Three alumnae awarded Creative Entrepreneur Fellowships

(L to r) Stephanie McKay, U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo and Robyn E. Thompson-Duong

Three Lesley alumnae, U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo M.Ed. ’03, Stephanie McKay M.Ed. ’20 and Robyn E. Thompson-Duong M.Ed. ’08, are recipients of Creative Entrepreneur Fellowships from the Arts and Business Council of Boston that will allow them to focus on their creative and artistic careers.

The 10-month Creative Entrepreneur Fellowship is designed to accelerate the careers and practice of a diverse group of artists by providing recipients with one-on-one coaching, personalized goal setting, skills-training seminars, and a stipend.

McKay, a recording artist, graduated from Lesley in May 2020 with a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Art, Community, and Education. She plans to use the fellowship to produce new musical work and hone her teaching skills as an arts educator in schools and communities around the world.

“As a Black woman artist/entrepreneur this fellowship is a dream come true, especially during COVID because it strengthens my ability to pivot and successfully accomplish new goals so that I can be a creative catalyst for change in my community,” says McKay. “This builds upon the creative skills I learned at Lesley, which is to look at social problems from multiple perspectives, grow outside my comfort zone and lead with a curious mind.”

Mhlaba-Adebo is an author, performer, and educator whose work exploring issues of identity, belonging, and the immigrant experience spans the worlds of poetry, storytelling, and theater. During her fellowship she plans to develop the Maoko Project, an arts-based holistic creative consulting practice guided by indigenous Ndau principles of self-determination and community inspired by her mother's teachings.

“Being in communion with a gifted pool of diverse creatives is a much-needed balm,” says Mhlaba-Adebo. She also plans to advance her craft as a performance artist and continue the creative development of a multi-modal poetic experience, “Roots & Revelations,” stemming from her family roots in Leominster and Zimbabwe/South Africa.

After years of teaching art in public and private schools, contemporary realist painter Thompson-Duong, who got her Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Art Education from Lesley in 2008, is hoping to focus more on her own painting, whose subjects challenge the societal perceptions and stereotypes of Black femininity.

She is already feeling encouraged by the sense of community among the fellows, especially after a year when the COVID-19 pandemic has up-ended so many plans.

“There are artists, writers, musicians, jewelry makers, people doing films…it’s been great to meet up with them on Zoom and having people in the same boat and navigating everything from COVID to being a person of color who’s trying to break into the art world,” says Thompson-Duong.

She also appreciates the professional guidance that the fellows receive on practical subjects from financial planning to legal issues.

“When you go to art school, they don’t teach you much about the business of being an artist… Artists have to be entrepreneurial,” says Thompson-Duong. “It doesn’t matter if you’re going to be an illustrator, a graphic designer, fine artist, painter—you’re basically working for yourself if you’re going to be an artist.”

For all three alumnae, the fellowship provides an important chance to take stock after a tumultuous year, forge connections with other artists, and take time to focus on their own creative work even as they plan to share what they learn.

“As a creative educator,” says McKay, “I aspire to pass on the values in education I learned at Lesley, which are to cultivate self-agency and develop critical thinking skills through the arts. I want to empower students to make connections between their inner world and our shared humanity.”