Live Painting

Filipina-American queer artist, multidisciplinary designer, and community advocate Shayla Hufana believes creativity has the power to transform both spaces and the people who inhabit them. As the founder of ConceptShell Art & Design Studio and the nonprofit ConceptShell Foundation, she creates vivid designs rooted in hope, love, and belonging. Her work expands opportunities for underrepresented communities through arts education, mentorship, wellness, and social impact initiatives.

Joining her is Yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese-Uchinanchu American) illustrator Tessa Asato, whose whimsical pen-and-ink drawings explore cultural identity, family, faith, and the humorous complexities of everyday life. Through her signature narrative style, Tessa brings together personal storytelling, Japanese-Uchinanchu American experiences, and a deep connection to community.

Together, their practices reflect the spirit of Worlds Together: different perspectives, backgrounds, and creative voices coming together in shared expression.

For Worlds Together, Shayla and Tessa invite the public to become part of the artwork itself through a Community Canvas & Live Painting. Beginning with a shared artistic vision and evolving through contributions from visitors throughout the day, the piece will grow into a collective expression of creativity, culture, and connection.

What emerges won’t belong to any one person. It will belong to everyone who helped create it.

At the conclusion of the event, the completed artwork will be available for purchase. Proceeds will benefit the ConceptShell Foundation, helping expand access to art and wellness opportunities for students, especially those in BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrant, and Tribal communities. 

@shayla.ad @tessatoworld

Fiber Artist

Yonsei (fourth-generation) Japanese American fiber artist Kristi Nakata creates intricate macraweave wall hangings that blend the techniques of macramé and weaving. Born and raised in the Seattle area on Duwamish and Coast Salish land, her work is deeply inspired by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the landscapes that shape our sense of home.

Through fiber, texture, and color, Kristi translates mountains, waterways, and shifting horizons into abstract compositions that feel both familiar and contemplative. Her practice explores the relationship between place, memory, and identity, creating works that invite viewers to slow down and reconnect with the environments around them.

For Worlds Together, Kristi brings a perspective rooted in heritage, craftsmanship, and the landscapes that connect us. Her work offers a quiet reminder that our stories are often shaped not only by the people around us, but by the places we call home.

@kristiknots

Visual Artist

Queer Vietnamese-American artist, designer, and author-illustrator Jay Stoneking creates work inspired by fantasy, science fiction, mythology, and the power of storytelling. Working across traditional and digital mediums, his practice explores the worlds that emerge when imagination, symbolism, and narrative intersect.

Jay's creative work spans painting, illustration, game design, and written works. His paintings have been exhibited throughout the Pacific Northwest and are held in private collections across the United States and Canada. He is also the creator of The Unbound Arcana, an ongoing fantasy graphic novel series.

For Worlds Together, Jay brings a perspective shaped by curiosity, creativity, and worldbuilding. His work invites viewers into richly imagined spaces where stories unfold, possibilities expand, and different worlds can exist side by side.

@jaystonekingart

Artist & Designer

Filipino American artist, designer, and co-founder of Shishido Creative, Mandy Shishido creates work that celebrates culture, identity, and heritage through a deeply personal lens. Alongside her husband Taka, a Japanese immigrant and artist, she founded Shishido Creative with a commitment to sharing authentic Filipino and Japanese cultural stories through illustration, design, and visual storytelling.

Drawing inspiration from both her Filipino roots and a lifelong appreciation for Japanese art and culture, Mandy’s work seeks to bridge communities while challenging simplified or inaccurate representations of Asian identities. Her vibrant illustrations are informed by history, tradition, and lived experience, creating space for cultural appreciation grounded in authenticity and care.

For Worlds Together, Mandy brings a perspective shaped by the intersection of cultures, generations, and creative traditions. Her work reflects the spirit of the event itself: honoring where we come from while building meaningful connections across communities through art.

@ShishidoCreative

Musician

Jai Kobi Kaleoʻokalani is a Seattle-based guitarist, producer, poet, and interdisciplinary artist. Performing under the moniker BLUES.WEAVE, they create genre-defying works that weave together improvised Black American music traditions, experimental sound production, and poetic storytelling. Using resonator and electric guitars, drum machines, samplers, and electronics, her immersive performances explore themes of radical transformation, ancestral memory, and freedom-making through sound.

A 2025 graduate of the University of Washington’s Jazz and Improvised Music program, Jai has presented original music, multimedia performances, installations, and artist demonstrations at venues including Town Hall Seattle, the Henry Art Gallery, Burke Museum, Frye Art Museum, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, ARTS at King Street Station, and Folklife. BLUES.WEAVE was recently named a 2026 Jack Straw Recording Artist.

Their debut EP, The Blues is Best Sung at Sunrise (2025), traces the transformative journeys of four birds through sound, poetry, and visual art. Jai’s ongoing work includes a forthcoming album interpreting the Major Arcana of the tarot through loops, lyrics, and higher-order circular forms.

For Worlds Together, BLUES.WEAVE stitches together a sonic tapestry of ancestral knowledge, gifted inspiration, and revitalized archive through improvised soundscape and the alchemist’s language of Hip Hop. Drawing from musical sources across time and place, her performance gathers many worlds into a shared, ephemeral plane within Chiyo’s Garden.

@blues.weave

Musician / Band

Musician, songwriter, and creative force Kit Jordan creates music that lives at the intersection of vulnerability, storytelling, and connection. As the founder and frontperson of Seattle-based band i///u, Kit blends elements of jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, funk, blues, and rock into a sound that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.

Since emerging from Seattle’s house show scene, Kit and i///u have become a beloved fixture in the city’s music community, earning recognition through MoPOP’s SoundOff! competition and performances at venues and festivals including KEXP, Neumos, The Showbox, Bumbershoot, and Capitol Hill Block Party.

At the heart of Kit’s work is a belief in music’s ability to bring people together. Whether through intimate songwriting or energetic live performance, their music creates space for joy, reflection, and shared experience.

For Worlds Together, Kit will be joined by members of i///u for a special live performance celebrating the many cultures, identities, and communities that shape Seattle’s creative landscape.

@kitjordanpresents @iu.band

DJ / Song Selector

Community curator, producer, and founder of Gallery Together, Royce Yuen is passionate about creating spaces where art, culture, and community intersect. Through exhibitions, events, and creative programming, his work centers on bringing people together across different backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences.

Believing that creativity can be a catalyst for connection, Royce has helped cultivate spaces that celebrate BIPOC and queer artists, emerging voices, and community-driven storytelling. His approach is rooted in the idea that meaningful cultural experiences are built not just through art, but through the relationships and conversations that form around it.

For Worlds Together, Royce curates the musical backdrop for the day, creating a soundtrack that reflects the spirit of the event: diverse, welcoming, and shaped by the many cultures and communities that make Seattle unique.

@rowzroyce