My Artistic Practice

"Your work being in black households matters because you become part of the black iconography. You become part of how black people in Kansas City and anywhere in the country see themselves."

- TK Smith (Curator, Writer, Cultural Historian)

My practice is a community-based practice where I am self-representing and placing the main focus on using artwork to strengthen the local Black community.

Past and present community oriented work includes:

  • Producing 3 full length films on local Black artists

  • Writing on Black artists for KC Studio

  • Hosting events at Studios Inc with Black artists

  • Serving as judge for KCPS student art exhibition

  • Curating the "We Are Enough" exhibition at Leedy-Voulkos Art Center

  • Curating solo exhibitions of Black artists including co-curating H=EM2, an exhibition of Black women artists

  • Hosting a breakfast event with local Black women painters for the “Still They Rise” article for KC Studio

  • Producing two UrbanKore exhibitions, empowering artists from the urban core of Kansas City

My focus is on cultivating relationships between Black communities, Black homes and Black art.

This ranges from art collecting and education to expressing and unlocking the creativity in Black homes.

“Art is best experienced when viewed in the environment that inspired it.”

Harold Smith

06/26/2026