Interview: Good ChiBrations with Sam Thousand
Date: June 2026
Director/Producer: Angelica Pierson
Collaborators: Sam Thousand (Tech Founder and Interview), Ethan Solomon (Director of Photography)
Arts at First Chicago Mini Residency: Visionary Talks Series
I created this series for my mini artist residency through The First Presbytery Church of Chicago Arts Program. Visionary Talks provides space for visionaries and artists alike to build and connect. A space to share one’s journey of self-discovery, so that each person can see a bit of themselves in the community around them. These talks are an opportunity for visionaries to gain inspiration for future works and collaborate with other attendees.
Session One: The Coexistence of Joy and Oppression
Event Description: In this session we talk about the coexistence of joy and oppression. This meeting was during the worst of the ICE raids, which created a lot of pessimism about the future. Through this conversation we will explored how joy and oppression can coexist. The continuous effort to pursue joy, and the life that you’ve envisioned for yourself is the greatest act of resistance.
Guest Count: 8
Section Two: To Be a Visionary
Event Description: In this first session we defined what it means to be a visionary. Some communal themes were intentionality, execution, and pursing a vision impact outside of yourself. The community named some great examples of who embodied the definition like Bell Hooks, Dion Dawson, Jack Whitten, Esperanza Spaulding, Nick Cave, and Margaret Taylor-Burroughs to name a few. Most importantly they came to see themselves as the visionaries they are.
Guest Count: 12
Session Three: Build the World You Envision
Event Description: In this session of Visionary Talks we talked about world-building. The common theme in this conversation was “collective”. We have no world without each other and it takes s collective to build the world we want to see. As humans and spiritual beings, we’re energetically intertwined, and at the site of the body – a vessel, we create the most powerful change, which shifts the frequency around us, and builds our world. World-building takes the audacity for someone to wake up one day and say this is what I want to see in the world, and I am going to make it happen, and as a first step I will embody this change within myself.
Guest Count: 8
Session Four: Give Voice to Your Vision
Event Description: In this session we discussed the power of our individual and collective voices. We also expanded the definition of what a voice is. As a verb, the definition of voice is an expression of an idea, or an opinion. With the expanded definition were able to talk about the many different ways you can you use your voice as creative. Whether it is using your physical voice, or using your art. In this sociopolitical climate, it is important that we understand the power of our voices, have the courage to use them, and amplify the voices of our neighbors in order to create the collective change that we envision for our world.
Guest Count: 9
Session Five: Bring Your Vision to Life
Event Description: Thing session to fully close out every part of being a visionary that we have discussed in previous sessions, and executing those visionaries. Ins the session ‘To Be A Visionary’ as a community we defined what it meant to be one. The consensus was that a visionary not only has a vision, but executes that vision in alignment, and collaboration in their community. In this session we will discuss, what it takes to make it to the finish line, and how can we help each other bring our visions to fruition.
Interview: Martell the Middle Man
Date: October 2025
Director/Producer: Angelica Pierson
Collaborator: Martell Collins (Executive Director of the Wood Street Collective)
Interview: The Essence of Her Eye
Date: September 2025
Director/Producer: Angelica Pierson
Collaborator: Essence Richardson (Photographer)
Interview: The Sunroom with Chris White
Date: August 2025
Director/ Producer: Angelica Pierson
Collaborator: Chris White (Mixed Media Artist)
Podcast: Visionary Sanctum
Date: March 2025 – Present
Description: The podcast is a media platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of BIPOC creatives. On the Visionary Sanctum podcast, we invite artists to share their story of personal development, so that we can learn about the experience that informs the art. In between the stories of the community, the founder shares some stories of their own personal journey. This is to inspire the audience to create, no matter their circumstance.