Adriana joined Project Success in 2024 with over 20 years of experience as a freelance teaching artist and youth worker. Through the power of the arts, she has empowered youth in building confidence, self-expression, and self-discovery. She has worked with various youth programs over the years, including Teen Programs at the Walker Art Center, Kulture Klub Collaborative and Centro Tyrone Guzman. Adriana has facilitated several artistic residencies with Ojibwe youth at Red Lake Middle School since 2017 as well as with Girls Getting Ahead in Leadership (GGAL), a program for immigrant and refugee girls and non-binary youth in middle and high school since 2020. Through these residencies she has guided over 450 students to collaboratively write over a dozen songs with accompanied music videos surrounding topics of mental health, school life, healthy relationships, pressures of adolescence, and self-expression.
In addition to her work with youth, Adriana holds a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Photography and has a rich history as a performance artist in the Twin Cities. Drawing from her multidisciplinary background and Afro-indigenous (Haitian/Mexica) roots she has composed film scores for internationally acclaimed visual artist Kara Walker, designed sound meditation chambers on WebXR, written, starred and scored a virtual reality short film, been featured on Fornite Underground Radio and exhibited photographic and performance works at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, among other creative projects. Under the artistic moniker Lady Midnight she has been named Best Twin Cities Vocalist (City Pages), Best New Artist and Best Album of 2020 (City Pages), and was named by the Star Tribune as one of “10 Current Black MN Musicians You Need to Know.” Her work has brought her to participate in many humanitarian and environmental rights benefits alongside internationally acclaimed artists Common, Moby, Andra Day, Aloe Blacc, Jolie Holland, Boots Riley, the NDN Collective and many more. She has provided direct support opening for Dessa, Atmosphere, We Are King, Antibalas, Rakim, MC Lyte, Black Pumas, Bomba Estereo, Las Cafeteras, and Juana Molina, among others and has performed at The Red Rocks Amphitheatre (CO), The Novo (LA), H0L0 (NYC), The Bottom Lounge (CHI), and historical venues in the Twin Cities like The Palace Theater, First Avenue, The Fitzgerald Theater, The Dakota Jazz Club, and Northrop Auditorium. As the Career Pathways Facilitator at the Project Success Best Buy Teen Tech Center, she blends her passion for empowering youth and multidisciplinary background in the arts with the dynamic programming that connects youth to their purpose.