Alumni of our Teen and Youth Programs return to the MCA to discuss the museum’s impact on their artistic, administrative, and activist development. A brief panel discussion is followed by breakout activities focused on the respective practices of the creators.

About the Speakers

Taylore-Morgan Johnson (they/them) is a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago exploring themes of family, memory, and grief. They participated in the TCA 2022–23 cohort. Currently a student at New York University, double majoring in Art History and Gender & Sexuality Studies with a minor in Studio Art, Taylore-Morgan is practicing digital art and combining it with their hobby of researching archival Black American life through photography that pre-dates the year 2000. In 2025, Taylore-Morgan received an honorable mention at the NYU Global Media Awards, and their artwork was showcased in the NYU Liberal Studies department during the 2025–26 academic year.

Imani Marie Joseph is a cultural worker from the South Side of Chicago. She is a writer, curator, and educator. As a public historian, her research focuses on American history and the African diaspora. Her scholarship prioritizes political philosophy and oral testimonies. Her curatorial debut Public Fabulations premieres at Heaven Gallery July 2–August 22, 2027.

Cassandra (Cassy) Castillo Valentin is a student and a teaching artist in undergrad at DePaul University with the Golden Apple Scholarship for Teachers in Illinois. Cassy started TCA during quarantine on Zoom in 2020 and graduated from the program in 2022. She then served as a Teen Creative Agency Apprentice for a year and continues to work with the MCA for educational Family Days, gallery spaces, and other activities. Cassy is from the southwest side of Chicago and focuses on giving back to her community by holding art workshops at block parties in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.