Im often asked what are the microaggressions I experience the most, so I made a video.
This video will play in the next iteration of Free Your Mind’s installation.
Register for Free Your Mind Art Talk
I am giving a virtual lecture for the Mid Atlantic Fiber Association on March 28 at 7:00pm ET about Free Your Mind.
Free Your Mind is a collection of personal narratives. Participants are invited to share a personal experience with implicit bias to release this story from their personal narrative.
Please join me, registration is Free… HERE
And feel free to share your story HERE
Free Your Mind: Artist Talk 10/15/22
Please join me for my artist talk this Saturday, October 15 from 1:00-2:00pm on Governors Island at to learn more about my social justice public art project Free Your Mind.
Location: Art Crawl Harlem House; 406b Colonels Row, Governors Island, NYC
Free Your Mind is a public textile art project aiming to collect, exhibit, embed and release personal narratives about Microaggressions in a multi-sensory installation facilitated by artist Theda Sandiford.
Participants are invited to write a story about a microaggression they have experienced onto a ribbon and tie this ribbon onto a net to release this story from their personal narrative. This is a story ribbon.
The installation evolves with each new story ribbon, keeping a public record of disempowering interactions, that can be exposed and talked about. Participants have the feeling of being seen and acknowledged while interacting with the work.
In 2021 Free Your Mind toured, collecting story ribbons in Bayonne NJ, Jersey City NJ, Sunsets @ The Standard, Miami Art Week. The installation is currently at Governors Island May through October 2022 and made stops in Indianapolis for Butter Fair. Free Your Mind is scheduled to travel to Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Newark and Michigan next year in 2023.
Free Your Mind @ Butter
BUTTER seeks to push boundaries by elevating Black artists in the national conversation, promoting equity in the arts and fueling the creative economy. The multi-day fine art fair in Indianapolis will showcase the works of more than 50 Black visual artists from across the country. I am representing New Jersey with my installation “Free Your Mind” and my Emotional Baggage Cart series.
General admission tickets are available for purchase at www.butterartfair.com for $35 (guests 18 and under are free). Preview Night tickets (includes Thursday night access) will be available for purchase for $175.
I will be attending the VIP Preview night and part of opening day before heading back to Jerz.
Thursday, September 1: VIP Preview Night, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, September 2: Opening Day and Night, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday, September 3: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Free Your Mind: Live Demo This Weekend
Live Art Demos: August 6 and August 20 from 11a – 3pm.
Location: Governors Island, ArtCrawl Harlem house, 406b Colonels Row
The installation runs through the end of August 2022
Free Your Mind is a collection of personal narratives. Participants are invited to share a personal experience with implicit bias to release this story from their personal narrative. Later, artist Theda Sandiford will weave these stories into a protective blanket.
Share your Story here
I’m on Governors Island Every Saturday
Free Your Mind Public Art Installation @ Art Crawl Harlem
Live Art Demos on July 23, July 30, August 6 and August 13 from 11a – 3pm.
Location: Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row
The installation is on display through the end of August 2022.
Come hang out and play with me while I live weave a new emotional baggage cart. Feel free to bring any recycled fibers or textiles to weave onto the cart. No experience necessary.
Join Me on Governors Island next weekend
Free Your Mind Public Art Installation @ Art Crawl Harlem
Live Art Demos on July 9, July 16, August 6 and August 20 from 11a – 3pm.
Location: Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row
The installation is on display through the end of August 2022.
Come hang out and play with me while I live weave a new emotional baggage cart.
Free Your Mind is a collection of personal narratives. Participants are invited to share an personal experience with implicit bias to release this story from their personal narrative. Later, artist Theda Sandiford will weave these stories into a protective blanket.
July Exhibitions
Chutes and Ladders
Window Installation on display through July 30th
Location: Art 150, studio #231. 150 Bay Street.
Enter at Provost and First Street and ride the elevator to the 2nd floor. Studio # 231
Free Your Mind Public Art Installation @ Art Crawl Harlem
Live Art Demos: July 9, July 16, August 6 and August 20 from 11a – 3pm.
The installation runs through the end of August 2022
Location: Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row
Tell Me More About Yourself (Self-Portraits and other Autobiographical Endeavors)
Exhibition Dates: June 25, 2022 – August 5, 2022
Location: Gallery Aferro, 73 Market St, Newark, NJ
Public Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12:00-6:00pm
2022 New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence.
Exhibition On View: June 18, 2022 – April 30, 2023
Museum Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9am to 4:45pm; Closed Mondays and all State Holidays
Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ
Sculpture Walk Springfield 2022-2023
Exhibition Dates: Now through May 21, 2023
Location: 411 N. Sherman Parkway, Springfield MO
Free Your Mind from Microaggressions with Me this Saturday
“Free Your Mind” is a cascade of story ribbons tied to fishing nets draped upon the wall like a blanket. Visitors are invited to share written statements about experienced microaggression on a “story” ribbon which I will weave into the “Free Your Mind” blanket. Infusing the essence and yarn of each participant into the social fabric of a protective blanket.
Free Your Mind Public Art Installation
Exhibition Dates: On view for the public Thursday through Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00PM until the end of August
Location: ArtCrawl Harlem @ Governors Island, 406b Colonels Row
Theda In Residence: June 25, July 2, July 16, from 11a – 3pm.
About You Are So Articulate…
