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ABOUT

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DEXTER KOMAKARU

HE/HIM

FREELANCE ARTIST, ILLUSTRATOR + VISUAL CREATOR

2024 GCAC NAVIGATOR

Currently booking work for 2024 AND BEYOND.

Inquiries can be sent to me through the HIRE page where you can learn more about my creative process or directly sent to my e-mail dextrosearts@gmail.com. Reach out for a quote today!

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 Dexter Komakaru is the queer human behind his lifelong visual arts practice and creative design studio, DXTROSE, established in 2015. Born and raised in Central OH in the "bottoms" of the Hilltop neighborhood near what is now the Franklinton Arts District, he comes from a long lineage of visual artists and creators. As an Indigenous Northern Native American/Mexican person of queer and transgender experience, he views his complex and intersectional story as his superpower, using the hardships experienced through his lifetime as fuel for his creative fire.

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With a multidisciplinary background in visual arts, graphic design, and illustration and over half a decade of dedicated experience freelancing, he creates art inspired by his experiences and work throughout his youth in intersectional activism and community organising.

 

It's his hope that his lifelong body of work will be able to resonate with people who relate to the stories and struggles he's experienced, as well as provide inspiration to other aspiring artists for disrupting systemic cycles of harm and navigating a creative practice under capitalism from a revolutionary lens.

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In addition to working with clients as a freelancer, he is serving his second year as a member of the 2024 Greater Columbus Arts Council's Navigator's Program, representing the marginalised communities he comes from as a professional artist and expert in his field in the Central Ohio community.

As a GCAC Navigator, he provides creative consulting and peer mentorship, public speaking and panels on the arts, and connecting other aspiring professional artists in the Central Ohio area with grants and the necessary funding to continue pursuing their creative passions and potential. LEARN MORE >

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Previous clients include The Greater Columbus Arts Council, ForEveryone Co., GSANetwork, ResourceGeneration, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, The Columbus Metropolitan Library, Land Grant Brewing Co., Question Culture, and The Franklinton Arts District.

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Proud recipient of the 2023 Franklinton Arts District George Bellows EQUALI+Y Grant, Greater Columbus Arts Council's Funds For Artists 2023 Grant, a Congressional Commendation from the Ohio House of Representative's 13th District, and the 2019 Huck House Youth Award for community impact.

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Public art installations in Central Ohio include the Columbus Commons 2023 Egg Prize Machine and two public art sidewalk murals in the Short North Arts District and The Ohio State University District, sponsored by FLOWOhio.

EXHIBITIONS

SKILLS

PRESS + PUBLICATIONS

AWARDS + ACHIEVEMENTS

"EGG PRIZE MACHINE" PUBLIC ARTWORK - COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY X EGG PRIZE, PUBLIC ART DISPLAYED IN DOWNTOWN CBUS, 2023

"2023 OHIO ARTIST REGISTRY" JURIED EXHIBITION - OHIO ARTS COUNCIL, HOSTED BY THE CARNEGIE GALLERY AT THE DOWNTOWN MAIN LIBRARY, 2023

"INTERSECTIONS" 2022 SOLO EXHIBITION SHOW - SIDE HUSTLE SYNDICATE GALLERY AT THE IDEA FOUNDRY, SPONSORED BY THE FRANKLINTON ARTS DISTRICT, LAND GRANT BREWING COMPANY, AND COVERMYMEDS FOR THE 2022 FRANKLINTON SUMMER SERIES.

"WILD ART CBUS 2022" ANNUAL FUNDRAISING AUCTION - WILD GOOSE CREATIVE, 2022

"ROOTS / RAICES" LATINO HERITAGE MONTH GROUP EXHIBITION - FRANKLINTON'S WILD GOOSE CREATIVE, SPONSORED BY THE CITY OF CBUS AND LATINO HERITAGE CBUS

"ROOTS": THE FED ARTIST GROUP EXHIBITION - POKEBAP AT BUDD FOOD HALL, 2022

"ACTIVISTS & AGITATORS: UNDESIGN THE REDLINE GROUP EXHIBITION - MITCHELL HALL, COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, SPONSORED BY THE CITY OF CBUS, YWCA, 2022

"WORKS IN PRACTICE" - GLOBAL GALLERY, 2022

VISUAL ART + ILLUSTRATION

GRAPHIC DESIGN 

CREATIVE CONSULTING

BRAND IDENTITY SYSTEMS

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT 

ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD
MICROSOFT OFFICE SUITE
SPROUT SOCIAL
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT
PRINT + WEB CONTENT CREATION

ZENDESK
SHOPIFY
FIGMA
NOTION
WIX BUSINESS 

ABC NEWS / GOOD MORNING AMERICA (ONLINE)
THE ADVOCATE (ONLINE)
THEM.US (ONLINE)
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH (ONLINE)
10TV NEWS COLUMBUS (ONLINE)

TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER (ONLINE)
COLUMBUS FREE PRESS (ONLINE)

THE BODY (ONLINE)
PRIZM MAGAZINE (PRINT)
FLIP THE PAGE 2017 (PRINT)

GCAC NAVIGATOR - GREATER COLUMBUS ART COUNCIL'S NAVIGATORS PROGRAM, 2023
UNITED STATES CONGRESS - OHIO'S 15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT COMMENDATION, 2019
NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC ART AND WRITING AWARDS - SILVER KEY WINNER, 2019
NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC ART AND WRITING AWARDS - HONORABLE MENTION, 2019

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