Diamond Beverly-Porter, assistant professor in the Department of Digital Technology and Culture, has been named as a 2025 Artist Trust Fellow. The Artist Trust Fellowships are merit-based awards given annually in recognition of artistic excellence and dedication to one’s practice.
Professor Beverly-Porter is an artist, designer, and researcher whose work incorporates narrative storytelling and multimodal representations through video games and technology. Her academic work focuses on theories of play, storytelling, and game design, arguing that games are not just entertainment but also tools to explore and question social biases.
“As I was growing up, I saw how black people and black culture were represented in games and media, and it was pretty bad,” said Beverly-Porter. “I started making video games because I wanted to create the games and experiences I wanted when I was younger.” Less than five percent of video game designers identify as Black, a percentage that Beverly-Porter thinks is much too low. Her current game-in-development is “Rhythm and Rope,” an action rhythm game for Black girls and women. Set in an early 2000s summertime, players navigate and explore their Dallas, TX neighborhood over the course of a day preparing for a Double Dutch jump rope battle.
“The reason I chose Double Dutch is because it’s a physical game that a lot of people, especially Black people, recall playing when they’re younger,” said Beverly-Porter. “But it also has a really interesting and unique history as it fits into both Black history and geographic differences. The way Double Dutch is played and sung in Detroit differs from Dallas, so there are different approaches to explore.”
With video games, we see them as entertainment, but they have real-world impact in our lives. They have a place in our culture, and they tell us a lot about ourselves through technology.
Diamond Beverly-Porter, assistant professor
Department of Digital Technology and Culture
Washington State University
“Rhythm and Rhyme” is being built on the Unreal Engine, an industry-standard collection of interactive 3-D tools often used by leading game developers. Additionally, Beverly-Porter is composing accompanying music for the game based on the oral histories and rhythmic traditions of black southern cultures. “I really wanted to make a game that centers and focuses on black girls and how they cultivate identity as they play the game of Double Dutch,” said Beverly-Porter. “I’m also trying to highlight black girlhood because that’s an area of game design and development that is lacking.”
Beverly-Porter plans to use her fellowship award to develop “Rhythm and Rope,” including purchasing digital design assets and visiting communities to record anthropological histories about Double Dutch games. She also plans to build an arcade console to exhibit “Rhythm and Rope” at the 2025 BIPOC Games Conference at the Museum of Play in New York.
“With video games, we see them as entertainment, but they have real-world impact in our lives,” said Beverly-Porter. “They have a place in our culture, and they tell us a lot about ourselves through technology.”
The Artist Trust Fellowships are merit-based awards of $10,000 for practicing artists of exceptional talent and ability, residing in Washington State. The first Fellowship Awards were selected in 1987, making it Artist Trust’s longest-running award program. Learn more about the Artist Trust Fellowship Awards.
(Article republished from WSU Insider.)