Whether sharing stages with legendary beat poets or your favorite Hip Hop emcees, Andru Defeye’s unorthodox writing and performance style has made him a fixture behind microphones around the country. 2020 saw the release of his critically acclaimed Frequency album followed shortly after by his crowning as the youngest Poet Laureate in California capitol history.

Dominic Edward Garcia is part of the Sacramento Artist Corps’ Live Stream Group. Dominic Garcia began playing drums at the age of seven. By 1991, after being percussion section leader in Marching, Jazz and Concert Band, as well as a founding member of the Sacramento band, Deftones, Garcia began a lifelong journey of study in world beat percussion. By 1996, he became a member of the Afro Cuban drum and dance group, Ebo Okokan. Under the apprenticeship of Harold and Beatrice Muñiz-Godinez he learned the standard repertoire of Afro-Cuban drum song and dance. Dominic continues to perform with Ebo Okokan. By 2000, Dominic was involved variety of music projects, recording and arranging. In 2005, he became a student at California State University, Sacramento under the instruction of Stephen Blumberg and Dr. Daniel Kennedy. Dominic also has performed and recorded with the Sacramento State Latin Jazz ensemble for which the group had received a Downbeat award for their performance and 2008 recording entitled, “Havana.” In 2006, Dominic co-founded Latin American folk group, Paloma Negra in Sacramento in response to a Craiglist ad by co-founder Araceli Collazo. In 2007, Paloma Negra released a full length CD entitled, “En Otros Ojos”. In 2008, Paloma Negra was invited to perform in Monterrey, Mexico, presenting a repertoire of music in celebration of Dia de Muertos. In 2010, Paloma Negra was commissioned to record a second release entitled, “Altar.” Dominic is also a touring musician. Having traveled to Australia and England as an accompanist for Def Jam poet and Emmy award nominated, Liza Garza. In addition, Garcia also produced and recorded Garza’s second CD, “Swallow the Sun”. Garcia has also toured as a percussionist with world beat box champion and “America’s Got Talent” finalist, Butterscotch performing in Taiwan and the 2014 Java Jazz festival in Indonesia. Garcia is currently a freelance artist and instructor in Sacramento.

Roberto Robles akak "Nosearte" is part of our Live Streaming Group. Nosearte was born to creatives, Esperanza and Roberto, in the Central Valley. He is an artist in training.

A lifelong resident of Sacramento, Ruben has been involved in the art scene for all of his adult life; first an as electronic musician and now as a visual artist. Ruben is the Artist Mentor for our Live Streaming Corps. He pivoted his practice to making Live Streaming shows and Glitch art during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a way to reach out to people who wanted to talk about all the challenges we were dealing with, he created the ‘Cali Cocktail Hour.’ Using the live stream format, he hosts a lively conversation with artists of all walks of life, talking about; art, music, food, drink, and love.

Justine Lopez is an actor, comedian, and improv instructor, born and raised in Sacramento, CA. She studied theatre arts at Cosumnes River College. When She found her love for improv comedy, she studied and performed at ComedySportz Sacramento and Sacramento Comedy Spot where she now instructs Improv 101. At the Sacramento Comedy Spot she performs in troupes such as Lady Business, Anti-Cooperation League, Masters of Rap Improv, and Improv Jazz. In 2018, Justine and Betsaida LeBron co-created "The Space" a free improv drop-in workshop for Black, Indigenous, People of Color.