COLA Artist Fellows 2025

Grand Performances Amphitheater

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The City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowship by the DCA (Department of Cultural Affairs) allows accomplished artists to create new work with increased freedom to innovate and experiment in the disciplines of design, visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts.

Azar Lawrence is a powerhouse saxophonist whose sound evokes the spiritual and sonic fire of John Coltrane. A music prodigy raised in South Los Angeles, he studied violin and viola before turning to jazz and the saxophone at age 13.

After launching his career in Horace Tapscott’s Pan-Afrikan Arkestra, Azar toured with Elvin Jones (Coltrane’s drummer) for over three years and went on to collaborate with icons like McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Marvin Gaye, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Lawrence’s discography includes Bridge into the New Age, Elementals (Jazz Weekly #2), and The Seeker: Live at the Jazz Standard. His group, The Azar Lawrence Experience (TALE), delivers soul-stirring performances rich in original compositions and tributes to the Coltrane legacy.

Whether writing, recording, or leading a band, Azar continues to inspire audiences with his masterful blend of technical brilliance and spiritual depth.

Charles Jensen (he/him) is the author of a memoir, three collections of poetry, and seven chapbooks of cross-genre work. His essays and poetry have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, American Poetry Review, New England Review, Prairie Schooner, Exposition Review, The Florida Review, and Passages North. He founded the literary magazine Villain Era to celebrate literature of revenge.

Willy’s work is a movement based in contemporary dance, drawing inspiration from African Aesthetics. He is inspired by black improvisational techniques and creates a new dance/movement vocabulary that reflects his experience as a dancer, a martial artist, and a musician. Willy is a social justice advocate who creates works that are inspired by social issues faced by black communities. To learn more about Willy and his work, visit WilfriedSouly.com

Yozmit is a Two-Spirit singer-songwriter, interdisciplinary performance artist, and costume designer. The self-given name Yozmit means 'myth about one's self' : Through her ritualistic performance art, Yozmit combines theater, dance, pop culture, fashion, gender identity, mythology, and shamanism onto a single canvas.

As a leading, progressive arts and cultural agency, DCA empowers Los Angeles’s vibrant communities by supporting and providing access to quality visual, literary, musical, performing, and educational arts programming; managing vital cultural centers; preserving historic sites; creating public art; and funding services provided by arts organizations and individual artists. Formed in 1925, DCA promotes arts and culture as a way to ignite a powerful dialogue, engage LA’s residents and visitors, and ensure LA’s varied cultures are recognized, acknowledged, and experienced. DCA’s mission is to strengthen the 6 quality of life in Los Angeles by stimulating and supporting arts and cultural activities, ensuring public access to the arts for residents and visitors alike. DCA advances the social and economic impact of arts and culture through grantmaking; public art, community arts, performing arts; and strategic marketing, development, design, and digital research. DCA creates and supports arts programming, maximizing relationships with other city agencies, artists, and arts and cultural nonprofit organizations to provide excellent service in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles. For more information, please visit culture.lacity.gov or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/culturela, Instagram @culture_la, and Twitter @culture_la.

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