2018 James Weldon Johnson Fellows in the Arts

Sonya Clark

Sonya Clark is a fiber artist known for using a variety of materials including human hair and combs to address race, culture, class, and history. Her beaded headdress assemblages and braided wig series of the late 1990s, which received critical acclaim, evoked African traditions of personal adornment and moved these common forms into the realm of personal and political expression. Sonya’s work has been exhibited in more than 350 museums and galleries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. READ MORE

Patrick Eugène

Patrick Eugène is an emerging abstract expressionist painter who challenges the social, cultural and societal expectations placed on and held by his contemporaries. His canvases are rich in color and emotion. Capturing the complex joys, anxieties and confusion of coming of age in New York City, Eugène’s work harkens back to a time before emotions were most often abbreviated into social media’s hashtags and brief status updates. READ MORE

Douriean Fletcher

Douriean Fletcher is an ever-evolving artist whose focus is to create the finest and most unique one of a kind wearable art pieces. She uses natural raw materials, gilded 18K and 24K Gold metals, and bold abstract shapes, to bring forth the awareness of an ancient yet futuristic opulence. She believes that through adornment women can define their beauty on their own terms. Douriean’s aesthetic, commitment, and quality of work led her to become the Specialty Jeweler Costumer for Marvel's Black Panther movie. READ MORE

Kamil Peters

Kamil Peters is a contemporary metal artist working out of Holyoke, MA, with roots in Texas and Western Massachusetts. His work embodies a wide range of intricate masks and sculpture to large-scale commercial installations, always incorporating the spirit of the past with a distinct modern edge as an interpretation of the natural world. READ MORE