A celebration of civil rights trailblazer
Xernona Clayton's 95th Birthday

Featuring the opening of extraordinary art installations by Chloe Alexander, Grace Kisa, and Sayma Hossain honoring her incredible legacy.

Chloe Alexander

Chloe Alexander is a printmaker who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. Her most recent work focuses on using various printing techniques to create unique works and varied editions. She obtained a BFA from the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University in 2010. Since then, her work has been exhibited broadly, including at Kai Lin Art in Atlanta, the International Print Center in New York, and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in London.

Chloe has received several awards, including the Parent Artist Award at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California and the Penland Summer Residency Fellowship at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina.

Her work is included in numerous public and private collections, including the Harvard Museums in Cambridge, MA; The Museum of Fine Art in Boston, MA; The Fidelity Investments Art Collection; and The Petrucci Family Foundation for African American Art in Asbury, NJ.

Grace Kisa

Grace Kisa is a Kenyan  born American artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. A multi disciplinary artist whose primary expression is sculpture, her process is improvisational, a combination of creative play and problem solving. The materials that she uses vary from clay, metal, wood, fiber, and resin. with a focus on recycling and repurposing ordinary objects. Her work draws inspiration from the experiences of a childhood spent in Kenya, Ethiopia, Botswana, Virginia, and as a practicing artist in Georgia.

By taking what is familiar and transforming it, she creates narratives that engage various histories while working through concepts of intersectional identities, examining the processes of migration and cultural exchange beyond borders. Particular attention is given to ideas of comfort, alienation, adaptation and assimilation.Grace graduated from the Art Institute in Atlanta, Georgia and has worked as a professional artist for over 25 years exhibiting in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and overseas.

Grace has been published In The New York Times, Forbes, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, and ArtsAtl, Black Art In America, and Rolling Out.

Sayma Hossain

Sayma Hossain she/they (B.1992 Dhaka, Bangladesh) is a textile installation artist who navigates with found-objects, unorthodox quilt making and tapestry weavings. Her practice revolves around repurposing textiles or using discarded items and applying traditional techniques to the materials. Growing up at the cultural intersection of Bangladesh and the American South, her work reflects on highlighting labor laws in fast fashion, mental health in the South Asian diaspora and idiosyncrasies on food waste.

She received her BFA in Studio Arts with a concentration in Textile Design at Georgia State University in 2016.

She has exhibited internationally and has public installations across the Southeast in United States; some clients are Patagonia, Emory University, Midtown Alliance, Dashboard and Orange Barrel Media. She's currently based in Atlanta, GA.

In Full Bloom

In Full Bloom is inspired by the life, accomplishments, and legacy of Xernona Clayton. Prominent motifs include the yellow trumpet flower, instilling a sense of hope and joy as a symbolic nod to the Trumpet Awards founded by Ms. Clayton; and the Baltimore Oriole, one of two Orioles species found in the south, and one of only few songbirds that is also pollinator. Just as these birds are integral to maintaining the vibrancy of their ecosystems, their presence in this work is symbolic of Ms. Clayton using her platform to celebrate the accomplishments of others by honoring Black excellence and those who champion the African American experience.

Variation on a Dream

A meaningful connection is drawn between Xernona Clayton's life and work, and the metaphor of a garden. Just as a gardener nurtures a diverse collection of plants to create a vibrant and flourishing space. Xernona Clayton has dedicated her life to cultivate a more harmonious and equitable society.

Cultivating to promote growth, removing weeds to foster understanding, and building community and a legacy.

The garden represents a thriving community where the gardner cultivates the entire ecosystem, creating space that inspires, planting seeds that weave a lasting legacy.

Xernona Clayton's life and work can be viewed as a testament to deliberate cultivation.

Like a dedicated gardener, she worked to create a world where we all can flourish, leaving a legacy for generations.

Inspiration is also drawn from the poem by Langston Hughs:

DREAM VARIATIONS

To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide In the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening...
A tall, slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me

Threads of Liberation

The installation highlights Xernona Clayton's tremendous accolades. There are organic floral motifs woven in with rope and themes of her accomplishments carved into acrylic, depicting a storyline as the piece cascades above an arch, creating a canopy and another installation alongside her statue. The two works compliment one another as they depict her life in vivid colors along the park.