In 2023, Savannah Imani Wade, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, art consultant and interdisciplinary artist, founded Our Art Room Agency (OARA) as a critique session for femme and queer-identifying emerging artists. They expanded their mission to prioritize emerging queer and trans artists of color in 2024. As creative director of OARA, Wade describes the work they facilitate as “a care-centered initiative” that “supports the holistic well-being of our artists.” I had the opportunity to speak with Wade and some members of the OARA team about the importance of community, believing in yourself, and trusting the process.
As creative director of OARA, Wade describes the work they facilitate as “a care-centered initiative” that “supports the holistic well-being of our artists.” I had the opportunity to speak with Wade and some members of the OARA team about the importance of community, believing in yourself, and trusting the process.
The efforts of former fellows sustain OARA. The collective is particularly interested in supporting self-taught creatives in finding ways to sustain their artistic practices. As such, the application, now offered biennially, for the Our Art Room Agency Fellowship is intentionally accessible and invites anyone who identifies as an artist, whether a painter or a nail tech, to apply.
“Yes, we want to see your art. We want to know about your art practice. We also want to know about you outside of being an artist,” Momo Mullings, artist and OARA marketing co-manager, said. “How are you involved with your community? How do you move through Baltimore? We are looking for people who align with our mission and who are looking for community to support them.”
If accepted into OARA, fellows receive one-to-one art critique by seasoned curators and accomplished artists, professional development workshops to bolster their business acumen, and the opportunity to participate in an artist retreat where they can network and rejuvenate in the Poconos.
All fellowships also culminate in a group art exhibition. This year’s exhibition, “Delicate Realms: A Return to Self,” is on view at BLIFTD Studios October 24 to December 5, 2025. Featured artists include Anna Divinagracia, S. Ireti, Book Karnjanakit, Muse Dodd, HOPE and FAITH McCorkle, Jasmine Gabrielle Washington, Kennedy McDaniel, Korcelia Saygbay, Lohitha Kethu, and Mathilde Mujanayi.
The collective also curated “Root Work: Practice Beyond Fear,” an exhibition celebrating OARA’s core members Savannah Imani Wade, Abbie Rugg, Didi Cook-Creek, LeRease Clark, MC Carey, Momo Mullings, and Sarah Magida, currently on view at Waller Gallery through November 15, 2025.
“We came to the understanding that the role of OARA functions more than just supporting artist practices, it [also] supports artists as whole people,” Wade said. “So we aim to support the holistic well-being of our artists. We aim to support them financially long-term, and we aim to offer community-backed opportunities through the fellowship.”
“We came to the understanding that the role of OARA functions more than just supporting artist practices, it [also] supports artists as whole people,” Wade said. “So we aim to support the holistic well-being of our artists. We aim to support them financially long-term, and we aim to offer community-backed opportunities through the fellowship.”
Fostering partnerships with other artists, businesses, and organizations is another foundational component of OARA. Everything is made possible through community networks. Past collaborators have included Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid, Black Arts District, RUMA Collective, BlackBerry Zine Collective, and Eubie Blake Cultural Center. Through these connections, OARA fellows understand the myriad pathways that their art can be used to support themselves and engage broader communities.
“After going through OARA, I [understand] that I’m more than an artist who creates art,” Mullings said. “We just want to make sure that everyone who comes in leaves with that feeling of being built up in some way that they weren’t before. Because the [art] industry … it’ll chew you up and spit you out. And we want to pull people out of that gaping maw of the art world, if only for a couple of months. Here, you’re going to be OK … Here, you can feel better and have a space and a community where you can just be.”
“There’s no pressure to make work.” Desiree Thaniel, former OARA communications co-manager, continued. “Some people bring in their sketchbooks, and we talk about that. And it’s just a great way to feel hype about what you do, no matter what stage you are in the process. So, you leave the room every time like, “Oh, I really do this!”
OARA is grounded in the collective’s commitment to empowering participating artists to overcome low self-conceptions, imposter syndrome, and the negative cycles of comparing their journey to others. OARA challenges the myth of the lone art genius, instead empowering creatives to find connection within a community of artists. The draw is that everyone is willing to be vulnerable, figure it out, and determine their particular creative path forward. When wellness and affirmation are prioritized over competition, artists not only learn to build healthy relationships with their peers, but they also develop their own definitions of success.
This spirit of camaraderie makes OARA such a special and beautiful model. The encouraging environment that OARA establishes may explain why so many of their fellows remain committed to creating strategies to sustain OARA’s reach and impact.
“I expressed my vulnerability of, well, what happens if we don’t get money?” Wade reminisced about past conversations with OARA core members about the organization’s future. “All the fears of being in a position of leadership and the fear of being seen in that role. It was this commitment that the artists that are participating as core members and leadership roles now … and their commitment to the collective, the entity itself, that has been a practice of grace and learning how to work together, flow together … and have a more cooperative model. It’s a very dynamic entity,” Wade said.
Didi Cook-Creek, OARA operations manager
“As far as believing in the mission, a piece of the mission is the artist’s role in revolution and liberation,”
“As far as believing in the mission, a piece of the mission is the artist’s role in revolution and liberation,” Didi Cook-Creek, OARA operations manager, added. “To have a revolutionary imagination of the future, to have a really clear vision of the future, and to put real work, real sweat into creating that vision, because if somebody created this one, why can’t I create a good one?,” Didi laughs. “I would like to be in a future where there is OARA and where the spirit, the collective, the cooperative mentality of OARA exists everywhere, all around me.”