About

The Root Experience is a 5-day festival featuring BIPOC talent from various cultures and disciplines. The festival celebrates International filmmakers, artists, culture bearers, musicians, healers, and the stories they weave through their art. The goal is to place Spokane creatives on the same stages as the rest of the world. In doing so, not only are we creating access points to professional creative industries, but we are also uplifting their narratives of culture, family, beauty, and resilience to create a network that empowers living stories while healing elements of the past, present, and future.

The Root Experience welcomes all races and genders but centers underserved, marginalized, communities directly affected by racial and genders biased oppression. When talking about indigenous cultures, we must recognize the borders (state & continental) that have been placed by the act of colonization. In doing so, people of the same/ similar cultures have had their homelands divided and people they love placed on opposite sides of these borders. The Root Experience hopes to help erase these borders by decolonizing art and social practice, providing safe and inclusive spaces to present, while connecting, partnering, and sparking conversation with our communities.

Immerse yourself in a Multicultural and Multigenerational experience like you have never seen before! The Root Experience presents a tapestry of powerful artistic energies unveiled in a way that keeps our audience safe, engaged, and intimately connected through the arts.

We are celebrating culture. We are celebrating story. We are celebrating community.

Meet the Team

  • Director/ Co-Founder/ Co-Producer/ Multidisciplinary Artist

    Olivia Evans is a grant-awarded, multidisciplinary visual artist, producer, and owner of Mama Wolf Media, LLC, based in Spokane, WA. Working in video, photography, drawing, film, and beadwork, her work is heavily influenced by motherhood, nature, the subconscious, and personal experiences - intertwining traditional and digital media to create narratives of the self. All these influences echo her eclectic cultural background of growing up as a Black, Italian, and Native woman. She boasts a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art, and a minor in Film from Eastern Washington University (2018). As a producer and social media manager for the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture, an arts non-profit, she continues to elevate marginalized communities in film & art through Social Media posts, Documentary Film events, and other projects. She has consulted at various organizations and schools such as, Spokane Arts, Artist Trust, Whitworth, Gonzaga, and 6-months as a Marketing & Communications Coordinator for Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Coalition, where she empowered victims of Domestic Violence through visibility on social media, marketing materials, MMIWP Campaign, and community partnered events. Her work has been featured in several exhibitions, for instance, Spokane Art’s SATURATE, Terrain 12 & 13, INT’L All Media Exhibition ‘22, Land Acknowledgement exhibition ‘22, and as a co-curator at the GU Urban Arts Center for “Home: Imagining the Irrevocable.” She has also been featured on KXLY, Krem2, and various radio stations. Today, she continues to expand her art practice in many facets, such as directing Spokane's 1st BIPOC art, film, and music festival The Root Experience: Living Cultures of Art, Music & Soul, grant reviewing/ writing/ paneling, adjunct teaching, and film festival paneling.

    @olivia.evans.1232 Olivia's FB www.oliviaevans.biz

    mamawolfmedia.com @mamawolfmediallc MWM LLC FB mamawolfmediallc@gmail.com

  • Co-Founder/ Co-Producer / Performance Artist / Filmmaker

    James Pakootas is an award-winning artist, producer, and filmmaker from The Colville Confederated Tribes who cultivates change through the power of words. As an emerging community leader, he brings a fresh lens to his work as consulting producer at The Alliance For Media, Arts + Culture. In 2019, James co-produced an unparalleled event at the Garland Theater showcasing Indigenous excellence. By combining a screening of the film “RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World” with an evening of live musical performances by contemporary Indigenous artists and an opening given in the Spokane language, James and his team successfully held space to empower and celebrate a living culture. James draws on the culture and ways of his peoples as he navigates what it means to be a Native storyteller in a digital world.

    @Iam.justjamez @filmdigenous @newagefilmcollective

    www.jamespakootas.com

    jamespakootas@gmail.com

  • Co-Founder/ Co-Producer/ Performance Artist/ Audio Engineer

    Devonte Pearson is an African American audio engineer, producer, songwriter, and performing artist based out of Spokane, Washington. Mr. Pearson graduated Spokane Falls Community College with degrees in Audio Engineering and Business Management. He has booked, produced, and completed a handful of tours around the Pacific Northwest and has been doing so since 2013. As an artist, he has performed for festivals such as The Tinnabulation Festival, Volume Music Fest, and Upstream Music Festival. He has also been invited to perform for colleges including Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University, and University of Washington. Devonte’s portfolio also includes opportunities in the film world that include sound designing for a short animation, location recording for independent and feature length films, and mixing audio for commercials and documentaries. His experience in entertainment production includes a unique perspective obtained from working multiple roles from conception to final breakdown.

    @ts_the_solution_ @panoramicdreams @newagefilmcollective @tsmusicpage www.panoramicdreamsrecording.com

    tsthesolution@gmail.com

  • Co-Producer/ Multidisciplinary Artist

    Jáiz Boyd is a multidisciplinary artist humbled by each opportunity to express himself creatively. His work spans thought-provoking installations that leave each audience captivated, dynamic set designs that immerse his guests in creativity, and innovative event curation that evoke lasting impacts with every community he serves. Originally from Northern California and now based between Sacramento, CA, and Spokane, WA, he remains deeply committed to community service. Jaiz is a visionary. He is a cutting-edge fashion designer and powerful creative director. He gratefully collaborates with non-profits, supports various events across the nation, and curates programming for emerging creators and at-risk youth. As a fashion designer, he humbly explores new realms, crafting unique pieces that resonate with those seeking artistic expression. Above all, Jáiz finds profound inspiration in his role as a loving husband and father. Whether spending time with his family or aspiring to his next mission in life, Jáiz Boyd continues to push artistic boundaries and seeks to inspire others through his creative endeavors.

    @jaizboyd Jáiz FB jaizboyd@gmail.com @birdsinthecoast FB birdsinthecoast.com @be.real.do.something

  • Co-Producer/ Performance Artist/ Choreographer/ Teacher

    CarliAnn is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and multi-disciplinary storyteller of Syilx (Okanagan) band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Secwepemc (Shuswap), and mixed-European descent. She received a BFA in dance from Simon Fraser University in 2012 and a MFA in dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2021. Since receiving her formal education, CarliAnn has been on a scholarly and personal journey to more fully understand her Indigenous heritage, using her dance and embodiment to uncover ways of knowing the world that were once taken from her ancestors.

    Her research interests center around the intersection of Indigenous worldviews and contemporary dance. This intention focuses work on investment in the process rather than the product, allowing the creation process the time and energy necessary. Fusing interdisciplinary collaboration, de-colonial practices, and embodied research methodologies, her work is a physical interpretation of moments in time, ancestral knowledge, and relationships to earth, spirit, and each other.

    Bruner’s choreography has been presented by On the Boards, Seattle International Dance Festival, and others in the PNW. She has performed professionally and toured with Khambatta Dance Company, Intrepidus Dance, 127th St. Dance Company, and as a freelance performer.

    Currently, CarliAnn is an adjunct professor of dance at Gonzaga University, where she teaches technique, arts leadership, and improvisation, among other subjects. As an educator, CarliAnn’s goals are to encourage each student on their own movement journeys and to feel more trusting of and comfortable in their own bodies.

    @tcarliannfordance @cann.dance.arts www.carliannforthun.com carliann.forthun@gmail.com