Daniella Toosie-Watson (she/her) is a poet, visual artist and educator from New York. She has received fellowships and awards from the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, VONA, the InsideOut Detroit Literary Arts Project, and the University of Michigan Hopwood Program. Winner of the 92Y 2020 Discovery Award Contest, her poetry has appeared in Callaloo, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Paris Review, The BreakBeat Poets Volume 4: LatiNEXT and elsewhere. Daniella received her MFA from the University of Michigan Helen Zell Writers’ Program.
TAP Work:
“I’m hesitant to use the word “community” when I think about artistic spaces. It’s a word that is thrown around kind of loosely. That said, I’ve found something special with TAP. TAP is a space that feels like a version of community that I can align myself with. It doesn’t just provide care on the level of person-to-person (though it does, indeed, do that) but care is built into its framework as an organization. I think it is important that I start here, because it is the support they provide that allows me to do the rigorous work that they ask of me.
I’ve worked with a number of teaching artists that have shown me new, surprising, and fun ways to teach. The trainings and people I’ve worked with have taught me new practices for showing up for my students and for myself. The resources provided in the trainings have been invaluable. TAP has been a integral part of my teaching life. I’m grateful to have been invited into the space.”
Most Memorable TAP Moment:
“My most memorable TAP moment was meeting with my affinity group for the first time. Mostly, it was the tenderness I experienced. I’m not used to receiving that kind of care in a workplace setting. The three colleagues I was partnered with each in their own way created a space where we felt comfortable sharing our experiences, fears, joys and overall vulnerabilities within the classroom.”
Find out more about Daniella here:
