FEELS

Project: FEELS
Role: Director & Lead Booker/Curator
Date: 2014 - NOW

Selected Collaborators:
Abra, ALLBLACK, Bbymutha, Brontez Purnell, The Internet, Janelle Monáe, Jeffrey Cheung, Kelis, Kesh, Lil B, Lonnie Holley, Moses Sumney, Muzae Sesay, Mykki Blanco, Princess Nokia, Ryan Hemsworth, Sadie Barnette, Spellling, Teklife, Toro y Moi, Yetunde Olagbaju, Yves Tumor, Zack Fox

Partners:
BAMPFA, FACT, Jack Daniel’s, Lagunitas, Pabst, Red Bull Music, YR Media

Press:
East Bay Express
FACT
Forbes
The FADER
Juxtapoz
KQED
Pitchfork

Founded in 2014, FEELS is a festival and exhibition series celebrating radical imagination in art, music and film.

From its warehouse beginnings in the Oakland underground, FEELS has grown into a premier gathering of visionary artists — emerging and established, from the Bay Area and beyond.

For the festival’s last edition, FEELS 6, we took over the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond with performances from Kelis, Princess Nokia, Yves Tumor and artwork from Chaz Bear, Lonnie Holley, and more. 



To preview the fest, we teamed up with the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive for a one-night takeover, pairing short films from contemporary collaborators with psychedelic gems from the archive. And to lead off the weekend, we hosted a live premier of Janelle Monáe‘s Dirty Computer.

As co-founder and Director, I led booking/curation and production of all FEELS events, as well as art direction, marketing and media strategy.

Along with a small team, I helped grow the festival from a small underground gathering to an award-winning festival with 3000+ attendees per show, and hundreds of participating artists over a six-year run.
















Photos via Amina El Kabbany, Andre Elliott, Katie Walsh and Estefany Gonzalez for KQED. Video by Theo Schear.