Akilah Scharff-Teoh is a first-generation Caribbean-American artist and creative technologist based in Western Massachusetts, where she explores the joy and toil of liminal existence. Studio Feeler, her art practice, is a combination of self-actualization, meditation, spiritual embodiment, and ancestral quest-making. While ceramics is her primary focus, Akilah’s quest-making intersects with photography, textiles, and collage. Themes around duality are recurrent in her functional and sculptural forms.

Awards, Mentorship, and Press

In 2024, Akilah has had the honor of being a recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant for Creative Individuals, the 4th annual Kaabo Clay Award for Black Ceramicists, and the 2024 Assets for Artists/Valley Creates Capacity Building Program. She was also featured in the September/October 2024 edition of Artscope Magazine.

Additionally, Akilah has been a Mentor in Residence (Interactive Track) and Dedicated Mentor at NEW INC, the New Museum’s incubator for art, technology and design in New York City, as well as a mentor for Black Public Media’s BPMplus program, which provides creative, educational, and financial support for Black creative technology fellows.

In late 2023, Akilah served as an Emerging Technology Consultant on the PBS American Masters documentary, Searching for Augusta Savage.