Islam

RAEESAH ISLAM is the founder and director of Utopia

Feni, a nonprofit for artists of every kind serving creatives locally and in Feni, Bangladesh. She is herself, an artist who was born and raised in this city and also serves as an Arts & Humanities Commissioner of Virginia Beach. She studied art at The Governor’s School for the Arts and fashion design + marketing at The London College of Fashion in the UK. She aims to bring everything she’s learned from travel and culture back here to her home of the 757.

Why did you decide to work in the arts?

I am an artist myself and I’ve gained confidence through the various programs I’ve had access to. If I didn’t have those opportunities, I wouldn’t have known my value as a creative person. My mission is to share the value of creativity so that others can find their value too outside of the everyday world.

What is your favorite part of being an arts entrepreneur?

My favorite part is meeting new artists with a spark in their eye for what they love to create. Seeing other people passionate about what they do and in turn finding appreciation for what I’ve created inspires me to keep going.

Tell us about a challenge you are proud that you have overcome.

The main challenge I’ve overcome was finding my own voice as a young woman from a different cultural background in Virginia Beach. I’ve had many obstacles beyond my control to get to where I am now but my consistency has proven to the community that I am here for what my purpose is.

What is one thing you do every day and why?

The one thing I do everyday is find time for self-care, what’s the point if we can’t enjoy loving ourselves?

Who/what is your biggest inspiration?

My biggest inspiration since I was a child has been my grandmother. She was a painter and passed away when I was very young, but she is the one who inspired me to take this path as the only other artist in my family.

What is the best thing that has happened to you in your journey in the arts?

The best thing that has happened to me has definitely been me finding my community and meeting friends that I can trust and relate to through what I love to do. The way we can make new things happen and are stronger together makes me know that what I am capable of can be achieved.

What’s being a part of the Virginia Beach community mean to you?

It means that I’m setting out to do exactly what I’m here for-to make people of every kind feel welcome and accepted to be a part of a place that has so much potential to be more than what it has been. Virginia Beach is where I’ve chosen to be.

What is your favorite thing about living and working in Virginia Beach?

My favorite part is the potential to grow-we can live a city or suburban lifestyle, yet take our time to enjoy our surroundings as opposed to a big city. We have pretty mild weather, all four seasons, rarely any natural disasters, decent cost of living, and live only a stone throw away from any landscape we can imagine.

How did you persevere through the tough times?

I persevered through tough times by remembering all that matters is what I have control over and it’s not worth worrying about something I can not fix myself. Asking for help when I absolutely need it has shown me the power of community through those times as well.

What do you want to achieve next?

Would love to keep expanding my purpose as an artist and business owner by creating more national and international avenues to create in. I’d love to keep exploring the world and bringing gems back home.

WOMEN OF THE

RITA ADDICO COHEN, Tidewater African Cultural Alliance’s Founder/Executive Director, began performing as a Traditional Ghanaian Dancer and singer at the age of 4 in her hometown of Accra, Ghana. She has performed as a professional musical theatre/opera artist from New York all the way down to Texas, including having sung with the Virginia Opera; and toured with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra in the title role of Treemonisha. A fluent speaker of 9 languages and a lifelong dancer trained in many international Dance formats, Mrs. Addico Cohen has combined her linguistic and artistic abilities to create a dance based three tier ACE (African Cultural Education) program that she has been presenting since 2015 for: K-5/Family; Middle School; and High School & Above levels. They are being offered in Chesapeake, Norfolk, and VA Beach schools, thanks to support from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, City of VA Beach, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, where she (TACA) is on the Teaching Artists Roster. She is also a choreographer and licensed fitness professional, and a frequent presenter at the international Zumba Instructor Convention, where she was named the 2022 Humanitarian of the Year. Mrs. Addico Cohen is a graduate of the Norfolk Academy; holds a BA in Classical Music from UVA; and Master of Music in Classical Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

What made you change your mind about going into music?

Though I’d sung/performed all my life, I entered UVA as a pre-Med. I’d won a singing competition that gave me free voice lessons in the Fall of my 1st semester. By the spring, I’d developed a lingering hoarseness that made my voice teacher give me an ultimatum: Go see an ENT (Ear Nose & Throat specialist) or I will stop teaching you. With the huge goiter around my neck, bulging eyes, and frenetic resting pulse, the ENT easily diagnosed me with Grave’s Disease (Hyperthyroidism). During treatment, I realized that I wanted to study what I had been doing all along. Coming from a very poor West African culture, the arts was never a viable option (compared to Engineering, Medicine, or Law) until I was faced with the possibility of never being able to sing again. The arts had chosen me, but I ended up choosing the arts because I could not imagine my life without it.