Meet Shayba Diaz Muhammad
Feb 22, 2024 | News & Events,
We are pleased to announce that Shayba Diaz Muhammad is our new part-time Community Engagement Manager. In this position, she will build awareness of our programs and services and will help implement our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility plan. Her email address is community@vlaa.org.
Muhammad is a working artist who is determined to help other St. Louis area creatives thrive. She founded and ran The Makers Program, which supported Black and Latino artisans by providing professional development, networking, and a pop-up makers mart. The program was funded by the Arts and Education Council’s 2018 stARTup Creative Competition. In 2018, Shayba was also selected for the prestigious Focus St. Louis Emerging Leaders program. She is the owner and designer of Mahnal, a collection of handcrafted contemplative brass jewelry. Her pieces are sold online and at Madwell, 21cHotel Museum, and other retail stores domestically and abroad. Shayba holds a BFA from the Institute of Art in Chicago.
“I’m excited to be joining VLAA to help connect creatives with the resources they need to grow and evolve in their careers” Muhammad said. “It’s a passion of mine that I also believe that we all benefit from artists making more art.”
About Our DEIA Plan
Adopted in 2022, our Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) plan outlines strategies that will live and breathe in all aspects of our work. To develop the plan, we examined our programs and services; board, volunteer and creative community demographics; hiring, communication and community engagement practices; and our partnerships and advocacy work. The plan, which will allow us to celebrate and build on our success in these areas, incorporates survey results and invaluable focus group input from historically marginalized creatives and arts leaders. The plan seeks to increase our visibility and to mobilize the expertise of our volunteers. It also seeks to align with our local, state and regional funders, who are actively incorporating DEIA values into the their operations and grant-making practices.
