" You put down one color and it calls for an answer. You have to look at it like a melody.” - Romare Bearden

“Butterfly Girl” by DJ Spinna and Eric Roberson. Courtesy of Papa Records.

VISUAL JAZZ
Created in 2008, Visual Jazz is a digital media, film, and animation studio collective, created in honor of visual artist  Romare Bearden and musician Thelonious Monk.  We are storytellers, content creators, filmmakers, motion graphic designers, animators, designers, photographers, visual artists, and more. We are located in the Gateway Media Arts Lab in Mount Rainier, MD, and just inside the Gateway Arts District of Prince George's County. We focus on putting ideas into motion and producing original content and innovative stories and visual experiences in film, media, and performance. We are also interested in building our creative community and local economy through collaboration and through the power of film, animation, technology, media, and the arts.

Tewodross Melchishua Williams

Creative Director | Consultant | Filmmaker | Animator | Motion Graphics Designer | Projection Designer | Production Designer | Artist

Tewodross "Teo" Melchishua Williams (pronounced Tee-oh-droze Mell-keshu-ah), Creative Director at Visual Jazz, is an award-winning filmmaker, animator, designer, afrofuturist, and professor born in Washington, DC, and raised in Prince George’s County, MD. As a filmmaker, he is currently exploring projects in narrative and dramatic film, animation, short and long-form video, mini-documentaries, visual art, and more. His recent projects focus on concepts in science fiction, music, and Black culture. In addition to cinematic and artistic endeavors, he also continues to work in the areas of motion graphics, animation, visual branding, production design, and projection design in the DMV area.

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