Tashjian Farrell at Real Art Ways

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Gwen brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of Human Resources, serving non-profit and private organizations. For more than a decade, Gwen served as the Program Director for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, where she supported mid-sized arts organizations in competing for grant funding for arts activities, organizational development, and capital projects. Her family moved to Connecticut in 2012, where she continued her career in Human Resources and currently serves as the Director of Human Resources for the Hartford Public Library. 

Originally from Yonkers, New York, Matt has developed a deep connection to the Hartford area and its community. He and his wife are passionate advocates for the arts, with a strong appreciation for visual art, music, and cinema. They are proud parents of two daughters. Professionally, Matt has built his 30-year career in financial services at Morgan Stanley, currently serving as an Executive Director.

Rex Fowler is a Hartford resident and most recently served as CEO of the Hartford Community Loan Fund. He was raised in the Missouri Ozarks, attended college in Arkansas, and completed graduate school in Texas, earning a Master’s in Business Administration from Abilene Christian University. Rex is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Achieving Excellence in Community Development executive leadership program.

Derek Hall is a dynamic anti-racist intergroup dialogue facilitator, public speaker, and activist committed to challenging beliefs and institutional culture rooted in systemic racism and other forms of oppression. Derek has worked in the diversity, equity, and inclusion field for over fifteen years, partnering with public and private school systems, for profit and non-profit organizations both locally and nationally. Derek uses his gifts of facilitation, storytelling and community building to increase the racial & social consciousness of individuals and organizations.

Enid Rey is known both locally and nationally for her pioneering work in the fields of positive youth development, education, civic leadership, community-building and integration. Rey is CEO & President at BRAVE Consulting Solutions. Previously, Rey was CEO of Our Piece of the Pie and before that led the Hartford Public Schools’ School Choice Office which was nationally known for its integration efforts under her helm. A graduate of Hartford Public High School, Rey earned her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and her law degree from UCONN School of Law. Among other affiliations, Rey is an Annie E. Casey Foundation Children Youth and Families Fellow. She resides in Hartford with her 5 children and husband.

Brenda is Hartford Public Library’s Executive Director, Culture and Communications, and oversees HPL’s museum and archive, its ArtWalk gallery, and its Digital Library Lab, in addition to heading the Library’s Communications team.  She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Connecticut and a M.A. in American Studies – Museums, Communities and Archives from Trinity College, Hartford.

Olu Oguibe is an internationally recognized artist, writer, and curator in Rockville, Connecticut. Oguibe is a Professor at the Institute for African American Studies and the Departments of Art and Art History at the University of Connecticut, where he teaches studio practices and art theory. He graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian at the University of Nigeria in 1986 and received his Ph.D. in the history of contemporary art from the University of London in 1992. Since then, he has taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies and Goldsmiths College, both of the University of London, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of South Florida, where he held the Stuart Golding Endowed Chair in African art.

Dr. Yedalis Ruíz is a first-generation Puertorriqueña scholar-practitioner and has been involved with Real Art Ways since she was 13. She serves as the Chief Workforce Development Officer and Executive Director of the Tania M. Barber Learning Institute at Caring Health Center in Springfield, MA, where she leads the development and implementation of a workforce development model designed to enhance the success, retention, and personal development of a diverse employee body in community health. Dr. Ruíz holds a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s and PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a graduate faculty affiliate at UMass Amherst and has been an adjunct professor at Bay Path University since 2013.