ThursDates at OMCA with Jessa Calderon & Good Fire Pop-Up Talks and Demos

Tiśina Ta-till-ium Parker is a California Indigenous [cis] fem, traditional regalia maker, fire keeper, textile designer, and community cultural art activist. Tiśina’s people are Yosemite Southern Sierra Miwuk/Kutzadika’a Mono Lake Paiute, from her grandfather’s lineage, and Kashia Pomo & Coast Miwuk, from her grandmother’s lineage. Tiśina was born and raised in her sacred tribal homeland of Yosemite/Mariposa. Born into a strong Indigenous lineage, Tiśina has practiced ceremony with her Yosemite/Mariposa tribal community since birth. She descends from a powerful matriarchy of notable California basketmakers, including her great-great-grandmother, Lucy Telles, and her grandmother, Julia Parker. Tiśina currently serves on tribal council with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, is active in cultural fire work with the Little Fires cultural burn program in Yosemite National Park.

Saif Azzuz is a Libyan-Yurok artist who resides in Pacifica, CA. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Painting and Drawing from the California College of the Arts in 2013. Azzuz has had solo presentations at the Blaffer Art Museum and the ICA San Francisco, and his work is in selected public collections including the Rennie Museum, de Young Museum—Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gochman Family Collection, Facebook, North Carolina Museum of Art, Kadist, University of St. Thomas, Stanford Health Care Art Collection, and UBS Art Collection.

Alice Lincoln-Cook (Karuk) draws on a lifetime of work as an independent artist, traditional basket weaver, culture bearer, and cultural fire expert. She is passionate about teaching the practices she grew up with to help others manage ancestral lands and waters in a good way—that is healthy for her people and her culture. Prior to serving as the President and Board Member with the California Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA), Alice taught basket weaving to California Native tribal members and worked with local schools, non-profits, and state and federal agencies throughout the Pacific Northwest. Since obtaining her Basic 32 Red Card firefighting certification, Alice has become a sought-after speaker at universities, conferences, and Basic 32 fire training programs both in California and nationally.

Dr. Brittani R. Orona is a Hupa environmental public humanities scholar and an Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at University of California, Davis. Her academic focus is on environmental studies and humanities, California Indian Studies, and abolition ecology in California and the American West. Orona has worked in the museum and cultural resources management fields as a curator and consultant for 18 years. She is Hupa, and an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. Orona is guest curator of OMCA’s latest exhibition Good Fire: Tending Native Lands.

Paradise Maquetaurie is a two-spirit artist based in San Francisco whose work merges live electronics, improvisational music, and projection-mapped visuals into immersive storytelling environments. Performing as WELIVEINPARADISE, she blends club and ambient soundscapes with field recordings, video art, graffiti, emerging technologies, pop influences, and Taíno/Yoeme histories to create deeply engaging performances. A vital force in the Bay Area’s underground queer and trans electronic music community for over six years, her work has appeared at Outside Lands, Oaklash, Gays Hate Techno, Weaving Spirits Pride 2025, and countless clubs, renegades, and underground spaces.

Ellissa Thompson is a Chickasaw artist, cultural practitioner, and land steward whose beadwork reflects the teachings of her heritage and the landscapes that shaped her. An enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation with family ties to Ada, Oklahoma, she was born and raised in the East Bay. Her business, Ihoo Taloowa Beads, is grounded in cultural continuance. Bringing together tradition, contemporary expression, and the stories of the plants, waters, and lands that inspire her work. Each piece is created with intention and the understanding of adornment as medicine, identity, and connection.

Jessa Calderon (Tongva, Chumash Yoeme) is a songwriter, published author, poet, hip-hop artist, basket weaver, paddler, hypnotherapist, massage therapist, energy worker, and offers guided meditations. Jessa is also part of the Dream Warriors society and encourages her community and youth to find physical, mental, and spiritual healing by sharing her words, music, and practices. She has the honor to work with community and youth from many Nations, helping them unleash their creative potential and passion for authentic representation and diverse narratives within the film industry.