Joyce J. Scott

Joyce J. Scott is a multi-media artist who constructs sophisticated bead sculptures incorporating glass, clay, textiles, and found objects that address social topics including racism, violence, and gender inequality. Her work scales from a human-worn neckpiece to a ceiling-high installation and has been exhibited in the U.S., Europe, Central and South America, Canada and Asia.

A lifelong Baltimore native, Joyce incorporates her family narratives into her art. When teaching in South Africa, Canada and Mexico, she applied local aesthetic in her work. “My influences are generally cultural,” says Joyce. “For me it’s important to impute the work with something that will resonate and follow somebody home.”

Joyce is an active participant in Baltimore, promoting creative spaces for the local community. “There was also the fact of seeing black people in the museum — not only as guards and maintenance workers, but also showing their work, working in the education department, the curatorial department, hanging out, part of the community. It’s got to be more of a collective experience. That’s important” says Joyce.

Joyce is a graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, and Instituto Allende in Mexico. She has been honored by the National Endowment of the Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Applied Art Helsinki, and Meguro Museum of Art Tokyo. She is also a vocalist, an actress and a writer. In 2016, Joyce was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant.