about us

strange fruit femmes cultivates a culture of care for Black, Brown, and Indigenous femmes by centering art as transformative healing. influenced by the oral story telling traditions of our mothers and sisters, we preserve and expand Black feminist practices through intentional happenings, shared resources, and programs for youth and adults.

we commit to the liberation of all femmes of color by uplifting the voices and work of those of us, whose sexual and racial identities make our political struggles unique.

our guiding principles + intentions

communal happenings

accessible community engaged programs and events that center the needs and desires of Black, Brown, and Indigenous creatives while also celebrating their voices and work through safe, intentional, and transformative gatherings

workshops and teach-ins

free workshops and classes for youth and adults focused on creative processes for healing and liberation including political education, cultural criticism, sustainable arts, agriculture, and herbalism courses

our teachings prioritize and preserve the work of Black womanist pedagogy

mind-body activations

our work, offerings, and activations are grounded by intentions for a liberatory mind body and spirit connection through mindfulness and meditation

these activations make space for understanding and healing our struggles while exploring what makes our intersectional political, sexual, and racial identities unique

communal support

we prioritize the experience and work of creative Black, Brown, and Indigenous women, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folk by providing paid opportunities, resources, and donations that allow them to lead activations on our being, futures, and imagination

who is strange fruit femmes?

a collaboration between Glyneisha Johnson aka glyneisha and Mary Elizabeth Jo Dixen Pelenaise Kapi’olani Lawson aka Mary Lawson,

strange fruit femmes was created in response to a need for Black, Brown, and Indigenous, Midwest artists to have room to convene and connect within art spaces made for us and by us.

glyneisha’s knowledge and experience as a practicing visual artist + educator and Lawson’s expertise as a musician + non profit arts worker merged into transformative community offerings centering art and communal care as tools for healing. guided by shared experiences within the inherent healing nature of matrilineal Blackness, glyneisha and Lawson found it necessary to commit to Black feminist pedagogy as the logical movement to steward change within the arts.

strange fruit femmes has since expanded into an artist-led, Midwest-based organization that is dedicated to building and restoring liberatory arts practices + empowerment + connection between artists and institutions, inside and outside of the institution. through intentional alternative programmatic offerings influenced by communal care + collective desires + Black and Indigenous healing techniques, strange fruit femmes offers opportunities to find true connection within the arts.

meet our tribe

Glyneisha Johnson aka glyneisha (she/her)

founder + director

glyneisha is a poly-disciplinary artist, educator, and community caretaker who archives the inherent healing nature of matrilineal Blackness through processes of ethical collaboration informed by Black feminist scholarship.

she organizes workshops, spaces for communal reflection, produces publications, living archives, installation and exhibition work examining the public and private experiential nature of the Black Interior as a source of refuge, healing, and imagination. 

she is the founder and director of strange fruit femmes and the lead cultural producer and behind soulful safespace sundays and black arts freedom school.

learn more about the work she does here.

Hannah Klemme (she/her)

visual collaborator and designer

hannah klemme is a designer and multimedia artist. hannah works with us closely to highlight our feminist and fruit aesthetic within our graphics and marketing through beautiful flyers, logos, merch designs, and digital illustrations.

learn more about the work she does here.