THE GROUNDED TEAM
Photography means to draw with light. And mindfulness taught me that we’re all made up of light and darkness, joy, and suffering. Embracing these dualities helped me grow as a person and an artist.
AMANDA LUCIDON
Co-Founder, Photographer, Author
Amanda is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker and New York Times best-selling author. Amanda served as an Official White House photographer responsible for documenting President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama from 2013 to 2017. She is one of only a few female White House photographers in history. In 2018, the John F. Kennedy Center appointed Amanda as a Turnaround Artist, highlighting the importance of arts in underserved schools. She is helping to bring awareness to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) while using creativity, mindfulness, education and collaboration to address trauma.
Once you find acceptance, you find your grounding.
SISTER PEACE
Co-Founder, Mindfulness Practitioner
Sister Peace spent five years in government work before realizing that something was missing. She began practicing at the Washington Mindfulness Community where she encountered the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Compelled by his teachings, she relocated in 2006 to the Plum Village Monastery in France to deepen her mindfulness practice and where she was ordained a Buddhist nun in 2008. In 2018, she returned to the U.S. to reside at the Magnolia Grove Monastery in Batesville, Mississippi. She is presently on a sabbatical in Memphis where she continues to practice the art of Engaged Buddhism.
What grounds me is connection with people. The work this team does has a unique ability to inspire... and there's something magical about what art can do.
MARK ADAMS
Co-Founder, Photographer, Filmmaker
Mark is an EMMY Award-nominated filmmaker and photographer working to share stories with themes related to identity, history and community transformation. During his work as a photojournalist, Mark documented a year in the life of family farmers, the desegregation of schools in South Carolina, and the aftermath of 9/11. His work has appeared in the Anchorage Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, The New York Times, St. Petersburg Times, Sports Illustrated, The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, Time magazine and USA Today, among others.
Love grounds me. It brings me home no matter where I am.
ALAN SPEARMAN
Co-Founder, Photographer, Filmmaker
Alan is an EMMY Award-winning filmmaker. He worked as a photojournalist for eight newspapers, covering thousands of assignments including the devastating aftermath of both Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti while specializing in long-term documentary projects. Alan created an anthology of short documentaries called $5 Cover: Amplified which premiered at Sundance New Frontiers. He was invited to learn from legendary director Werner Herzog at his first Rogue Film School and made Leaves in the Wind with U2 guitarist, the Edge. His film, As I Am, aired on the PBS series Independent Lens and was nominated for a national Emmy Award for new approaches to documentary filmmaking.
Knowing I have a gift, and the power to inspire people… a gift you can move others with… it’s a grounding and humbling feeling.
CHARLES ‘LIL BUCK’ RILEY
Lil Buck is a world-renowned dancer and Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist who seeks to inspire and change the world while elevating the artistic, educational and social impact of dance. His collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma performing The Swan went viral in 2011. He has since collaborated with a broad spectrum of artists including JR, Damian Woetzel, the New York City Ballet, and Madonna as well as brands including Apple, Lexus, Louis Vuitton, and Versace.
Movement Artist
Having a practice of mindfulness is working in the inner world… Every day just going back and going to this magical place that is yours, and yours alone. And we all have it.
VALERIE JUNE
Singer, Songwriter, Musician
Valerie is an EMMY Award-nominated singer-songwriter offering an original sound to the world. Bob Dylan named her one of his favorite new artists. Valerie is a Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist using arts to transforms students’ lives. She says “creativity is a universal language that inspires us to soar. It encourages students to reach beyond their limitations and embrace the endless possibilities of their dreams.”
To ground myself, I focus on my breath and honor the breath of others.
MARICO ‘DR. RICO’ FLAKE
Movement Artist
Dr. Rico has combined his 20 years of experience as a law enforcement officer with his specialization in dance to show art as an effective tool towards non-violent interactions, cultural sensitivity, and conflict resolution. Dr. Rico is a long-time mindfulness practitioner and innovator of the unique dance form of Memphis Jookin’.
I’m grounded in being uncomfortable… to be okay. That these hard moments are a part of life and know that growth is coming. And growing pains. And knowing that little bit more.
CHRIS DEAN
Storyteller
Chris is a writer with a unique perspective about life. When Chris was five, his father was murdered, riddled by more than 20 bullets in a gang shootout. Chris interned at the White House during the Obama administration and is currently a producer at Memphis Mountaintop Media.
Purpose has been my grounding.
CHRISTOPHER ‘DRUMMA BOY’ GHOLSON
Producer, Musician
Drumma Boy is a GRAMMY Award- winning and multi-platinum music producer, known for creating some of hip hop’s biggest chart-topping hits. Drumma Boy recently released My Brother’s Keeper, a new album dedicated to his brother who was shot and killed in 2018. Drumma wants to inspire creativity in people saying, “diving into a creative world eliminates negativity, keeps you busy and out of trouble. It gives you purpose.”
Staying rooted and feeling Memphis and trying to remain mindful, keeps me not only humble but deeply grateful to have incarnated on the planet in this very sacred musical place.
PAUL TAYLOR
Musician
Paul is an EMMY Award-nominated and GRAMMY Award-nominated multi-instrumentalist with a deep knowledge of and passion for Memphis music. Paul has scored many of the Grounded films and is the co-founder of Crosstown Sound, a recording studio of Crosstown Arts, a contemporary arts organization dedicated to further cultivating the creative community in Memphis.
Understanding the power of mark making… a simple brush stroke or a pencil mark can change a child’s life… that humbles me… it grounds me.
TERRY LYNN
Visual Storyteller, Fine Art Painter
Terry is a Memphis-born visual storyteller, revealing how place, history, and race are intertwined. His stories emerge not only from his subjects and the scenes he develops but also from the infectious energy of his brushstrokes, gestures, and geometries. He frequently works with youth, ranging from elementary schools to juvenile detention centers. “A simple brush stroke can change a child’s life. That humbles me,” he says.
His work is included in numerous private and corporate collections including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Virginia Theological Seminary, BET Founder Bob Johnson, U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, Promus Hotel Corporation, University of Oklahoma, AMEC Publishing House headquarters, New-Air Corp., Hilton hotel and more.
Art grounds me. It’s a place that’s taken me outside of myself. It’s allowed me to travel. It’s allowed me to explore ideas. And through that, it’s given a firm footing for how I see and understand things.
PHILLIP ADAMS
Muralist, Fine Art Painter
Phillip has been working with mural arts around the world for over 20 years, specializing in participatory community art. Recently, he facilitated a restorative justice mural project exploring the concept of the still life in the context of the criminal justice system, especially as it relates to juvenile life sentencing without parole.
He has exhibited work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Hunterdon Art Museum, Arcadia University, Moore College of Art, University of Pennsylvania, Institute of Contemporary Art, Seraphin Gallery, Tiger Strikes Asteroid (founding member), Bridgette Mayer Gallery, and numerous exhibitions throughout the United States.
I try to write what the youth can understand, my real life stories that they can relate to, how I overcame and how life is better now.
DEVONTE HOLLOWAY
Storyteller, Musician
Devonte is an artist with knowledge beyond his years. He recently graduated from high school in Memphis and is currently working on a mixtape called Be What a Bullet Can’t Be, inspired by his work with Grounded and his experience visiting the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice.