Julia Paganelli Marín (she/her) is the Creator and Executive Director of Bee Balm Arkansas, a community writing experience begun in October 2022 with opportunities to listen, write, and share within and beyond Northwest Arkansas. Julia has been teaching and designing curriculum for more than a decade for adult, college-level, and high school learners and has published her research and presented at academic conferences about community writing. Julia is the host and editor of the show Bee Balm Presents, a collaboration with the Listening Lab at KUAF National Public Radio in Fayetteville.

Julia holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas. Her publications include her chapbook, Blush Less, as well as individual poems. Her editorial work has included reading and selection of work for The Arkansas International and Up North Lit.

Raif Box is an active musician who has lived in Northwest Arkansas for the past 25 years. He owns and operates the Fayetteville-based recording studio Holy Anvil Recording Co. Utilizing this space, he has created a video series titled “The Anvil Sessions” in which he captures audio and video performances live in studio. The show is ongoing, and serves as a catalog of local and regional music.

In 2023, he organized the first “Anvil Fest” - an annual event that showcases the artists that have performed on The Anvil Sessions and provides a space for aspiring creatives to connect with industry leaders who can provide insight and resources to our growing community.

Déa Self lives and works in South Fayetteville, Arkansas. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a BFA in Studio Art. Painting with oil on wood panels, she is inspired by the Ozark landscape and the plants that take over her house in the winter. Her paintings combine linear elements with the painterly, using both to investigate the conundrums of composition layer by layer. Each painting is an experiment that influences the next. Landscape paintings influence still life and vice versa.