Staff & Consultants
Kemi Ilesanmi, Executive Director
Kemi Ilesanmi is the Executive Director of The Laundromat Project. With over 14 years experience in the cultural arena, she is inspired by the immense possibilities for joy and change at the intersection of arts, activism and community. Prior to joining The LP, she was Director of Grants and Services at Creative Capital Foundation where she supported the work of American artists making adventurous new work. From 1998-2004, she was a visual arts curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. While there, she organized several exhibitions, including The Squared Circle: Boxing in Contemporary Art, and ran the visual arts residency program. She is holds a Masters in Public Administration from New York University and a BA in Afro-American Studies from Smith College. She is also an alumna of the Coro Leadership New York program.
Kemi Ilesanmi is the Executive Director of The Laundromat Project. With over 14 years experience in the cultural arena, she is inspired by the immense possibilities for joy and change at the intersection of arts, activism and community. Prior to joining The LP, she was Director of Grants and Services at Creative Capital Foundation where she supported the work of American artists making adventurous new work. From 1998-2004, she was a visual arts curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. While there, she organized several exhibitions, including The Squared Circle: Boxing in Contemporary Art, and ran the visual arts residency program. She is holds a Masters in Public Administration from New York University and a BA in Afro-American Studies from Smith College. She is also an alumna of the Coro Leadership New York program.
Petrushka Bazin Larsen, Program Manager
Petrushka Bazin Larsen is an independent curator and arts administrator committed to finding new ways of making art more accessible. As Program Manager of The Laundromat Project, she works closely with the organization's teaching artists and public artists in residence to present engaging art programs in unconventional spaces throughout the Greater New York Area.
In 2011 Bazin Larsen curated Shame the Devil at The Kitchen in New York and The Newark School at City Without Walls in Newark, NJ. In 2010 she was the co-curator of Art in Odd Places, a New York-based annual public art and performance festival which took place on the length of 14th Street. Her past curatorial projects include Self-Storage, an exhibition turned special collections library sited in a San Francisco storage unit and artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher’s first European exhibition of their participation based website Learning to Love You More. She received her MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts, BFA in Photography and Imaging from NYU - Tisch School of the Arts, and was the 2009-2010 Curatorial Fellow at The Kitchen, a New York-based non-profit interdisciplinary art space.
Petrushka Bazin Larsen is an independent curator and arts administrator committed to finding new ways of making art more accessible. As Program Manager of The Laundromat Project, she works closely with the organization's teaching artists and public artists in residence to present engaging art programs in unconventional spaces throughout the Greater New York Area.
In 2011 Bazin Larsen curated Shame the Devil at The Kitchen in New York and The Newark School at City Without Walls in Newark, NJ. In 2010 she was the co-curator of Art in Odd Places, a New York-based annual public art and performance festival which took place on the length of 14th Street. Her past curatorial projects include Self-Storage, an exhibition turned special collections library sited in a San Francisco storage unit and artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher’s first European exhibition of their participation based website Learning to Love You More. She received her MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts, BFA in Photography and Imaging from NYU - Tisch School of the Arts, and was the 2009-2010 Curatorial Fellow at The Kitchen, a New York-based non-profit interdisciplinary art space.
Akiva Steinmetz-Silber, Program Associate
Akiva Steinmetz-Silber is a DJ and creative professional currently working with Laundromat Project as part of an apprenticeship with Public Allies New York. He is interested in the transformative potential of the arts and wants to learn more about how communities put artistic practices to work in pursuit of social justice.
Akiva graduated from Naropa University with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, concentrating in religious studies, writing, and literature. His research explored intersections between body and textuality in modern critical theory and philosophy, centering on Kafka's story In the Penal Colony as springboard for critical reflection. He wants to learn more about how socially engaged artists write the body into their work in order both to transform themselves, and to create a new vision of the communities they inhabit.
Akiva Steinmetz-Silber is a DJ and creative professional currently working with Laundromat Project as part of an apprenticeship with Public Allies New York. He is interested in the transformative potential of the arts and wants to learn more about how communities put artistic practices to work in pursuit of social justice.
Akiva graduated from Naropa University with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, concentrating in religious studies, writing, and literature. His research explored intersections between body and textuality in modern critical theory and philosophy, centering on Kafka's story In the Penal Colony as springboard for critical reflection. He wants to learn more about how socially engaged artists write the body into their work in order both to transform themselves, and to create a new vision of the communities they inhabit.
Ebony Golden, Cultural Organizing Consultant
Houston, TX native, Ebony Noelle Golden, is a public scholar, performance artist and director of Betty's Daughter Arts Collaborative. She also serves as the artistic director of Body Ecology Performance Ensemble. BDAC specializes in creative workshops, curriculum development, cultural and performance art design for progressive social change. Working nation-wide, her work spans creative, academic and community organizing spheres.
Ebony believes that liberation is a precarious and awesomely terrifying pursuit; yet she is wholly dedicated to activating art, culture and education for liberation and transformation of individuals and communities.
Houston, TX native, Ebony Noelle Golden, is a public scholar, performance artist and director of Betty's Daughter Arts Collaborative. She also serves as the artistic director of Body Ecology Performance Ensemble. BDAC specializes in creative workshops, curriculum development, cultural and performance art design for progressive social change. Working nation-wide, her work spans creative, academic and community organizing spheres.
Ebony believes that liberation is a precarious and awesomely terrifying pursuit; yet she is wholly dedicated to activating art, culture and education for liberation and transformation of individuals and communities.