News
I was recently awarded a major public art commission by
the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH), in collaboration
with the DC Office of Planning, to develop concepts for a new memorial
honoring the more than 200 enslaved people whose labor built the U.S.
Capitol. This significant project seeks to bring visibility to an often-overlooked
history embedded within one of the nation’s most iconic symbols
of democracy. The memorial is currently in an early, multi-phase development
process.
I’m honored to have received a FY26 Arts and Humanities Fellowship
Program grant from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. This
support helps sustain artists working across the District, and I’m
grateful to the Mayor and the Commission for recognizing and investing
in my practice.
The DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities has also
acquired my work It Feels Like I’m Dreaming for the city’s
Art Bank Collection. Established in 1986, this municipal collection
includes more than 3,000 works by metropolitan artists and circulates
across District government buildings through the Art Bank Loan Program.
I’m deeply appreciative of the Commission’s continued support
and pleased to have another work join this distinguished collection.
Earlier this year, my studio was awarded the commission
to create a new public artwork for Historic Kempsville in Virginia Beach,
located near the intersection of Princess Anne Road and Witchduck Road.
The project is envisioned as a landmark reflecting the area’s past,
present, and future, integrating local history, cultural diversity,
and community identity into a sculptural framework of steel and illuminated
glass. Throughout the summer of 2025, I led community glass workshops
in Virginia Beach and Kempsville, hosted at the Museum of Contemporary
Art (MOCA) and the Kempsville Community Center. Residents created many
of the glass elements that will be incorporated into the final installation.
The dedication ceremony is scheduled for April of this year.
I was also recently awarded the commission to create the
exterior sculpture for the new Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington,
DC. This project is especially meaningful, as the school is conceived
not only as a place of learning but as a symbol of cultural strength,
equity, and progress. The artwork will be developed in close dialogue
with the mission and spirit of the school community.
In the studio, I’m developing new figurative glass works that invite
viewers into a space where emotion and color briefly align — where
color behaves like emotion itself: unruly, layered, and difficult to
contain. Using sgraffitoed glass powders crossed with bands of saturated,
cut-glass pattern, the figures carry a visual pulse that moves between
intimacy and instability. These new works will debut with Habatat Galleries
during Glass Coast Weekend in Sarasota, and later at the International
Glass Invitational in 2026.
I was honored to receive Washington, DC’s 31st Mayor’s
Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts. The DC Commission on the Arts
& Humanities has supported my work over many years and now holds
seven of my works in its permanent collection — a distinction for
which I am deeply grateful.
Previously, I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship by the
U.S. Department of State. In 2012, I served as a Fulbright Specialist
at the University of Sunderland and the National Glass Centre in the
UK. The people, facilities, and collaborative environment there had
a lasting impact on my work. I remain thankful to the U.S./UK Fulbright
Commission, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, the
University and City of Sunderland, and Creative Cohesion for their generosity
and support.