Monica James

About the Artist

Monica Lynn James is an art educator and interdisciplinary artist whose practice moves between abstraction and narrative, engaging histories of land, memory, and collective responsibility. Her work is informed by Indigenous American histories and the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, with a focus on how these narratives continue to shape contemporary relationships to place and power.

Recent bodies of work were prompted by forest fires in California that threatened ancient sequoias, raising questions about land sovereignty, stewardship, and environmental loss. Working primarily on canvas, James employs an intuitive, research-driven process that treats painting as an act of listening rather than control. Layers of gesture, texture, and mark-making function as traces of inquiry, mapping both personal and collective histories.

James holds an MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a BFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art. She has exhibited and taught nationally and currently serves as Professor of Art and Program Lead for Art, where her studio practice and pedagogy remain closely intertwined.

This solo exhibition will open on Thursday, February 19th. Join us for the opening reception from 5:00–7:00 p.m. Monica will hold an artist talk at 6:00 p.m. that you will not want to miss.

Our studio and Monica have worked closely to plan a night of engaging with Black history and connecting with the African diaspora through conversation, artwork, family-friendly activities, and a piece of collaborative community art-making that all are welcome to help create.