Born in Washington, DC. Lives and works in Amherst, MA.
EDUCATION
2023 Honorary Doctorate, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2015 Doctor of Arts, honoris causa, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
1995 M. F. A., Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1993 B. F. A., School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1989 B. A., Amherst College, Amherst, MA
SELECTED ONE AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024 Descendants of Monticello, Declaration House, Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA
23-25 Scrolls from Reconstruction Exercise, Contemporary Galleries, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
23-24 Sonya Clark: We Are Each Other, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI; traveling to: High Museum
of Art, Atlanta, GA; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY. Co-curated by Laura Mott, Chief
Curator at Cranbrook Art Museum; Elissa Auther, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and William
and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator at The Museum of Art and Design; and Monica Obniski, Curator
of Decorative Arts and Design at the High Museum of Art
22-23 Sonya Clark: Hair/Craft, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD
2022 Sonya Clark: Confederate, surrender, Mixografia, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Sonya Clark: Edifice and Mortar, Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Sonya Clark: Heavenly Bound & Sonya Clark: Monumental Cloth: The Flag We Should Know,
a presentation of two concurrent exhibitions of Sonya Clark's artwork, deCordova
Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA. Curated by Sam Adams.
Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC (catalog)
2020 Sonya Clark / MATRIX 184, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
2019 Sonya Clark: Self Evident, African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Sonya Clark: Monumental Cloth, The Flag We Should Know, Fabric Workshop and Museum,
Philadelphia, PA (catalog)
Sonya Clark- Hair/Goods: An Homage to Madam CJ Walker, Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2017 Sonya Clark: Rooted, A. D. Gallery, University of North Carolina, Pembroke, NC
Entanglements, SECCA, Winston Salem, NC
Oaths and Epithets, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Both Sides Now: Joyce J. Scott and Sonja Clark, 108 Contemporary, Tulsa, OK
Now and Then, Tuttle Gallery, Owings Mills, MD
Hair Craft Project (in collaboration with 12 hairdressers), Welsh Galleries, Georgia State University,
Atlanta GA; University Art Galleries, University of La Vern, La Vern, CA (catalog)
2016 Follicular, Taubman Museum, Roanoke, VA
Bitter, Sweet, and Tender, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Joyce J. Scott and Sonya Clark: Generations, Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD (catalog)
Hair Stories, Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA
2015 Sonya Clark, University of Michigan, Institute of Humanities Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2014 Same Difference, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA
Black and White and Thread All Over, George Mason University, VA
Millersville University, PA
Hair Craft Project (Collaboration with 11 local hairdressers), 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
2013 Hassinger & Clark: Combs and Constellations (catalog), University of Delaware Museums, Newark, DE
Ahead of Hair, Contemporary Wing, Washington, DC
Material Reflex, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC (catalog)
Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Tales and Tresses, Seed Space, Nashville, TE
Converge: Sonya Clark and Quisqueya Henriquez, McColl Art Center, Charlotte, NC (catalog)
Sonya Clark, Russell Hill Rogers Gallery, Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, TX (catalog)
Snyderman Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Combs: Pieces and Parts, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, PA
2008 Loose Strands, Tight Knots, Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Groom Room, Delaware Contemporary Art Center, Wilmington, DE
Transformers: Sonya Clark and David Ellis, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2006 Sonya Clark: Tangles, Teeth, and Touch, Cannon Gallery. North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC (catalog)
Tangles and Teeth, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI (catalog)
2005 Genes and Gestures, Art at Marygrove, Detroit, MI (catalog)
2004 Plexus, Birke Art Gallery, Marshall University, Charleston, WV
2003 Reach, Maxwell Gallery, Canberra, Australia
2003 Sonya Clark, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Arts, Kansas City, MO
Growth, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY
2002 Sonya Clark, Galerie Goettlicher, Krems-Stein, Austria
Sonya Clark and Syd Carpenter, Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2001 African Inspirations: Sculpted Headwear, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA;
Traveled to Indianapolis Art Museum, Indianapolis, IN (catalog)
Sensory Perceptions, Galerie Francoise, e.s.f., Brooklandville, MD
Couples, Duples and Doppelgangers, Anderson Gallery, Birmingham, MI
2000 Head Ways, YMI Cultural Center, Asheville, NC
Wall Talk, Anderson Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan
Cultural Memories, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Common Ties (Bolaji Campbell and Sonya Clark), Wisconsin Union Gallery, Madison, WI (catalog)
1999 Prepositions, Galerie Francoise, e.s.f., Brooklandville, MD
Heads and Tales, Wisconsin Academy Gallery, Madison, WI
1998 Wigs, Anderson Gallery Pontiac, MI
Parted, Plaited and Piled, Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Diadems, Museum of Decorative Art, Montreal, Canada
1997 New Work, Kansas City Artists Coalition, MO
Sonya Clark and Vernal Bogren Swift, Jayne Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1996 Sonya Clark, Anderson Gallery, Pontiac, MI
1995 The Culture Within, N. C. A. Gallery, Fisher Building, Detroit, MI
Sonya Clark and Carole Harris, Anderson Gallery, Pontiac, MI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
24-25 Rug Life, Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, CA
