About Us

Core. Restore. Study. Cultural Origins, Restoration and Education, was shaped by nine years of community work in Newark, Jersey City, and New York, where generational trauma, identity loss, and systemic inequality are most visible. Through this work, we have seen how trauma manifests in adult behavior, how systemic erasure leads to violence, scarcity, and internal fragmentation, and how unaddressed trauma affects nervous system regulation. International work in Ghana and Angola revealed the roots of colonial psychology, the continuity of cultural fragmentation, and the solutions embedded in Indigenous practices, ceremony, archival memory, and art.

Our work integrates meditation sequences for epigenetic and nervous system healing, historical research and archival development, art and storytelling for grief processing and identity restoration, Indigenous and African spiritual practices, and dialogue, education, and community restoration. We serve descendants of the transatlantic slave trade, the African Diaspora, Indigenous peoples, Afro-Latinx communities, and descendants of colonizers seeking restorative processing.

What We Are Building

We are building a permanent nature-based campus designed to support healing, research, arts, and ancestral integration. This campus serves as a hub for emotional wellness and grounded self-reclamation, providing participants with a safe and intentional space to connect with themselves, their heritage, and their community.

Governance & Board
Our board is selected for integrity, alignment, and commitment, taking on roles in fundraising, outreach, and program development. Accountability is maintained through a written notice and review process. Our board reciprocity model provides non-monetary exchange including guided meditations, healing sessions, private workshops, visibility in exhibitions and publications, research access, and invitations to panels, retreats, and collaborative leadership opportunities.

Access & Inclusion

We prioritize accessibility through scholarships, sponsorships, and a clear application process. Our programs are open to participants from the global Diaspora, including those within other communities seeking restorative work, with a particular focus on ethical accountability and rehabilitation.

Past & Current Partners
Past partners include the Newark Meditation Center, Rutgers University (Paul Robeson Gallery), and the Newark Public Library. Current partners include INDEX Art Center and Antro Po, supporting our Angola collaboration in 2025. Funding and support have come from the Creative Catalyst Grant, Prudential Center, City of Newark, and advisory involvement from BirthRight to Africa.

Program Tiers

Core. Restore. Study. offers both short-term and long-term programming. Short-term immersive offerings include one-day retreats focusing on grounding, meditation, communal healing, and art therapy, as well as two-week intensives combining DNA healing, archival research, cultural ceremony, and identity work. Long-term fellowships include three-month exhibitor residencies for meditation, research, art making, and public exhibition, as well as six-month ancestral scholar residencies emphasizing genealogy, archive expeditions, panels, and restoration projects.

Our team includes trauma specialists, meditation facilitators, genealogists, and cultural practitioners who guide participants through immersive experiences.

IMPACT

Core. Restore. Study. has cultivated transformative experiences that bridge art, ancestral memory, and community healing. Through exhibitions, workshops, and immersive programs, we create spaces where reflection, dialogue, and creative expression allow individuals and communities to reclaim cultural identity, process generational trauma, and envision liberated futures. Our work emphasizes both personal and collective restoration, connecting participants to their ancestry while fostering resilience and holistic well-being.

Exhibitions such as The Remembered (Index Art Center, 2025) exemplify our approach: providing safe, intentional spaces for mourning, remembrance, and cultural recovery. Across our programs, art functions as ancestral storytelling, supporting identity reclamation, emotional processing, and dialogue across generations. In 2025, we built a meditation center at Project 14C, which continues to serve the community. In 2023 we developed consistent and enriching programming during a residency at Paul Robeson Gallery and was invited back in 2024 to develop programs for young women in collaboration with teaching artists and local organization, BOLD Women’s Leadership Initiative powered by Rutgers University located at Express Newark. In 2022, we provided motivational poetry and youth inspired art workshop for Clinton Hill Community Action. In 2024, we hosted a successful decolonization panel at Halsey Art Studios in collaboration with a specialized branch of the Black Panther Party in Newark’s South Ward, ArtLives.Studio, local historians, sociologists, and the James Brown Room in the Newark Public Library.

For two years, we led the Art of Purposeful Business workshop with Made@npl another branch of the library, providing free programming and guidance for aspiring entrepreneurs. We have held ceremonies across New York City in collaboration with local venues and gardens. Diligently we constructed thought provoking art installations for the annual Chashama Gala located in Times Square NYC, addressing nervous system regulation by providing peaceful and regenerative meditative experiences as well as constructing socially charged work that examines cross-cultural displacement. Finally, we contributed inspiring visuals for a mural project sponsored by the Urban League of Essex County. We are grounded in cherishing relationships and expanding impact by maximizing our resources to support and nourish communities in the inner city, as well as our global neighbors looking to bridge cultural gaps.

Our publications include two meditation guides and spiritual texts exploring ancestral recovery and embodiment. Our work has been featured in two poetry anthologies. Each day, we continue to expand partnerships and distribute resources for healing, wellness, and creative empowerment.

March 2025 The Remembered Exhibition

The Remembered brought together works that honored those who had been overlooked, erased, or hidden from view. The exhibition served as a tribute to the stories and memories that shape our collective identity but often remain unspoken.

The Exhibition

Goddess Portal Installation: This segment of the exhibition spotlighted artists whose works celebrated hidden heroes—women in history, religion, and daily life—who had quietly persevered in times of adversity.

Land Workers and Memory of the Land: This portion of the exhibition focused on textured, nature-inspired works, honoring farm workers, land workers, and all who connect with the earth. Through the memory of the land, visitors experienced grounding, resilience, and a deeper sense of time.

Decolonization Panel Halsey Art Studios 2024

Bold Women’s Workshop April 24th 2024

This workshop created a welcoming and empowering environment for participants to explore and express their inner strength through portraiture. Focusing on self-reflection rather than technical skill, participants imagined and depicted themselves as bold, confident versions of who they aspire to be.

Using accessible materials such as paper, markers, and collage elements, participants were guided to create portraits that blended drawing, color, and cut-and-paste imagery. The workshop emphasized creativity, self-discovery, and personal empowerment, allowing each individual to engage in meaningful reflection while producing a visual representation of their empowered self.

The Art Of Purposeful Business Workshop 2024 May, 2025 March

This program empowered participants with tools to navigate common business challenges, including getting started, maintaining persistence, and aligning financial pursuits with personal purpose. The workshop began with two structured worksheets that fostered communal problem-solving dialogues, providing emotional support to entrepreneurs who often work in isolation.

Participants engaged in discussions and exercises that encouraged reflection, collaboration, and the practical application of strategies to overcome obstacles. By the end of the session, attendees left with actionable insights, strengthened confidence, and a clearer sense of how to align their business goals with their personal values.