The Uhuru Dream House Art Park & Residency

The Uhuru Dreamhouse is a Black & Indigenous, trans led organization. It was created by Black & Indigenous trans people, it is maintained by Black & Indigenous trans people and it serves Black and Indigenous trans people. 

With resources in the coming year we hope to equip ourselves to welcome the first artist out-of-state artist in residence and be uplifted and resourced to bring out to New Orleans a legendary Black transwoman who is fashion designer. We want to create an ideal environment for her to create a new line and uplift our culture with her creations, for us by us.

Now we have land, our backyard serves as a park for our community, a safe outdoor space for reflection and nature time. We will be building this out, including a garden, sculpture and mural. Our art parks working name is 'Solar World', inspired by Afrofuturist Sun-Ra.

We purchased the Uhuru Dreamhouse in Oct 2022. We are freshly in the house and have already held space for several unhoused people and travelling artists in our community. Our goals are as follows:

1. We would love to host our first artist in residence this year. We need funds to set our artist up with food and materials for their stay. We are prioritizing black, local, unhoused trans artists. 

2. This year our goal is also to stock and distribute medicine from the Uhuru Dreamhouse's apocathery, 'No Wukkas' ('no worries' in Australian slang). Evol is a herbalist and works with other trans medicine makers to provide the community with natural skin care, herbal medicine and non toxic house cleaners. 

3. Community members volunteered their time and built the Uhuru Dreamhouse a fence. Learning on the job. We need funds now to treat the fence and once treated we plan on creating a sculpture/art mural on the fence that highlights and celebrates Black trans joy and liberation. Now we have land our backyard serves as a park for our community, a safe outdoor space for refelction and nature time. We are yet to name the park but the working name is 'Solar World', inspired by Afrofuturist Sun-Ra.

Our organization is the beginnings of an abolitionist future for our community. We are laying down the foundation for housing justice for Black disabled trans people. As we continue on our journey we want to gain the resources and ability to lift up each Black disabled person in our community, each Black trans person, and help them secure housing autonomously. What we have observed in doing the work and in providing transitional housing for folks is that we do need housing justice first and foremost in the Black tgnc community. Housing is a human right and Black trans people experience multiple Barriers, obstacles and oppressions to prevent us from accessing our needs. We believe that people who are invested in the Dreamhouse and who see the success of that investment will be inspired to continue to uplift each Black tgnc person until we are all housed permanently. We work according to our indigenous and black ancestral values as well as we honor the knowledge of native people from New Orleans.