Ella Ray is a writer and library worker concerned with the manner in which refusal, worldbuilding, and illegibility can be embodied in visual and performance art. These lines of study are augmented by Ray's desire to create pathways for their people to access educational and artistic material for their own research and pleasure. Since graduating from Portland State University in 2018, they've supported institutions such as lumber room gallery, Oregon Contemporary, and their alma mater with exhibition writing, programming, and critical consultation. Ray was the 2019 Kress Interpretive Fellow at the Portland Art Museum and has been a writer in residence with the Black Arts Ecology of Portland, the Black Abbey Residency, and Stelo Arts. They made their curatorial debut in 2021 with the group show "Nobody's Fool," hosted by Carnation Contemporary. 

Ray's essays, reviews, and research have appeared in/on Variable West, Cult Classic Magazine, the Studio Museum in Harlem’s website, in exhibition catalogs for King School Museum of Contemporary Art, and more. Beyond work, Ella is committed to being a sister and a friend. 

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