April 2024 Newsletter

Dear Readers,

I continue to be grateful and joyful for the life I have been given. I’m surrounded by good vibes and love, which help me through the expected trials and tribulations of life. Your feedback, referrals, and generosity through these newsletters are a true blessing. There’s more to come in future newsletters as those prospects come to fruition.

Stay healthy, joyful, and engaged with what is loving and supportive in your lives

Best,

Cheryl

“THE VOID”

A SELECTION OF 150 BAY ST ARTISTS

May 8 - May 25, 2025

I will be in the company of 10 very differently talented artists in my Jersey City 150 loft building. It’s possible that I chose this piece because it is a “void” in a way—void of my facial features on the outside, with only traces of them visible through my makeup on the inside.

This ghostly white plaster of Paris cast of my face was made circa 2010. As often happens when artists get together, we play, inspire, and introduce each other to forms we may not have explored before.

I had forgotten it was hanging on my studio wall until the Call for Artists was released. It seems like the perfect object for this exhibit.

Note: It was photographed on a black background but is only the face, which I have always hung directly on the wall.

“THE STORY MAKERS-Tales of Black Heritage through Jewelry and Objects”

GALLERY LOUPE

Church Street, Montclair, NJ

EXTENDED THROUGH MAY 31, 2025

Please visit Gallery Loupe before the closing of this group show of art jewelry makers. Choose a favorite for yourself from among the four of my one-of-a-kind wearable works of art—Sculptures in the Form of a Necklace or Appropriation Bag Sculptures. This all female-identified makers' show is curated by Sebastian Grant.

CURATORIAL STATEMENT BY SEBASTIAN GRANT

Stories contain power within them, pushing the mind toward imagination while also recording memory. As the bearers of legends, stories serve as conduits of culture, bringing the history of tribes and nations to life. In the form of folktales, stories have not only been a catalyst for the preservation of African and African American heritage but have also functioned as essential tools for ensuring its survival.

In many African tribes, women often took on the role of storytellers, weaving epics from thin air to connect to an ancestral tapestry. Craft, like folktales, is rooted in traditions and techniques passed down through generations—often from mothers and grandmothers—engaging with the spiritual core of past ancestors.

This exhibition highlights the significance of craft-making for African American women and feminine-identifying individuals by showcasing seven artists who embrace the role of storyteller in their work. Through diverse practices, techniques, and backgrounds, these artists bring seven distinct lives into a unified narrative. Their objects—ranging from metalwork and beadwork to other mediums—explore themes of family and social ties, strength, freedom, equality, and the evolving concept of womanhood today.

ARTIST TALK

“TRANSCENDENCE PRESERVED”

IVY BROWN GALLERY

APRIL 19, 3-5 PM

22 1/2, 9th, New York City, NY

I thank all who attended the special programming during my solo sculpture show, TRANSCENDENCE PRESERVED, at the iconic Ivy Brown Gallery in New York City. This was the first exhibition of the entire body of work, developed over two decades. It explores cultural intersections shaped by my African American heritage—celebrating resilience, pride, and the beauty of survival. Because of the many stories shared by visitors and friends after seeing the sculptures, I know that this celebration resonates with Americans of all classes, races, and ethnicities.

The sculptures are transformed everyday tools, recreated as sacred objects through the application of gold pigments where the hand touches them. Encased in custom vinyl slipcovers, they echo the showcase living rooms of my youth—elegant spaces of pride meant to be protected, admired, but not touched.

“LESBIAN VISIBILITY DAY HONOREES”

CITY HALL

Jersey City

I owe thanks to Migdalia Pagan-Milano, with whom I previously served on the Jersey City Arts & Cultural Trust Committee, for nominating me for this award. It was overwhelming to hear about the many varied and important contributions of the other honorees and to be included in their illustrious circle.

One of the greatest joys of my life is the opportunity to be a contribution. I make it a habit to look for opportunities to do at least one good deed a day. It gives me so much joy.

CHERYL’S ARTIST PICK OF THE MONTH

ADEBUNMI GBADEBO

Adebunmi Gbadebo. b. 1992 in Livingston, New Jersey; works in Philadelphia .

A beautiful, smart, and talented young artist known in my circle as my “goddaughter” is Adebunmi Gbadebo. I’ve showcased her in my Instagram posts, highlighting her use of my hair in her pottery. These pieces are made from the clay of the South Carolina plantation where her ancestor was enslaved, which is now a golf course—both named “True Blue.”

This is the second of her pottery vessels adorned with my hair to enter a prestigious institution. The first was acquired by New York’s Metropolitan Museum, and now, The Carnegie! I often joke that, in the future, technology will exist to reproduce me by harvesting the DNA from my hair.