about
Gina Washington was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated with an MFA in Photography from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She considers herself "a Child of the Universe" and has traveled to many places collecting images and connecting artists. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and has won awards for portraiture as she creates art "by any means necessary". She is the founder of the Black Female Artist Collective and creator of Mateza Gallery LLC on Etsy and at Cooperative Cleveland on Larchmere Boulevard in Cleveland, Ohio. As a master collaborator she along with Chester Hopkins-Bey, Kole Robinson Brooks and Loletia Wilson co-founded a group called The Visit Arts Collective which started at Ingenuity Fest Cleveland in 2009. Together since, they create experiential exhibitions, installations and educational programs incorporating music, poetry, dance, and the visual arts to engage the participant and challenge their notions of the Black experience through the arts. Ultimately her goal is to bring clarity and solutions to the chaos in the world through art and to make art accessible to all people, especially the disenfranchised and underrepresented in the global community.
As an artist, educator, entrepreneur, and mother I love collaborating with amazing people. The image of me posted was taken by Halim Ina in an effort to raise monies to build schools in places like India with the Nirvanavan Foundation.
