About Us
Arianne King Comer
Board Member at Large
Arianne King Comer, a BFA graduate of Howard University, resides in North Charleston, SC as an artist, teacher, art consultant, and indigo advocate.
In 1992, Arianne received the UN/USIS grant to study under the renowned Batik artist Nike Olyani Davis in Oshogbo Nigeria, where her passion for indigo manifested.
Since 1995 Arianne has been in multiple solo and joint exhibitions nationally and statewide. As a South Carolina resident artist, she continues teaching community base textile and multi-medium programs.
Arianne is a board member of the International Center for the Indigo Culture (ICIC) and an SC representative for Economic Empowerment through Crafts through Bloomberg Philanthropy Project.
Donna Hardy
Board Member at Large
Donna Hardy is the founder of The International Center for Indigo Culture and Sea Island Indigo. Her earliest memories are of learning about plants and the natural world from her mother, as well as developing an intense inquisitiveness about fiber and textiles. Her love of plants evolved to a deep appreciation and curiosity for their various applications, which lead to Donna’s driven and thorough scholarship of textiles and natural dyes, with an intense focus on the history of indigo in South Carolina and Georgia. Rooted in a profound history, with a deep relationship with indigo, Donna is working to create a thriving, sustainable indigo culture in America.
David Harper
Treasurer
Being married to an indigo textile artist (Caroline Harper, founder of CHI design indigo) means that I get to combine my career as a land conservation professional with a love of ecologically-focused design. When we practice our best stewardship of land, we celebrate the whole community of people, plants and animals it supports. I value my role in the farm-to-fabric supply chain, with a focus on growing the indigo plants and processing them into dye that others can use.
I believe that our collaboration as growers, textile artists, and designers is essential to inspire people to see the beauty of indigo as a vibrant part of a local living economy in the 21st century. Since the first time I planted indigo seeds in the spring, raised them over the summer to become healthy plants taller than I am, learned to harvest and make the dye the fall, and finally put on a freshly dyed deep blue shirt that captured that whole growing season in one color, I knew there is a magic in this plant that reconnects us to the land and to each other.
Heather Powers she/they
Vice President
Heather’s BFA in Fiber from SCAD positioned her for a 15-year career as a textile designer collaborating on worldwide projects in various capacities.
In 2010, she launched her design & professional organizing business. As an organizer situates herself amongst artists, craftspeople, & collectors. It gives her an intimate understanding of how individuals retain use & live with material culture.
In 2021, she graduated with an MFA in Critical Craft. She continues to research textile history, weave & use natural dye techniques in which her work investigates memory, place, & identity themes through discarded vintage ephemera & materials. https://hkpowerstudio.com
High Chief Nathaniel Styles, Jr.
President
The Nana Kwaku Ankobeahene II of The Ashanti Kingdom, The Otunba Fosungbade of Alayemore Ido Osun-Yoruba Kingdom
WEST AFRICA-“Chief Styles” is a South Florida native.
As visionary of the State of Florida designated 43 city block African Caribbean Cultural Arts Corridor and Osun’s Village in Miami, Chief Styles creates opportunities to bridge, exchange and share experiences of mutual creative interest
to stimulate intercultural dialogue between children, teens and adults of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Chief Styles utilizes West African art and culture as foundational elements to synergize and connect multicultural communities in South Florida, the African Diaspora (Brazil & Cuba) and West Africa (Ghana & Nigeria).
For the past 25+ years, Chief Styles has been noted as accomplished designer and stylist of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, home accessories and furnishings, which incorporate sustainably, sourced indigenous textiles and craftsmanship.
Through his companies, he has imported, exported and distributed products, goods and artifacts both nationally throughout the United States as well as internationally to other countries.
Chief Style’s work brings positive light to societal responses of African roots and culture by creating intercultural engagement and awareness as well as educational programs via sacred dance, music, oral tradition, visual arts performances and workshops through our African Caribbean Cultural Arts Corridor and Osun’s Village’s artistic and cultural projects.
The PBS “Sacred Journeys”, as well as the independently produced “Bigger Than Africa” Documentaries are visual records of Chiefs artistry as well as cultural production and artistic management skills. Most recently, Chief Styles was recognized as the 2020 Martin Luther King Peace Award Winner and Congressional Record Honoree.
Tony Williams
Board Member at Large
Tony Williams is a Cleveland-based artist whose work has been shown in numerous local and national juried shows and international shows. His most recent "Biennial Juried Exhibition" 2021 Riffe Gallery Columbus, Oh and "Black Creativity" Chicago, IL, "Sankofa" 14th Annual African American Fiber Arts Exhibit, Charleston, SC, "About Body About Face" Cleveland Oh, "Paper on Skin", exhibit 2020 Tasmania, Australia, 75th Ohio Annual Exhibition at the Zanesville Museum of Art, "seenUNseen," Cleveland Oh. Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion Fellow: Waterways to Waterways and "Contemporary Fibers", National Juried Textile Exhibition in St. Augustine Historical Society St Augustine, FL, "Paper on Skin" 2018, exhibit Tasmania, Australia, "A Dialogue in Black and White", exhibit Charleston, SC. His public Art projects include The Year of the Horse, Year of the Sheep sculptures Asia Town Cleveland, Oh and The 100 Leaves sculptures Beachwood, Oh. Tony is currently an artist in residence at the Morgan Conservatory working with Indigo on paper, and past recipient of a Karamu House- Room in the House artist residency. A 2019 Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion Fellow: Waterways to Waterways and Contemporary Fibers,
He curated his first exhibition, "In the Beginning", at the Tri-C Eastern Campus Gallery Highland Hills, Ohio, 1998 and "The Ardent Thread", 2020 Artists Archives of the Western Reserve Cleveland, Oh, and co-curator for "CONVERGE" LGBTQIA+ art exhibition 2021 Artists Archives of the Western Reserve Cleveland.
tonywilliamsartist.net He/Him
