It’s About You: Silence, Erasure, and the Persistence of Memory

On the occasion of Le’Andra LeSeur: Monument Eternal, Joël Díaz, Le’Andra LeSeur, and Jessica Lynne, will consider how artistic practices anchored in language can reframe historical absences as sites of knowledge production and cultural continuity in the face of systemic erasure.

Hosted at The Oath Studio. Brunch will be provided by Prism Cafe.

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Joël Díaz is a writer, educator, and steward for arts and culture with a vested interest in storytelling, community building, and creative placemaking. Joël has garnered leadership expertise in arts administration, public programming, publishing, and non-profit management, helping organizations champion artists and expand community access to the arts. From 2020-2023, Joël was the inaugural director of SCAD Museum of Art’s Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies. During his tenure, Joël created dynamic learning and engagement opportunities that advanced the awareness and public knowledge of Black Diasporic and African American culture, activated the Center’s permanent collection, and designed public events to inspire audiences. As guiding pillars of his work, Joël strives to create meaningful connections with communities, find thoughtful entry points for interpretative experiences, and be a catalyst for change.

Jessica Lynne is a writer, editor, and art critic. She is a founding editor of ARTS.BLACK, an online journal of art criticism from Black perspectives. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Artforum, The Believer, Frieze, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and Oxford American. Jessica is a recipient of a 2025 Rabkin Prize which celebrates the creative and intellectual contributions of visual arts writers, the inaugural recipient of the Beverley Art Writers Travel Grant awarded in 2022 by the American Australian Association, and a 2020 Arts Writer Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation. Jessica holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing has been supported by Art Omi, Tin House, and The Carolyn Moore Writers House. She has taught writing and lectured at institutions such as Colorado College, Northwestern University, The New School, and Yale School of Art, and was the host of the limited series podcast, Harlem is Everywhere.

Le’Andra LeSeur (b. 1989 in Bronx, NY) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work encompasses a range of media, including video, installation, photography, painting, and performance. Her body of work, a celebration of Blackness, queerness, and femininity, seeks to dismantle systems of power and achieve transcendence and liberation through perseverance. Through the insertion of her body and voice into her work, LeSeur provides her audience with an opportunity to contemplate themes such as identity, family, Black grief and joy, the experience of invisibility, and what it means to take up space as a queer Black woman—a rejection of the stereotypes which attempt to push these identities to the margins. The artist has received several notable awards, including the Tulsa Artist Fellowship (2024-2026), Leslie-Lohman Museum Artists Fellowship (2019), the Time-Based Medium Prize, and the Juried Grand Prize at Artprize 10 (2018). LeSeur has appeared in conversation with Marilyn Minter at the Brooklyn Museum, presented by the Tory Burch Foundation, and has lectured at The New School, NY, NY, and the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, among others. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at MFA Boston, Boston, MA; Swivel Gallery, NY, NY; The Shed, New York, NY; Marlborough, New York, NY; Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA; A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Assembly Room, New York, NY; Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Arnika Dawkins, Atlanta, GA; and others. Residencies include Pioneer Works, iLab at The University of the Arts, Visual Studies Workshop, ArcAthens, NARS Foundation, Marble House Project, and MASS MoCA.

The Oath Studio, designed in 1925 by renowned architect Bruce Goff, was built as a creative space for artist Adah Robinson. Robinson used the studio for her visual art practice and hosted salons where artists, philosophers, and leaders discussed culture, politics, and current events. The building served as a private residence for years until entrepreneur and preservationist Rod Yancy acquired it in 2022, with the intention of restoring it to its original purpose. Yancy collaborated with Tulsa-based artist Justice Quinn to update the space. The revitalized studio now features multiple lounge areas, a dining room for 16 guests, an outdoor garden courtyard, and a unique fireplace with the first known sunken conversation pit.

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Tulsa Artist Fellowship’s third annual Open House, taking place from October 3-5, 2025, embodies our commitment to nurturing Tulsa and its visionary artistic practitioners. Programs foster interconnectedness through community care and collaboration.

Host or Publisher Tulsa Artist Fellowship