Gabbie Barnes is a Black, multicultural dreamer living, working, surviving, and sometimes thriving in Hartford, CT. She is a daughter, soul sister, plant doula, mentor, librarian, consultant, mentee, and hobby hoarder. In her spare time, she keeps her hands busy with fiber arts projects and other crafts. She nourishes her body through the practice of yoga, the sport of paddle boarding, and by communing with nature through hiking.

In 2022, Gabbie stumbled on a TikTok video posted by the Sacramento artist collective known as Broad Room. A lightbulb went off — we could do this in Connecticut, and this is in perfect alignment with the mutual aid principle of redistribution. There is this idea that mutual aid can only be crisis work; that it can only exist to meet our basic survival needs. Gabbie believes that art, and the desire to create, is a human instinct that deserves to be treated as essential.