The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC
Becoming the Sea, Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC
Celebrating the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC
2024 Sacred Space, Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, CT
The Wake, Dak’Art Biennale, United States Pavilion, National Museum of African Civilizations,
Dakar, Senegal
Better Days, Colorado University Art Museum, Boulder, CO
Art Department Faculty/Staff Exhibition, Eli Marsh Gallery, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
Styling Identities: Hair’s Tangled Histories, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
Spirit in the Land, Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL
The Mask of Prosperity, Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
23-24 The Sky's the Limit, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
(re)FOCUS@BWA: Then and Now, Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Philadelphia, PA
Monument, Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
Cultural Currency, Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO
Recent Acquisitions, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Cambridge, MA
22-23 This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC
21-23 The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Virginia Museum of
Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; traveled to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, TX; Crystal
Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Musem of Contempoary Art, Denver, CO;
curator: Valerie Cassel Oliver (catalog)
2022 Wear Your Love Like Heaven, Lisa Sette Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
2021 Word on the Street, Emerson Collective, Washington, DC
Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Beyond, Tang Teaching Museum, NY
Barring Freedom, San José Museum of Art, CA
Shapeshifters: Transformations in Contemporary Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, MI
Crafting America, Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, AR
2020 Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Beyond, Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College,
Saratoga Springs, NY
All Decked Out, Center for the Arts Gallery, Towson University, MD
19-20 Objects: REDUX, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
Women Take the Floor, Beyond the Loom: Fiber as Sculpture / Subversive Threads, Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
RAW: Craft, Commodity, and Capitalism, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2019 A Call to Peace, Military Park, Newark, NJ. Curated by Paul Farber and Monument Lab
Cultural Ties: Sonya Clark, Joyce J. Scott and Helen Zughaib, Baum Gallery, University of Central Arkansas,
Conway, AR
Reconstructing Identities, Chautauqua Institute, Fowler Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua, NY
Mediums of Exchange, Lehman College Art Gallery, CUNY Bronx, NY
2018 Declarations, Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond, VA
The Language of Things, Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
2017 Multiple Modernisms, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
Current Reflections, Landmark Arts Gallery, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Southern Accent, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Reconstitution, LAXART, Los Angeles, CA
Constructing Identity, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Revival, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
State of the Art, Frist Center for Visual Art, Nashville, TS
Power, Sprueth Mager, Los Angeles, CA
A Gathering of Voices, Rosenthal Art Gallery, Fayetteville, NC
Tell Me Why, Why Can't We Live Together, Lisa Sette Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
Flow of Form, Form of Flow: Material Morphosis, Galerie Karin Wimmer, Munich, Germany
Outcomes and Revelations, Craft in America Center, Los Angeles, CA
State of the World, Artspace, Kansas City, MO
Weaving Dreams, Miniartextil, Arte & Arte, San Francisco, CA; Traveled to Como, Italy; Chateau du
Val Fleury, Gif-sur-Yvette, France; Montrouge, France; Venice, Italy
2016 Premio Michetti, Museo Michetti, Fancavilla al Mare, Italy
Baltimore Rising, Riggs Leidy Gallery, Baltimore MD
At the Seams, Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Ontario, Canada
The Things We Carry, Gibbes Museum, Charleston SC
Material Mythologies, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN
State of the Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
The Faces of Politics: In/tolerance, Fuller Museum, Brockton, MA
2015 Material Fix, Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
Selfies: 50 at 50, Russell Hill Rogers Gallery, Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, TX
Identities: African American Art from the Petrucci Foundation Collection, Schmucker Gallery,
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA; Traveled to Ben Shahn Center for the Arts, William
Paterson University, Wayne, PA
2014 Eye of the Needle, KODE Art Museums of Bergen, Norway National Museum of Art and Architecture
and Design, Olso, Norway
Anywhere but now, Wilton House Museum, Richmond, VA
Loving After Lifetimes of All This, La Esquina, Kansas City, MO
I am: Money Matters, KCAD Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Brides of Anansi, Spelman Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
State of the Art, Discovering American Art Now, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Bentonville, AR
For Whom it Stands, Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD
Friends with Benefits, Contemporary Wing, Washington, DC
Multiple Exposures, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
2014 Identity Shifts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Hair Craft Project, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
9th Fiber Biennial, Snyderman Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2013 The Detroit Show, NCA Gallery, Detroit, MIMissed Connections, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA
In My Hair, Rack and Hamper Gallery, New York, NY
Arte Laguna (catalog), Arsenale, Venice, Italy
Dazzling Dancing Beads, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, SD
