About Us
BLACK FARM STUDIO HOUSE CO. is a 501(c)(3) organization connecting art, agriculture and wellness through public programs, community engagement, and resource sharing.
Our mission is to support artists and urban farmers, and provide reproductive health services for Black, Brown, Indigenous, LGBTQIA2 and nonbinary-identified individuals and families.
We envision our programs will demonstrate the impact of thoughtful ideas, meaningful exchanges and inclusive black spaces to support and strengthen our community.
Our mission is to support artists and urban farmers, and provide reproductive health services for Black, Brown, Indigenous, LGBTQIA2 and nonbinary-identified individuals and families.
We envision our programs will demonstrate the impact of thoughtful ideas, meaningful exchanges and inclusive black spaces to support and strengthen our community.
We’ve proritized our programs and initiatives for Black, Brown, Indigenous, LGBTQIA2 and nonbinary-identified individuals since these groups are often vulnerable, challenged or go unrecognized in many industries, services, and advocacy.
Founded and led by Racha Tahani Lawler Queen and dana washington-queen, Black Farm Studio House Co. is the materialization of our freedom dream to provide spaces to gather, rest, create and explore, as well as advocate for the personal and social well-being of marginalized bodies and genders.
Founded and led by Racha Tahani Lawler Queen and dana washington-queen, Black Farm Studio House Co. is the materialization of our freedom dream to provide spaces to gather, rest, create and explore, as well as advocate for the personal and social well-being of marginalized bodies and genders.
Our Goals
- Develop and implement public programs and cultural initiatives that challenge and connect to a range of ideas, perspectives and efforts.
- Provide spaces of rest, care and uninterrupted time for community members to focus on their wellness, practices and stewardship.
- Exemplify excellence and transparency in leadership and organization to strive toward our mission.
Our Members
Board of Directors
01
Racha Tahani Lawler Queen
Co-Founder, Executive Director
02
dana washington-queen
Co-Founder, Executive Director
03
Anita Queen
Treasurer
04
Adeola Adeseun
Legal Consultant
Advisory Board
05
Jaqueline Barragan-Fuller
06
Andrea Yarbrough
07
Christie DeGalleria
08
Aryn Drake-Lee
09
Jheanelle Brown
10
Jennie Joseph
11
Cleon Arrey
Our Founders
Racha Tahani Lawler (Queen) is her family's fourth generation to carry on the midwifery tradition. As a licensed and Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) of eighteen years, Lawler has supported over 1,400 families in out-of-hospital births. For ten years, she has supported midwifery students as a clinical and academic preceptor. Lawler is a regular speaker and educator for several midwifery schools, including Charles Drew Medical School.
Early in her midwifery practice, Lawler supported midwives in their homebirth practices and birth centers. In 2011, The Community Birth Center opened in South Los Angeles and Mid-City, serving the community for five years. Thereafter, Lawler returned to a homebirth midwifery practice after becoming credentialed as a Traditional Healer (Sangoma) and healthcare provider in South Africa. Now, Lawler combines the Southern midwifery traditions of her family with South African ancestral traditions to elevate and enrich the healthcare that families receive.
The importance of centering Black bodies in reproductive health and midwifery, along with creating access and normalizing birth, remains Lawler’s focus. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, she has established The Black Community Homebirth Subsidy, a subsidized midwifery care program created from the generous donations of past Black homebirth families.
Website: crimsonfig.com
Early in her midwifery practice, Lawler supported midwives in their homebirth practices and birth centers. In 2011, The Community Birth Center opened in South Los Angeles and Mid-City, serving the community for five years. Thereafter, Lawler returned to a homebirth midwifery practice after becoming credentialed as a Traditional Healer (Sangoma) and healthcare provider in South Africa. Now, Lawler combines the Southern midwifery traditions of her family with South African ancestral traditions to elevate and enrich the healthcare that families receive.
The importance of centering Black bodies in reproductive health and midwifery, along with creating access and normalizing birth, remains Lawler’s focus. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, she has established The Black Community Homebirth Subsidy, a subsidized midwifery care program created from the generous donations of past Black homebirth families.
Website: crimsonfig.com
dana washington-queen (they/them) is a lens-based artist and educator exploring narrative, blackness and visual culture to examine systems of power, memory, spirituality and place.
Working across poetry, video, cinema, photography and time-based media installation, washington-queen is developing Black Noetic theory, a methodology that brings intuition and experimental strategies into dialogue with Black Studies, Black Aesthetics and Film Studies.
washington-queen has received a Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Long Beach; and a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from University of California, San Diego.
Exhibitions: Springsteen Gallery, Gallery @ Calit2, Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles; Art + Practice Exhibition Space; San Diego Art Institute; Anonymous Gallery, and 98 Orchard in New York.
Film selections: DTLA Film Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival, Outfest Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival, Afrikana Film Festival, and BlackStar Film Festival.
Film program: The Afrofuture is Female, Black Radical Imagination: Fugitive Trajectories, Familiar Unknown: Mysticism in the Present Future, and Lafayette Anticipations x KALEIDOSCOPE Manifesto.
Website: blacknoetic.com
Working across poetry, video, cinema, photography and time-based media installation, washington-queen is developing Black Noetic theory, a methodology that brings intuition and experimental strategies into dialogue with Black Studies, Black Aesthetics and Film Studies.
washington-queen has received a Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Long Beach; and a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from University of California, San Diego.
Exhibitions: Springsteen Gallery, Gallery @ Calit2, Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles; Art + Practice Exhibition Space; San Diego Art Institute; Anonymous Gallery, and 98 Orchard in New York.
Film selections: DTLA Film Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival, Outfest Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival, Afrikana Film Festival, and BlackStar Film Festival.
Film program: The Afrofuture is Female, Black Radical Imagination: Fugitive Trajectories, Familiar Unknown: Mysticism in the Present Future, and Lafayette Anticipations x KALEIDOSCOPE Manifesto.
Website: blacknoetic.com
BLACK FARM STUDIO HOUSE CO. advocates for the health and wellness of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA2 communities.
California Mailing Address
506 S Spring St #13308
SMB #10586
Los Angeles, CA 90013
506 S Spring St #13308
SMB #10586
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Virginia Mailing Address
700 E Main St #2487
SMB#33744
Richmond, VA 23219
700 E Main St #2487
SMB#33744
Richmond, VA 23219