Ashara Ekundayo is a Black feminist cultural theologian with a creative practice rooted in joy-informed pedagogies and the study, creation and exhibition of Black archives. She explores cultural identity, memory, liberation, and place and space through spellcasting, spirituality, architecture, and history as an interdisciplinary independent curator, archivist, arts administrator, and visual maker. She is the founder and Executive Creative Director of the Artist As First Responder collective located in Oakland CA and Detroit MI centering the work of artists whose practices heal communities and save lives.
As a former gallerist at Omi Gallery at Impact Hub Oakland and Ashara Ekundayo Gallery, Ashara has collaborated with artists such as Sydney Cain, Ayana V. Jackson, Zanele Muholi, Sabrina Nelson, and Alisha B. Wormsley, to name a few. She has held residencies and advisory board positions with entities such as the U.S. Dept. of State Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, Villa Albertine, Indigo Arts Alliance, Headlands Center for the Arts, Angels & Muse, SECA at San Francisco MoMA and the Black Art Library, and also co-founded Black [Space] Residency and The Black Curator’s Lab. In 2024 she received the statewide Cali Catalyst Award, and is a 2025 Alameda County Arts Leadership Awardee.
Some of her current initiatives include the AfroPortals Project Space & Archive, piloting a trans-local fellowship program for LGBTQI+ researchers, and as lead Cultural & Design Strategist for the new Alameda County African American Wellness Hub.
