Dia Jade is a young creative whose artistic voice seeks to share vast perspectives of communities whose voices are overlooked and often left unheard. They are a fine artist who graduated from College from Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. During their studies, they found immense joy in their identity and decided then that creating art that aligned with their identity was their life passion.
Living and studying in Florence, Italy allowed them to explore the world further and gain new perspectives. Meeting and communicating with people from different cultures allowed them to absorb the world at large and find new ways of universal understanding. In the past year Dia moved to Oil City. Since being here, they have found themselves falling in love with the strong sense of community and passion for art Oil City has to offer.
Working at Woods and River Coffee, Dia has learned the natural ebbs and flows of this community and is overjoyed to be welcomed into it. As someone who came from the, “bustling fast-paced way of life in Detroit” they say that they enjoy the calmness and breathing room Oil City has to offer.
The art that this artist has to offer is vast. Dia is a multidisciplinary artist whose main focus is on photography. Within photography, they work analog and digitally. They love to teach others about the passion that stems from the hands-on approach to photography, and the skill it takes to take a photograph with intent. They are skilled with the process of printing archival work, and how to properly store and frame art pieces. Dia says that they are an open book and love to share their own understanding of art with many who are willing to learn.
Dia has had an extensive list of exhibitions around the world, their most recent gallery took place in Budapest, Hungary for their Significant Colour gallery. This gallery showcased multiple artists whose work aimed to communicate deep messages and underlying stories through their own voices of color. They hope that their extensive knowledge of gallery work will allow them to help set up and participate in local galleries here in Oil City.
Dia is a recipient of the ACRE program and is excited for the journey this program will spark for them in their creative journey and self discovery. They hope to have their art find a home here in Oil City, just how they did as a person.
