfare.com/

In this New York Minute, learn what it takes to get into high school in NYC; a free lesson from Wyatt & Jedediah Sahl. Wyatt is a middle school student. When he's not reading and listening to podcasts, you can find him stressing about the NYC high school process. This is his first time on a podcast. Jedediah is currently enrolled in an NYC high school. He is a keen observer of the teenage culture around him, and while he enjoys his classes, he is not very fond of the resulting workload.

Jerome Lagarrigue is an artist who currently lives and works in Brooklyn. Born to a French father and an American mother, he was raised in Paris and moved to the U.S. in 1992. His work can be found in the collections of Swizz Beats, Alicia Keys, Carmelo Anthony, and Reginald Lewis, to name a few. Instagram: @jlagarrigue http://www.jeromelagarrigue.com/

Yayoi Shionoiri is an art lawyer. She currently serves as Executive Director to the Estate of Chris Burden and the Studio of Nancy Rubins, where she is responsible for stewarding Burden’s art-historical legacy and promoting Rubins’ artistic practice. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yayoi_shionoiri/

Here's another minute from Mr. Welfare's time at SPACE on Ryder Farm, with Dylan Pickus, Operations and Programs Associate.

Chiara Ibrah is a multimedia artist based in Brooklyn New York. She likes going to the park and is skeptical of the world.

Jahna Ferron-Smith is a graduate of Boston University College of Fine Arts with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts and Performance. She is currently a Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at the Juilliard School, as well as a member of the Obie Award-winning playwrights collective, Youngblood. She shared this minute with Mister Welfare during their time at SPACE on Ryder Farm. https://newplayexchange.org/users/27868/jahna-ferron-smith

Jennifer Petrisko has been working as a professional in the Magazine industry for more than two decades. This is her story of a taxi ride turned rotten.

Jen Jamula is an actor, comedian, and host of 2 Girls 1 Podcast, along with her cohort Alli Goldberg. The creative duo are also the founders of GoldJam Creative, a group that uses comedy to facilitate workplace training and workshops, covering topics of effective communication, public speaking, inclusion, sexual harassment, and much more. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-girls-1-podcast/id1285444706 https://www.goldjamcreative.com/

Keisha Dutes, a.k.a. "TastyKeish," is a radio personality, and one of the founders of Bondfire Radio, where she hosts 'TK in the AM' on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10 am (EST). Throughout her college career, she found her niche in college radio stations and began honing her personality as an energetic, opinionated, funny programmer and thorough interviewer. Leisha went on to a 7-year tenure at WBAI 99.5 FM in New York, becoming a leader within the ever-changing group of hosts on Rise Up Radio; touching on police brutality, race, independent music, and artists from all over the world. She helped found Bondfire Radio in 2013 and is currently a producer at Glitch Software, as well the EP consultant for Hear to Slay on Luminary. http://bondfireradio.com/ http://tastykeish.net/ instagram: @TastyKeish

In 2009, Emily Simoness, a 7th generation Ryder, became involved with Ryder Farm upon recognizing that her own artistic community could both benefit from, and contribute to, the long-standing but aging family farm. In 2011, she co-founded SPACE on Ryder Farm with the two-fold mission of providing time and space for artists and innovators to develop new work, while contributing to the sustainability and resourceful preservation of Ryder Farm. With the help of an army of inspired artists, volunteers, friends and family, SPACE was born. https://www.spaceonryderfarm.org/

https://isaacgillespie.com/ Instagram: @badisaacdotcom

Alex Chowaniec is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY and Co-Founder of Chowaniec Projects, visualizing climate action through art. http://alexchowaniec.com/

Michael Chernus is an actor in films and television. He is also on the Advisory Board of SPACE at Ryder Farm, where this story was recorded. Find him on Twitter: @MichaelChernus, as Edward Tavner in the Amazon Prime Original Series Patriot, and as Cal Chapman in Netflix's Orange Is The New Black.