Zoë Gamell Brown (she/they)
Wapato Illahee, Oregon
Zoë Gamell Brown is an East Coast-born, Gulf Coast-raised storyteller, educator, founder and co-steward of Fernland Studios. Zoë carries intergenerational Boviander knowledge of plants, rivers, and ritual care from the Jishikibo and Bouruma Rivers to Wapato Island. Their work bridges art, Earth, and identity through narrative, herbal medicine, and land-based relationships.
A decade into sobriety and community practice, Zoë brings a deep commitment to healing intergenerational Earth stories and supporting cultural rematriation. Through Fernland Studios and their scholarship as a doctoral candidate in the University of Oregon's Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies inaugural cohort, they build space for Black and Brown communities to center ancestral wisdom and creative sovereignty. Zoë's leadership is grounded in reciprocity, imagination, and devotion to Earth as ancestor, teacher, and kin.
They are a Seeding Justice Lilla Jewel Awardee and a Madrona Fellow for Food Systems Leaders. They have received fellowships and residencies from Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Caldera Arts, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, the Pacific Northwest Racial and Climate Justice Futures Institute, and the National Education for Women’s Leadership.
Learn more about Gamell’s work: zoegamell.com