MISSION STATEMENT 2026

In 2007 founded Voices Rising: LGBTQ of Color Arts & Culture in Seattle, as an arts incubator for queer communities of color. My intention was to foreground Black, Indigenous, POC/multicultural arts & culture, and by documenting our shared stories to create a repository for that culture. In 2007, Voices Rising was born as a grassroots cultural organization at Richard Hugo House. We presented at various cultural spaces such as Langston Hughes Cultural Center, and have been Anchor Tenants at Washington Hall since 2009. I led Voices Rising in creating/producing over thirty cultural events 2007-2024, including interdisciplinary performances, dance, live art, generative workshops, theater, talking circles and my final project – the creation of a culture bearing quilt from a series of community quilting circles.

Voices Rising evolved from over forty years of grassroot community cultural organizing and creation, as I have created a series of such projects in the Bay Area, in NYC, in London, Berlin and elsewhere. It seems fitting that my last such project has been created in Seattle, where my roots are. I’m including promotional images from earlier projects to contextualize this work.

At that first show, Naomi Ishisaka stepped forward, and for fifteen years, volunteered and was the visual/organizational heart of this project. She created logos and promotional materials, coleading this important project that was the actual first QTIPOC/BIPOC arts & culture initiative in Seattle, and supported it in countless ways. The project could not have done anything close to what it accomplished 2007-2024, without her brilliant and irreplaceable steadfast vision and commitment. 

The final project that I led – the quilt “Home of Good: a Black Seattle Storyquilt” is now  permanently housed at Seattle Public Library’s African American Archive at Douglass-Truth Library, in Seattle’s Central District.

I led VR from an intersectional space, inviting multigenerational wisdom sharing and mentorship. I cultivated health and healing through the arts, for communities that have been deeply impacted by systems of oppression. I provided nurturance and elevation to many artists of color, including THEESatisfaction, Soulchilde, Dakota, Amber Flame, Justin Huertas, Crystal Ybarra, Imani Sims and many others. In this way VR served the community by providing paid training in community cultural production skills. 

In the Two Spirit tradition, I  worked “to keep the fire lit in the village”, meaning VR’s  work existed as a means of community empowerment, healing and evolution. VR’s mission has been to be of service to the community, and for years this work was primarily volunteer. 

The project continues to serve the community. I have donated this project to the QTIPOC/BIPOC relatives of Seattle, with the intention that it continues to serve and uplift. 

Gratitude to our Funders: 4Culture, Office of Arts & Culture, James W. Ray Foundation, Shari D. Behnke, and Ellen Ferguson.

Note: All media from Voices Rising: LGBTQ of Color Arts & Culture (aka VR/Voices Rising) 2007-2024, (with the exception of photos watermarked “Naomi Ishisaka”) is the intellectual property of Storme Webber. Photos, video, promo materials, reviews, etc. All rights reserved. No use without permission.