NBA All-Star, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist                                        

10-time NBA All-Star, entrepreneur and philanthropist Carmelo Anthony has led a storied career as a three-time Olympic gold medalist and top-ten on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Anthony’s incredible career has continued to pave the way for his many other business ventures and philanthropic efforts on a global platform. Anthony and his longtime business partner Asani Swann launched global estate brand VII(N) The Seventh Estate and released its inaugural vintage blend Oath of Fidelity. Spurred by a passion for inclusive, purpose-driven content, Anthony also established Creative 7 alongside Swann as a global, multi-platform content company producing purpose-driven projects spanning television, film, audio, and digital content. In his latest project with Creative 7 and in partnership with Wave Sports + Entertainment, he executive produces 7pm in Brooklyn, a top-charting digital new series co-hosted by him and The Kid Mero surrounding all things hoop and culture. His lifestyle brand STAYME7O celebrates his well- known mantra and mindset and aims to build a community and support network to overall positively affect people's lives. Anthony is a New York Times bestselling author with his memoir, Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised, which details the stories of his upbringing and the immeasurable odds he overcame to make it to where he is today. Social justice and equality have informed and continue to serve as the throughline for all of Anthony’s endeavors, including his work as co-founder of The Social Change Fund, which was created in response to the continued racial injustice across our country and aims to support critical and timely issues impacting the Black community. 

Mickalene Thomas is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist whose work has yielded instantly recognizable and widely celebrated aesthetic languages within contemporary visual culture. She is known for her elaborate portraits of Black women composed of rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel. Not only do her masterful mixed-media paintings, photographs, films and installations command space, they occupy eloquently while dissecting the intersecting complexities of black and female identity within the Western canon.

Outside of her core practice, Thomas is a Tony Award nominated co-producer, curator, educator, and mentor to many emerging artists. Apart from her own monumental solo shows, she simultaneously curates exhibitions at galleries and museums and collaborates with corporations and luxury brands. In 2023, she became the first Black femme artist to have a scholarship in her name at the Yale School of Art. She has also been the recipient of numerous prizes, grants, and honors including The Harvey P. Gantt Center’s Spirit of the Center Award, Gordon Parks Foundation (2024), LA LGBT’s 2024 Vanguard Award, the Creative Capital Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact Award (2024); Hirshhorn Artist x Artist New York Gala honoree (2023); the Pratt Institute Legends Award (2022); Rema Hort Mann Foundation 25th Anniversary honoree (2022); Artistic Impact Award, Newark Museum (2022); Glass House 15th Anniversary Artist of the Year (2022); Yale School of Art Presidential Visiting Fellow in Fine Arts (2020); Legend in Residence Award, Bronx Museum (2020); Pauli Murray College Associate Fellow at Yale University (2020); Appraisers Association of America, Award for Excellence in the Arts, (2019); Meyerhoff-Becker Biennial Commission at Baltimore Museum of Art (2019). In 2018, she received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art and, in 2015, she was a United States Artists Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellow. Thomas is also the Co-Founder of SOULAS House, a cultural hub and retreat for Black women, Sock Factory Arts, an art making, exhibition, and cultural connection space for artists and the community in Baltimore, Art Arena, an organization that fosters creativity, positive change, and elevates women artists and athletes, Pratt>FORWARD and founder of Art>FORWARD, an artist in the market incubator for post-graduate students.

Thomas’ art are in the permanent collection of numerous institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum; Studio Museum of Harlem, New York; International Center of Photography, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles among others. Thomas serves on the Board of the Trustees for the Brooklyn Museum, A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham, the Romare Bearden Foundation, and The Last Resort.

Jeffrey Deitch has collaborated with the Miami Design District since 2002 presentingart projects and exhibitions every year during the art fair week.The gallery is known for influential thematic exhibitions likeShattered Glass, whichwas presented in the Design District in 2021 andPost Human, currently on view inDeitch’s Los Angeles gallery.It presents ambitious solo exhibitions with younger artists, like Alfonso Gonzalez Jr,currently on view in the New York gallery and museum level exhibitions withestablished artists including Ai Weiwei, Judy Chicago, Urs Fischer, Robert Longo andNari Ward.The gallery operates two exhibition spaces in SoHo in New York City and two inHollywood. The large Los Angeles gallery is designed by Frank Gehry and the smallerLos Angeles gallery is in the historic Radio Recorders building.Jeffrey Deitch has collaborated with the Miami Design District on a number of publicart projects over the years, including murals by Alteronce Gumby, Bony Ramirez andMario Ayala which will be unveiled during the art fair week.

Our goal is to maximize our collective resources to uplift and empower communities across the country

Soula’s House is the brainchild of multidisciplinary artist Mickalene Thomas, great grandmother who once resided in Baltimore. As an extension of Thomas' passion for uplifting the image of Black Women/Femmes in her art practice. Soula House will be a shared space with programming geared toward Thomas's nonprofit mission and CCCC's Zora Den. It was developed conceptually as both a social sculptural space and a cultural hub for Black Women/Femmes. Located in the heart of Baltimore, Soula’s House will be a permanent destination for community rejuvenation and engagement, routinely presenting programming that empowers intellectual exchange for Black Women organizations. It will be the central meeting place for Zora Den's intimate club social gathering; writing workshops, discussions and short term residency.

Soula’s House will operate as a safe incubator welcoming a diverse group of thinkers, encouraging creative discussions and fostering new ideas. The space will be home to an expansive collection of literary works that centers its focus around the Black Women/Femmes. Functioning as a cultural mothership, the House further aims to uplift underserved communities by providing access to a selection of curated educational events, lectures, workshops, culinary experiences, and an ongoing music and film series, including activations for children of all ages.

The House will exist as a thoughtful artistic expression and welcoming resources for the community. The overall operation will be headed by Victoria Kennedy, Zora Den's Director.