about
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Cheyenne Tobias-Bamson received her BA from Vassar College, where she majored in Africana Studies and Studio Art, and a post-baccalaureate degree in Visual Communications Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where she is currently pursuing her MFA. She is a Smith Book Award recipient, graduated with departmental honors from Vassar’s Africana Studies Program, and is an SAIC Presidential Scholar.
Cheyenne’s artistic practice is rooted in research into Black Feminist Theory, Afrofuturism, and theology, alongside close observation of color, pattern, and texture. Working across mediums, she approaches art-making as an opportunity for viewers to pause and hold space for reflection and meditation.
Her undergraduate thesis project, …in search of, exhibited at the Vassar–Hackensack Building in May 2018, comprised watercolor paintings, poetry, and oral histories from her mother’s family. The project recounts stories of women in her lineage—both living and deceased—through the voices of their relatives, foregrounding memory and intergenerational healing.
In addition to her individual visual practice, Cheyenne frequently collaborates with artists and entrepreneurs engaged in dialogue with traditions of the African diaspora, including Pook Hustle, Dr. Anderson Smith, and Dozzy Ibekwe.
Cheyenne also has over fifteen years of experience in performance as a singer and producer. While at Vassar, she co-led Ujima, an interdisciplinary performance group specializing in music from the African diaspora, and has produced music events featuring artists such as J.I.D., EarthGang, Linda Diaz, Nic Hanson, and Pook Hustle.
Professionally, Cheyenne has worked at creative agencies across entertainment, fashion, and architecture, including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Milk Studios, Driven Society, CA Creative, Kaleidoscope Consulting, and Blue Medium.
contact:
cheyennetobiasbamson@gmail.com