About TheGodIs Arts

TheGodIs Arts is a lifestyle and artistic philosophy based off something I wrote long ago to the effect of "I rarely found God in church. Yet on any given weekday or night, I'd find God on a dance floor, in music, in poetry, in people and always in love".  It wasn't until this Age of Corona we find ourselves in that I understood the reason I fought so hard to become an artist is because that's the only way I would ever truly live. The overall goal of both our artistic practice and curation is to create and maintain safe spaces for Black culture to be known, celebrated, and preserved. 

The thing about living, especially in New York City, is that it's a hard thing to do once caught in the trap of it. The same "grind" or "hustle" that that many admire, comes at a cost and often delays the achievements of our goals.

For many, it's not because we're not smart or talented, it's because we have to work jobs to pay bills and survive while pursuing all the things that are said to make us successful. Not many will tell you how exhausting and expensive survival can be.  Especially in a city like New York, where everything costs more than you can afford to pay, whether it be in time, money, or well being. In places like this, you can run from the struggle or hone your resilience &  learn to live through anything because one thing is true: none of us are making it out of here alive... We all die someday. So the real question becomes, what will we leave behind? What will be our legacy?

I am a child of legacy. My parents, Patrick Adams and Christine Wiltshire, were among the best of their time having worked with almost everyone from [The God MC] Rakim, to Herby Mann to Luther Vandross. Growing up with that type of influence around me in this city sowed the seeds of always creating with  community in mind. Even when we think about the Harlem Renaissance, or any of the Black artists to this day, nothing created was ever achieved alone. 

GODIS ARTS is what I/we leave behind. The work I have always done has always been rooted in the intention to leave a platform of empowerment, education and celebration that can be built upon in the future.
When I began Art LovHer in 2011, I just wanted a place for voices that reflected my identity and life experiences to be seen more in the  art world. When I entered the NY scene in 2008, I'd go out to an art show or music and not feel included in the audience. As I moved though these different spaces, I'd constantly feel a vibe of exclusion or unwelcomeness.  On the walls of museums and other "sacred" institutions of art, I rarely saw images that reflected the African diaspora  Despite having had minimal formal art training, I possessed a  well cultivated mind that knew how to learn anything, and the hustle of NYC in my veins.  I started where any budding social scientist would start: research & information gathering. I used my personality to make friends. I asked lots of questions. I hung out with people doing what I wanted to do and were willing to help me learn how to do it in my way, for myself too. For over ten years I am proud and honored to be where we are now, a little more than a decade later and being the living dream of our ancestors. Capable to achieving anything that our minds conceive and our sprit is dedicated to manifesting, especially when we do it together. 
Now, in a post-pandemic world, we continue to double down on our passion and belief in the necessity of spaces and institutions that center and honor Black culture and the peole that create it. 

From comedy to visual art to music & movement, TheGodIsArts is dedicated to maintaining  atmospheres that encourage communities to support and engage with  historically  overlooked creatives to become empowered and supported through our artistry.