Katherine Cheairs

Katherine Cheairs (she/they), MFA, is the Founder of MAKEDA ARTS. Katherine has a proven track record for designing and implementing digital filmmaking, media, visual and performing arts programs at the K-12, college, and adult learning level for educational institutions and community arts organizations. These programs have reached hundreds of individuals which include neurodivergent children and adults, currently and formerly incarcerated youth and adults, as well as communities of color. 

Katherine specializes in the implementation of pilot projects involving artistic collaborations between organizations and communities. Their work engages systems thinking, connected learning frameworks, as well as comprehensive measurement and evaluation strategies to continually assess impact of programs and quality of delivery. Katherine integrates healing centered and participatory arts based practice for social-emotional learning (SEL) development through storytelling. Their work builds on over twenty years of experience working with non-profit, educational and arts organizations. Katherine brings a deep vision, passion and commitment to their work

Katherine is also an artist, filmmaker and curator. They are a co-curator of Metanoia: Transformation Through AIDS Archives and Activism, an archival exhibition sponsored by the ONE Archives Foundation focusing on the contributions of Black women, trans women of color, and women of color HIV/AIDS activists from the early 1990s to the present.  Katherine is the producer and director of the documentary, Ending Silence, Shame & Stigma: HIV/AIDS in the African American Family (2012), and the Visual AIDS: Day With(out) Art 2021-commissioned experimental video, Voices at the Gate (2021). Katherine's work has screened across the United States and internationally. 

Katherine has presented and moderated on panels at the Tribeca Film Institute, BAM, Pratt Institute, The New School, New York University, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Poster House, Aperture Foundation, and UnionDocs. They hold an M.F.A. in Film and Television Production from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University and a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University. Katherine was born in Buffalo, New York, grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and now lives in Harlem, New York City. Katherine currently serves on the Archive Committee for Visual AIDS. They are also a deep sea creature and black hole enthusiast. 

https://linktr.ee/kat_cheairs