Forbes Masters

@forbesmasters
forbesmasters.com

Atlanta, GA

Discipline: Interior Design, Furniture
Region: United States - South East

We are a black-owned interior design firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. We believe in creating spaces that harness positive energy for our clients to help them live a balanced, relaxed life.

Gavin Jordan

@gavinjordanart
jordanart876.com

Florida

Discipline: Fine Art

Halden Interiors

@haldeninteriors
www.haldeninteriors.com

New York/New Jersey, USA

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - Mid Atlantic

Halden Interiors has earned a name for itself as one of New York’s stand-out, full-service design firms.

Every detail curated at Halden begins from a place of deep exploration. The ability to interpret our clients’ needs and expectations is the cornerstone of our interior design philosophy.

At Halden we are unapologetically client-centric. We achieve design excellence because we care about individualism, that’s why our design process begins by listening and then we keep listening.

In the hands of principal designer, Kesha Franklin, residential and hospitality spaces are transformed into stylish and well-appointed environments. Each space is expertly refined and functional.

Our aim is to design luxury interiors with personality-stimulate the senses, evoke energy, inspiration and a feeling of total well-being.

Every step we take with you, through the design-research process, from curating the design concept and architectural detailing to furniture and art selections, is about visually articulating shared ideas and creating a stimulating living environment that you love being in and can retreat to.

Past commissions include, loft apartments, luxury residences, gut renovations, brownstones, holiday homes and city pied-a-terres.

Ishka Designs

@ishkadesigns
www.ishkadesigns.com

Brooklyn, NY

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - New York

Ishka Designs is a Brooklyn based full-service interior design firm creating hospitality and residential properties informed by their endemic concept "efficiently beautiful” - a conscientious, mindful approach pursuing the ultimate form of simplistic design + efficient lifestyle + the luxury of natural materials.

Interiors By Design LLC

@interiorsbydesignllc
interiorsbydesignmd.com

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - Mid Atlantic

Dennese Guadeloupe Rojas is the Creative Director and Principle Designer at Interiors by Design (IBD) operating from her studio in the DMV area that includes Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia. A highly innovative and seasoned designer with over 20 years of experience, Dennese has a diverse national client base with projects that include opulent family homes, vacation getaways and second homes that span the US and Caribbean. IBD’s client portfolio also includes hospitality venues and other commercial clients. 

Interior Design is Dennese’s passion…client satisfaction is her ultimate goal for every design project. Working collaboratively with clients and understanding their vision is essential to every project’s success. She takes great pride in helping her clients choose the best materials, fittings and furniture for their budgets. Interiors by Design has a talented and committed staff that provides a timely response to every client query… assuring every client that their project is a high priority for IBD. Consistent with our changing times, interior designers must be cognizant of climate change and diminishing natural resources. Responsible designers help their clients select products and finishes that have a low environmental impact and products that are harvested using sustainable methods. In her interactions with other designers, Dennese endeavors to raise environmental consciousness as an integral component of design. 

Creating luxurious and distinctive surroundings that reflect each client’s lifestyle is a cultivated talent that comes from experience and a true love of interior design. Dennese believes that designing a beautiful home is not enough…her designs are timeless, livable and easy to maintain. 

Interior by Design clients rely on Dennese… to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary! 

Johanna Howard

@johannahowardhome
www.johannahoward.com

Montclair, NJ

Discipline: Textiles
Region: United States - Mid Atlantic

Johanna Howard Home and Accessories is a line of Sustainable Luxury Alpaca home décor products featuring the finest alpaca wool fiber.  We combine a modern high design Scandinavian/American aesthetic with the ancient textile traditions of Peru. We do not believe that luxury goods have to be produced in a way that is exploitative of the environment or the people who create them, or that consumers have to sacrifice quality for sustainability.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Johanna Howard grew up in a culture that prizes high design and aesthetics.  Her mother owned a small custom-clothing atelier and combined impeccable craftsmanship with a unique sensibility.   “My mom didn’t knit snowflakes and reindeer. Her bold designs broke with convention and she used innovative colors and patterns.”  And this marriage of artisan quality and unique design continues to define Johanna’s look – inspiring such items as the innovative Beast Pillows.

Johanna moved to the U.S., and developed her design skills in the fashion capitals of Los Angeles and New York as a succesful women’s clothing designer.  But on a trip to an alpaca farm with her daughter, inspiration struck. She was immediately taken with the luxurious feel of the alpaca wool and also the fact that it was a far better environmental alternative to cashmere.  As a designer, mother, and entrepreneur she immediately recognized the fantastic opportunity before her. Within months, she was in Peru meeting people who are continuing a 6,000 year-old tradition of knitting and weaving with alpaca.  “Taking the rich traditions of Peruvian artisan knitters and weavers and blending it with my love and passion for colors and textiles is what makes what we do so special.”

