CLP is proud to announce the second annual Artist-in-Residence Series as part of our Vivian Ann Davidson Hewitt Initiative.
Anita Levels – Performing Vocal Artist & Songwriter
CLP – Homewood Artist-in-Residence
Anita Levels is Texas-born, from a New Orleans family that began singing in “the tradition” at the age of 4 years old while in Frankfurt, West Germany. Anita Levels is a performing vocal artist, songwriter and considers herself an advocate for Black American Music (BAM). Anita believes BAM is the founding sound of most, if not all, present day popular American music, of which such genres as Negro Spirituals, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Funk, and Hip Hop, reign supreme.
Photographs (L-R) by Monica Godfrey and David Roth
Angela Oddling – Sequential Artist & Illustrator
CLP – Allegheny Artist-in-Residence
Angela Oddling is a Pittsburgh-native sequential artist, art educator, and illustrator. Angela’s work weaves monsters and magic into the tales of our everyday lives. Her narratives often explore the not-so-fun and complicated parts of being a person and how they affect our journeys to self-love and acceptance. Angela aims to create a space where her audience can safely explore these feelings, offering them a sense of community and comfort.
Lissette Norman – Poet & Author
CLP – Hill District Artist-in-Residence
Lissette Norman is an Afro-Dominican cultural worker, poet and author of the picture books My Feet Are Laughing, Plátanos Go with Everything and Abuela’s Library. She is also co-author of the picture books, On the Line: My Story of Becoming the First African American Rockette (w/ Jennifer Jones), Until Someone Listens (w/ Estela Juarez) and The Girl Who Sings to Bees (w/ Chiquis). Lissette received her BA in English at SUNY- Binghamton. She was born and raised in New York City.
Bakula Nayak – Mixed Media Artist
CLP – Brookline Artist-in-Residence
Born in 1975 in Bangalore, India, Bakula Nayak completed an undergraduate degree in architecture and a Master of Science in communication design from the Pratt Institute, Manhattan. Bakula interweaves personal and collective histories, layering ancient texts, intercepted letters, and once-functional discarded papers with symbolic expressions of memory and transformation. She explores themes of synergy between the individual and the collective, processes of art and meaning-making, the experiences of women as well as contemporary cultural and psycho-social situations. After exhibiting her work extensively in India, with additional shows in Germany, Canada, and Singapore – she has made a recent move back to the United States of America (Pittsburgh).
Bria Petite – Multidisciplinary Artist
CLP – Beechview Artist-in-Residence
Bria Petite is a Pittsburgh based multidisciplinary artist from Beechview, whose work blends realism with imagination to express emotions that words often cannot. Inspired by childhood memories, the serene landscapes of her youth, and the diverse tapestry of cultures that shaped her world, her creations evoke a harmonious connection between the heart and the earth. These influences have deeply shaped her creative process, blending nature’s stillness with the richness of human diversity.