Blog post written by Kearra Amaya Gopee

Kearra Amaya Gopee, Art Department
Wiki Scholar

Kearra Amaya Gopee is a first-year MFA student in the Art Department with a concentration in Interdisciplinary Studio. Gopee is a multidisciplinary visual artist from Carapichaima, Trinidad and Tobago, based in Los Angeles, CA. Their research-based practice focuses on the nature of violence and erasure and the particularities of those that are inflicted on the Caribbean and its diaspora by the global north. Using lived experiences as a point of departure, they address themes of migration, intergenerational trauma, queerness, difference, and healing. Gopee brings a wealth of experience with Wikipedia communities, including work as a Regional Proxy for the Black Lunch Table, a Wikipedia driven initiative to increase the visibility of Black artists, and organizing with Wikimedians of the Caribbean to increase the visibility of and access to Caribbean interests. They will be working as the Wiki Scholar, contributing to an ongoing CFPRT project to integrate information about Special Collections holdings into Wikipedia articles with a focus on collections from Los Angeles communities.