“We create lasting, high-end, quality products that have a positive impact on the world we are leaving to our children as well as the homes in which we are raising them.”  Alpaca farming is done in harmony with the environment and does not destroy grasslands and create deserts like cashmere production. And alpaca wool is lightweight, water repellant, warmer than wool, and hypoallergenic.  Joining this “treasure of the Andes” with gorgeous designs that enhance any home, and collaborating with fair trade and women-owned studios in Peru, we are able to create an unparalleled product which is the essence of Sustainable Luxury (TM).

Jomo Furniture

@jomofurniture
www.jomofurniture.com

Springfield, VA

Discipline: Furniture
Region: United States - Mid Atlantic

Jomo Tariku is an Ethiopian American local industrial designer.  Jomo is defining a new design language for modern African themed furniture by synthesizing his experience of the continent’s diverse cultures, historical structures, architecture, traditional furniture, colors, artifacts, natural environment, endemic wild life, indigenous dresses and hair styles. Blending the memories of his formative years in Ethiopia with travel through the rest of the continent, Jomo’s design offers a new line of inquiry and experience of modernity while venerating the rich historical palette of Africa. The Nyala Chair, Birth Chair II and Kebero Stool series represent his bold approach to design, imprinting cultural themes and patterns on wood, metal, leather and acrylic.

Jomo has participated in international design shows in Dubai, UAE, Venice, Italy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Lagos, Nigeria, Montreal, Canada, and most recently in Milan at the Salone del Mobile 2018. His work has been recognized by Interior Design magazine as "One of the most interesting finds of ICFF 2017"

Joy Street Design

@joystreetdesign
www.joystreetdesign.com

Oakland, CA and Atlanta, GA

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - West

Kelly Finley is the CEO and Creative Director of Joy Street Design, a nationally recognized interior design firm based in Oakland, CA and Atlanta, GA. As a former lawyer, Kelly is no stranger to managing large, complex projects. With her fun personality, energy, and love of bold colors she brings the perfect combination of project management, creative design ideas, and unparalleled service to her clients.

Kelly Marshall Photography

@sans.murs
www.kellymarshallphoto.com

New York, NY

Discipline: Fine Art
Region: United States - New York

Kelly Marshall is a New York based photographer specializing in interiors, travel and portraiture. Her commercial and fine art work are interwoven as she explores inherent belief systems; how they construct our lives, our physical homes and in essence, our everyday reality.

KHI Design Group, Inc.

Kianne Hutchinson

Kiyonda Powell Design Studio

@kiyondapowell
www.kiyondapowell.com

Washington, DC

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - Mid Atlantic

Kiyonda Powell Design Studio, LLC is a boutique interior design firm based in Washington, D.C. that transforms residential and commercial spaces through thoughtful and innovative concepts.

Leo Tecosky

Leyden Lewis Design Studio

@leydenlewisdesignstudio
www.leydenlewis.com

Brooklyn, NY

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - New York

Leyden Lewis Design Studio is a full-service Brooklyn-based interior and architectural design studio. His aesthetic and design approach draws from his culturally rich Caribbean heritage of Trinidad and Tobago, urban sophistication, and classical European Modernism.  

The projects completed and in process at the studio  are diverse and range in varied scales. Commissions have included luxury residences at the Breakers, Palm Beach Florida, One CPW Trump Tower Hotel and Tower and other high-end luxury renovations throughout the NYC metropolitan area.  

Most recent projects have included the design of both the interiors and the facades for several multi-family developments in the now iconic neighborhoods of Greenpoint, the Gowanus, and Williamsburg  Brooklyn. Also included in the suite of development projects is and a stealth black metal and glass-clad monolith interrupting the traditional facades typical on West 114th street in Harlem’s Morningside Heights area.

Leyden received his Bachelors of Fine Art in Architecture from Parsons School of Design, The New School. Since Fall of 2017 he has served at the Director for the Institute of Continuing and Professional Studies at The New York School of  Interior Design along with running his practice. He lives in Brooklyn New York.

Linda Allen Designs

@lindaallendesignscom
www.lindaallendesigns.com

Las Vegas, NV

Discipline: Interior Design
Region: United States - West

Linda Allen is a visionary interior and lighting designer; most respected for her thoughtfully detailed custom interiors and modern sense of nostalgia that create a personal design philosophy for her clients. Layering light, texture and materials, Linda creates spaces that tell a story, enticing the senses and emotions. Drawing on her passion for design and lighting, Linda embarked on a challenge to create wireless lighting that was elegant yet multifunctional; to expand the possibilities of creating instant Living Rooms, Anywhere. Thus, her patented Live. Anywhere. Collection was born; the first Luxury Outdoor Wireless table and floor lamps to compliment Fine Living Furniture.

