Blue jeans have a history deeply rooted in slavery, as the fabric used to make them—denim—was originally produced from cotton grown by enslaved people in the American South. Cotton was one of the primary crops cultivated on plantations using forced labor, and the profits from this industry fueled the global textile trade. Additionally, enslaved people often wore durable, rugged fabrics like denim, providing the blueprint for the hard-wearing, utilitarian nature of blue jeans. Thus, while today blue jeans symbolize casual, everyday wear, their origins are intertwined with the exploitation and suffering of enslaved Black laborers.
Sneak Peek Beyond: Tapestry Expanded
Step into Beyond: Tapestry Expanded and experience Blackity Black Blanket Ladders, a powerful visual statement on resilience and protection. Crafted from commercial fishing nets and black zip ties, these striking ladders symbolize the climb out of racial gaslighting and into self-empowerment.
American Tapestry Association’s Beyond: Tapestry Expanded
Exhibition Dates: August 26- December 15Location: Peeler Art Center at DePauw University; 204 E. Seminary St., Greencastle IN
Embrace: Expect the Unexpected
Im so pleased to share that, The Great Resignation Emotional Baggage Cart is featured in the Fall 2024 Surface Design Journal: Embrace: Expect the Unexpected, SDA International Exhibition in Print!
Emotional Baggage Cart Parade Kicks Off Today
Join me this weekend for The Emotional Baggage Cart Parade at the CARE Art in Odd Places Festival! This unique public art experience invites you to witness and engage with a visual metaphor for the emotional burdens we all carry. I’ll be roaming the streets with my transformed shopping carts, offering an interactive opportunity to explore and release your own emotional baggage.
Catch me at the following times and locations:
- Friday, October 18: 12:00-2:00pm, roaming Avenue A to 3rd Avenue along 14th Street
- Saturday, October 19: 12:00-2:00pm, roaming University Place/Union Square West to 7th Avenue along 14th Street
- Sunday, October 20: 12:00-2:00pm, roaming Seventh Avenue to Eleventh Avenue or the water along 14th Street
Come say hello and experience this moving installation as we transform emotional weight into art. See you there!
Artwalk NY 2024
ARTWALK NY brings together hundreds of artists, art-lovers, and other compassionate New Yorkers to celebrate the role of “artist-as-activist,” to raise awareness about the crisis of mass homelessness and to support programs that directly help homeless individuals and families. The vibrant live and silent auctions and lively cocktail reception have drawn crowds of prominent guests for over 25 years, and in 2024, features the works of over 60 influential and emerging artists.
This year, ARTWALK NY will feature my piece titled Embody Queendom (2022) in the charity event. As a artist, I love to support worthy causes with my work, as a collector I love charity auctions for the opportunity to snatch up works from other artists at cost. So don’t miss out on this opportunity to grow your collection and support a worthy cause.
ARTWALK NY will also honor Katherine Bradford as the 2024 Artist Honoree and Aileen Agopian for her philanthropic contributions to Coalition for the Homeless.
Key details
October 21st, 2024
Chelsea Factory
547 West 26th Street NYC
6:00 pm – VIP Reception
7:00 pm – Cocktail Party and Silent Auction Open
7:30 pm – Live Auction and Award Ceremony
About Coalition for the Homeless
The Coalition for the Homeless provides emergency food and clothing, eviction prevention, crisis services, permanent housing, job training and special programs for kids to over 3,500 people a day. Since 1981, we have given more than one million homeless New Yorkers a way off the streets.
Inspired by Joyce J. Scott
When I saw Joyce J. Scott‘s Garden Ensconced at the Armory Show, I was completely blown away. I was drawn in from a distance and completely enraptured by the detail of her beading.
Detail view.
Garden Ensconced
Medium: Sculpture, Plastic and glass beads, yarn, fabric, crocheted fiber, ribbon, stainless steel
Size: 124.25 x 93 x 6.25 in.
Year: 2024
Inspired by Haute Couture Macrame
This fusion of traditional artistry and contemporary aesthetics reimagines macramé as wearable art, celebrating creativity, texture, and form, while pushing the boundaries of fiber and fashion.
Mahogany Limbs For Me
Big thanks to McCarty for spotting that Facebook post about two long-downed mahogany tree limbs, each about 10 inches in diameter at the base. We’ve got a truck and a chainsaw—time to go collect them! In the meantime, I’ve been journaling some art ideas in my sketchbook, filling the pages with doodles and freehand stream-of-consciousness writing. Watch this space to see what unfolds!
National Leaders of Color Fellowship Deadline Approaching
The National Leaders of Color Fellowship (LoCF) is accepting Mid Atlantic region applications through Sunday, October 13th! LoCF is a transformative leadership development experience curated by WESTAF in order to establish multicultural leadership in the creative and cultural sector. By partnering with the other United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs) the program has expanded nationwide and its mission has become a national endeavor.
Mid Atlantic Arts is pleased to provide support for the Fellows from the 10 states, territories, districts, and commonwealth’s that make up our region – DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, PR, USVI, VA, and WV.
The Fellowship will take place completely online, typically from late fall through early summer of the subsequent year. During this no-cost eight-month Fellowship, fellows receive access to specialists in the field, strategic learning objectives determined to deepen thought on anti-racist and culturally-oriented leadership practices, and national-level network and cohort building. Upon completion of this program, participants transition to alumni status and have opportunities to collaborate with the USRAO in their region as advisors, funding panelists, and/or other professional capacities.
Learn more and apply
Radical Reimagining
When I learned that this year’s Newark Arts Festival theme was Radical Reimagining, I immediately knew that my Blackity Black Blanket belonged in the exhibition. The concept of Radical Reimagining challenges us to envision a world where art, culture, and connection shape everything we do. It’s a call to deconstruct the systems of oppression we know and to co-create communities based on equity and justice. Blackity Black Blanket fits right into this narrative by addressing the very real, yet often invisible, impact of racial gaslighting.
Blackity Black Blanket speaks to my personal experiences of racial gaslighting—those subtle, undermining comments that push me to doubt my own understanding of racism. Phrases like, “Are you sure it was about race?” or “You’re being overly dramatic,” are attempts to dismiss my reality and avoid difficult conversations. Over time, these interactions have weighed heavily on me, resulting in insomnia, anxiety, and emotional baggage that feels impossible to carry alone.
In creating this piece, I am reclaiming my power and crafting an aesthetic armor. The blanket, woven from recovered commercial fishing nets and adorned with thousands of black zip ties, acts as a shield—both literally and symbolically. It’s a form of self-protection against the weight of gaslighting, and through this work, I exorcise the demons of doubt that these interactions have instilled in me.
In the spirit of Radical Reimagining, Blackity Black Blanket embodies the idea of using art to confront uncomfortable truths and to build a world where marginalized voices are honored, heard, and protected. Just as Radical Reimagining calls us to reshape society, my work pushes for the acknowledgment and dismantling of racial gaslighting as we strive for a more just future.
Radical Reimagining
Dates: October 9 – December 1
Location: Newark Museum of Art; 49 Washington St, Newark, NJ
https://newarkartsfestival.com
