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Patricia Smith
Patricia Smith
BIO
Making art is my way of making connections. It is a spiritual journey that allows me to go deeper into who I am called to be. It is my way of opening me up, awakening me, challenging me, helping me to make sense of my life. A lifelong artist and social justice activist, I am always exploring ways to bridge my social justice work with the spiritual artistic journey,
STATEMENT
The four paintings in this exhibit reflect some of my art and social justice concerns. Joyce Scott is the Baltimore artist who inspired my response to COVID: an interactive painting that includes a Covid mask opening as a heart, worry beads that can be taken off the painting as needed, and prayerful missives on ribbons written by friends about their Covid experiences. The others are tributes to social justice heroines that inspired my activism.
Joyce Scott, Artist for Social Justice
Joyce Scott has always been an artist ahead of the art world, but finally received a MacArthur 'genius' grant, and I wept with joy.
Dawn Wooten, Whistleblower
Dawn Wooten is the whistleblowing nurse who forced ICE to close its Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla Georgia, charging that some detainees were forced to undergo hysterectomies without their knowledge.
Patricia Smith
United States
Breonna Taylor, Martyr
Breonna Taylor did not choose to be a martyr, but her slaughter by the police while she slept caused many of us to fight for criminal justice reform.
Rachel Carson, Environmental Champion
Rachel Carson was my first environmental champion, revealing the interconnectedness of all life, and the dangers inherent in pesticides.