Our Story

 

Who Are The Owners And Facilitators Of Project Human X?

Cree Sahidah Glanz: Co-Founder (pictured left)

Marquez Scoggin: Co-Founder (pictured right)

How Did Project Human X Begin?

 

Our journey as a community art center began with us hosting art parties in a small studio apartment in January of 2019. 

We felt the need to create a judgment free space where human beings could express themselves freely and connect with other human beings from different cultures. We supplied our guests with paint, brushes, & canvases, and we allowed our home to be a safe haven for freedom of expression. During these events we received a tremendous amount of positive feedback. We heard things such as:

“I love how accepting and non-judgmental everyone is here”
“After painting I felt a lot more peace”
“Painting and collaborating with others was way more fun than I expected”
“Carbondale needs this kind of experience, the world needs this kind of experience”



After realizing how much the humans in our community valued the Project Human X experience it led us to believe that we should expand and find a facility to host larger events. In August of 2019 we found a space that we believed would be the perfect location for the first Project Human X. The space needed a massive amount of renovation before we could open it up to the community. We invested all of our hard earned money into making the space suitable & beautiful for community events. After months of hard work and learned lessons we opened our doors to the Carbondale community on November 15th, 2019.

Cree Sahidah Glanz - is a wife, entrepreneur, artist and mother to be. She went to Southern Illinois University- Carbondale to study biological anthropology (the study of humans) and environmental science. Glanz has had experiences across the globe including interning at a chimpanzee sanctuary in Quebec, Canada to study non-invasive primate behavior & language acquisition in chimps. She also studied abroad with Stony Brook University, New York to study primatology & environmental education in Madagascar.

Her work in Madagascar revolved around facilitating environmental education through art in remote villages with the reforestation team & education team at Centre ValBio in Ranomafana, Madagascar. More information about Centre Valbio Research Center can be found here. She found that the children appreciated learning about their forests & told stories of their surrounding environment through art. The children also measured newly planted trees and learned how to keep the forest growing in a healthy manner. Art supplies were given to the schools to use for future projects.

It wasn't the easiest to communicate because Cree was not fully fluent in Malagasy. In order to understand the youth's storytelling, she used art as a communication tool. With the help of team members from CVB, this mission could have not taken place. Cree has much gratitude in her heart to have had the opportunity to study and learn from the amazing minds at Centre ValBio Research Center.

She dreams of initiating more environmental education experiences around the world, beginning in the Carbondale community. One of her missions includes traveling back to Madagascar to provide more art experiences, create collaborative murals with the community and to give more art supplies. Glanz is married to Marquez Scoggin and mother of their daughter Masterpeace. Glanz loves to teach art classes, learn new languages, create murals and work on uplifting community projects.


Marquez Scoggin - is a husband, entrepreneur, artist, and father. Marquez went to Southern Illinois University Carbondale to study business management with a specification in entrepreneurship. Marquez started his first business while in college with Joshua Bowens. The business was a clothing company called Project One Race and its mission was to unite Human Beings to end racism. One of Marquez’s biggest inspirations is his loving Mother Renita Woods. His mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while he was at SIUC, and he decided to leave school to take care of her. While on the journey of finding a cure for cancer with his mother he found a passion for creating art. Marquez loved the look of joy on his mother's face after showing her one of his new creations. Marquez lost his mother in May 2019. Since Marquez’s mother passed away he has been on a mission to make Earth a beautiful place for all of humanity.