Colleagues & Friends: Helen Toomer, Tiana Webb Evans, & Marina Garcia-Vasquez
Monday, May 3, 7:00PM EST
Helen Toomer, Co-Founder of STONELEAF RETREAT, Art Mamas Alliance, and Founder of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND, is joined by Tiana Webb Evans, Founder & Managing Director of ESP Group LLC and Founder and Creative Director of Yard Concept, and Marina Garcia-Vasquez, media strategist, consultant, and Founder of Mex and the City. These colleagues and friends will share their expertise in various areas of the art world, and their journey's to beginning their own organizations.
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Helen Toomer is a recognized leader in the arts, with over fifteen years’ experience organizing events, exhibitions and residencies. She is dedicated to uplifting women in the arts. Toomer is Co-Founder of STONELEAF RETREAT, an artists’ residency and connective space in the Catskill Mountains of New York focused on supporting womxn and families. She is the Founder of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND and the Co-Founder of Art Mamas Alliance. Formerly, Toomer was Executive Director of Artists in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) and Director of the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair, Collective Design Fair and PULSE Contemporary Art Fairs. She lectures on art fairs and professional development at universities and arts organizations in the US and the UK and was an adjunct professor at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Toomer co-founded and managed a contemporary art gallery, toomer labzda in New York and graduated with Bachelors in Fine Arts from the Arts Institute of Bournemouth, England. She serves on the Board of AIRIE and Advisory Committees for ProjectArt, Foundwork and the Baxter St Camera Club of New York.
Tiana Webb Evans is the Founder ESP Group LLC, a brand strategy and communications consultancy supporting international clients across art, design, and hospitality industries. She is also the founder and creative director of Yard Concept, a cultural platform comprised of a digital journal, gallery, and ‘happenings’ dedicated to fostering consciousness through the engagement of art, design, and community; and most recently the founder of Jamaica Art Society an initiative designed to support Jamaican art professional and celebrate its visual arts legacy. Tiana’s experience includes branding, communications, strategic planning, business development and cultural programming. Before launching ESP in 2014, Tiana served as the Communications Director at Phillips Auctioneers, a global corporation focused on the sale of Contemporary Art. As Vice President of the Hospitality and Real Estate group at Nadine Johnson & Associates she was responsible for a portfolio of clients working at the intersection of art, culture and business. Prior establishing a career in communications she was the Business Director of Studio Sofield, a celebrated architecture and design firm known for its work with Gucci Group and a host of notable luxury good brands. In addition to her professional endeavors Tiana, writes about culture, advises and supports emerging artists, and shares her expertise by serving on the boards of Project for Empty Space, the Female Design Council, Laundromat Project’s National Advisory Board, and BRIC’s Chair’s Council.
Marina Garcia-Vasquez is a connector, commentator, curator who cultivates strategic thinking, builds communities, and creates global culture. She works as a media strategist and consultant. As a journalist for over 16 years, she has worked for publications including The Wall Street Journal, Vice, Artsy, INC., Architectural Record, CORE77, and Mother Jones. Her focus as an editor is in community building and creating equitable media narratives. She earned her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. In 2009, Marina founded Mex and the City, a collective and consultancy devoted to contemporary Mexican identity, celebrating young creatives and advising brands in digital media, events, and cultural initiatives. From 2015-2019, she worked at Vice Media in executive leadership for the digital editorial team as Editor in Chief of The Creators Project (the art and culture vertical), as Executive Managing Editor for Vice.com, and as Director of Community for the global company. In 2017, she co-curated the exhibit Female Gaze at the Museum of Sex. She is a mentor-in-residence for the Cultural Futures track at New Inc. affiliated with the New Museum in New York City.