Creative Placemaking & Community Murals

My community-engaged mural projects explore the relationship between public space, cultural memory, and regional identity. Developed through creative placemaking initiatives, collaborative partnerships, and grant-funded arts programming, many of these works incorporate direct community participation as part of the artistic process itself. Influenced by a lifelong interest in illustration, animation, and visual storytelling, my work combines bold graphic imagery with an evolving fine art practice rooted in observation, painting, and place-based research. I am interested in bridging illustrative visual language with contemporary approaches to color, composition, atmosphere, and narrative. Working across schools, public spaces, and community sites throughout South Carolina and Appalachia, I have created murals addressing themes of local history, resilience, environmental identity, and cultural heritage. These projects include collaborative works honoring frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, public art recognizing Marines who passed through the Yemassee Recruit Depot during World War II and never returned home, and murals celebrating the railroad history and cultural diversity of my hometown of Estill, South Carolina. I also participated in an Appalachian mural project in Harlan, Kentucky focused on regional identity and community storytelling. Another project, created alongside local high school students at Benedict College, an HBCU in Columbia, South Carolina, honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through a participatory mural centered on community and collective expression. These collaborative experiences continue to shape my studio practice and inform my ongoing exploration of the relationships between nature, community, memory, and the environments that shape collective experience.