Linda Allen earned her B.A. in Interior and Environmental Design with a focus on lighting. She first apprenticed with award-winning architectural lighting design firms before diving into the world of interiors. Linda gained insight that the power of lighting can shape and inspire, further enhancing the experience of being immersed in a well designed environment.

She learned how to create personal stories through design. She first designed interiors and lighting for large design firms, before Walt Disney Imagineering selected her to incorporate her combined interior and lighting background designing story-themed light fixtures for Tokyo Disney Seas and Disneyland’s California Adventure.

Afterwards, Linda started her own firm creating highly detailed, custom interiors for high profile and “behind the scenes” entertainment clients.

Linda’s work has been featured on Network design shows, and has been named to the Library of Congress as an African American “Artmaker”.   Her design work and lighting have also been highlighted in national publications, including Luxe Interiors + Design, Better Homes & Gardens, Interiors, Essence, LA Times, Robb Report, Elle Decor, and Traditional Home magazines.

Lisa Hunt

@creativehunt
www.lisahuntcreative.com

Maplewood, NJ

Discipline: Fine Art
Region: United States - Mid Atlantic

Lisa Hunt is a Maplewood, New Jersey-based artist and designer. Her screen printed and collaged works on paper and panel explore the spatial and meditative relationships found within repeat patterns. Through the use of graphic shapes and symbols, Hunt’s work draws inspiration from a broad range of influences including West African textiles, African American quilt-making, typography and the Art Deco movement. Hunt’s work draws a connection to adornment throughout history while commenting on contemporary materialism and value by accenting her primarily neutral palette with gold leaf.

In 2021, Lisa Hunt will be a founding fellow at the New Hope Colony Artist Residency, and her work will be featured at International Print Center New York and the Trout Museum. Previously, Hunt’s pieces have been exhibited at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair and have appeared in Elle Decor, Interior Design, and Luxe Interiors + Design. Hunt is a founding member of the Black Artists + Designers Guild and is represented by Uprise Art and Stella Ripley Contemporary.

Lisa Love Art

@theartistlisalove
lisalovewhittington.com

Atlanta, GA

Discipline: Fine Art
Region: United States - South East

Lisa Whittington is a narrative painter and collagist that uses her brush language to laud and lament, document her biography, preserve the history, and tell the story of African American people.

Malene Barnett

Malene is available for speaking engagements; inquire below.

@malene.barnett
malenebarnett.com

Brooklyn, NY

Discipline: Textiles, Ceramics
Region: United States - New York

Malene Barnett is an artist, entrepreneur, and authority on the cultural traditions and practices of art in the African diaspora and how it translates into her vision of the modern black experience. From her sculptural ceramic tiles and vessels to mixed media paintings to handwoven rugs, Barnett continues to evolve her craft and share her African heritage with a global audience. Using natural materials like the finest wools, silks, pastels and clay, she uncovers a deeper language of her legacy and an authentic understanding of her cultural identity. A passionate connector and expert ambassador, her mission is to use art as a tool to create community impact and open doors for the next generation of black artists and expand the conversation around marginalization in the arts and create greater opportunities for inclusion. 

 As the founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild, a global platform and curated collective of independent black artists, makers, and designers, she is always seeking new ways to define the black narrative and experience for a new generation while bringing awareness to inequality. She’s also on the board for Cerf+, an organization that provides emergency loans to artisans and craftspeople during natural disasters.

 Equal parts artist, anthropologist, and activist, she hopes to bridge the function of textiles and ceramics from the African region by exploring what it means to be black in America today. 

 Her work has been praised in Interior Design Magazine, New York Magazine, Traditional Home, Elle Decor, HGTV Magazine, Luxe + Design Magazine, and House Beautiful. She was also on the cover of Brownstoner Magazine and Wendy Goodman’s Designer Lives video series with New York Magazine’s The Cut. Her entrepreneurial spirit was captured in the NY Times bestselling book “In the Company of Women” and Home by Hygge & West. She has appeared as a guest speaker on Morning Joe, MSNBC Your Business, and TEDx. Malene’s clients include Marriott, Viacom, Saks, WeWork, Avalon Communities, and the MetLife Building. In 2019, she was awarded designer of the year by interiors + sources Magazine and the RADD Award (Real Estate, Architecture, Design Development) from Brownstoner.com.  

 She is a sought after speaker and has done engagements and keynotes for KBIS, THE D&D Building, United Nations, The Affordable Art Fair, and many others.

 Malene Barnett is a certified MWBE studio and is based in Brooklyn, New York and is available for collaborations, public speaking, and business leadership projects.