Nowhere Differentiable (catalog), Simons Center Gallery, SUNY Stony Brook, NY
0 to 60 (catalog), North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Gone Viral (catalog), Marion Art Gallery, Fredonia, NY
2012 Soul of a City, Brooks Museum, Memphis, TN
NEXT: Artists selected from 30 Americans (catalog), Contemporary Wing, Washington, DC
Art of Seduction, Rouse Gallery Howard County Community College, Columbia, MD
In Material, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (catalog)
8th Fiber Biennial, Snyderman Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Magical Visions, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (catalog)
2011 DUBH: dialogues in black, American Irish Historical Society, New York, NY; Traveled to:
Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
SOFA Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL with Snyderman Gallery
Identify Yourself, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Material Girls, Reginald Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD; Traveled to Cosby Museum of Art,
Spelman College, Atlanta, GA (catalog)
2010 Global Africa, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; Traveled to High Museum,
Atlanta, GA (catalog)
New Material World: Rethreading Technology, Sheldon Art Museum, Lincoln, NE
True Self, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
SOFA NY (Snyderman-Works Gallery), Armory, New York, NY
Hand+Made, Contemporary Art Museum of Houston, Houston, TX (catalog)
The New Materiality: Digital Dialogues at The Boundaries of Contemporary Craft, Fuller Museum of Craft,
Brockton, MA; Traveled to Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Asheville Art Museum,
Asheville, NC; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK (catalog)
Social Skin, Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA
Reflecting and Recollecting, 1708 Satellite exhibit at Linden Row, Richmond, VA
Wearable Art/Unwearable Fashion, Vis Arts Center, Rockville, MD
7th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman - Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Wearing Spirit, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, New York, NY
The Medium is the Message, Peninsula School of Art, Fish Creek, WI
Fiber Clay Glass Stone, NCA Gallery, Detroit, MI
2009 Generously Odd: Craft Now, Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY (catalog)
Black, D.C. Arts Center, Washington, DC
Rockstone and Bootheel: Contemporary West Indian Art, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
Dress Codes: Clothing as Metaphor in Contemporary Art, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
Complex Weave, Stedman Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ; Traveled to Center for the Arts
Gallery, Towson University, Towson, MD; Lore Degenstein Gallery, Susquehanna University,
Selinsgrove, PA; Robeson Gallery, Penn State University, University Park, PA; Fisher Gallery,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Carleton College, Northfield, MN (catalog)
Decadence and Decay: The Mansion Project, Krueger-Scott Mansion, Newark, NJ
Illinois, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju Arts Center, Cheongju, Korea (catalog)
Taking Time, Birmingham Museum of Art, England; Traveled to Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland;
Harley Gallery, Worksop, England; Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown, Ireland;
University of Hertfordshire Galleries, Hatfield, England; Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery,
Plymouth, England; Platform Gallery, Clitheroe, England (catalog)
Uber Portrait, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
Upcycling, Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Hair on Fire, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston, SC
Tasting Cultures, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, SC
2008 Political Circus, Ritter Gallery, Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL
Go Green, Dow Studios, Deer Isle, ME
SOFA Chicago with Snyderman-Works Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
MANUFRACTURED: The Conspicuous Transformation of Everyday Objects, Museum of Contemporary
Craft, Portland, OR
Second Lives, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
Duets, Dow Studio, Deer Isle, ME
Embrace: Atlanta, Mason Muer Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Political Craft, Society for American Craft, Boston, MA
Altered Geometry: Contemporary Sculpture from the Collection, Madison Museum of Contemporary
Art, Madison, WI
Conceptual Edge, NCA Gallery, Detroit, MI
Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas, UCLA Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, CA;
Traveled to Chazen Museum, Madison, WI; National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC;
Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA (catalog)
6th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
the matter at hand, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
National Black Fine Art Show, NCA Gallery, Puck Building, New York, NY
From Taboo to Icon, Ice Box Project Space, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Material Culture, Longwood Gallery @ Hostos, Bronx, NY
Conceptual Edge, NCA Gallery, Detroit, MI
and I am blue..., McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
Well Dressed, Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, NY
Orion's Belt, Sheridan Fine Art Gallery, Reno, NV
Hot House, Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Reading Museum of Art, Reading, PA
National Black Fine Art Show, NCA Gallery, Puck Building, New York, NY
2006 Explorations in Fibers (catalog), Ulmann Galleries, Berea, KY
Twisted Roots: WPA/Corcoran Exchange Project (catalog), DCAC, Washington, DC
Hair, Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
SOFA NYC (Snyderman-Works Gallery), Armory, New York, NY
Artificial Afrika (catalog), Gigantic Art Space, New York, NY
5th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Conceptual Edge, N. C. A. Gallery, Detroit, MI
2005 Small Works, N. C. A. Gallery, Detroit, MI
Material Inquiry (catalog), Macalaster College, St. Paul, MN
Yoruba Beadwork and African American Art, Bead Museum, Glendale, AZ
Community: Fiber and Clay, Overture Gallery, Madison, WI
River Arts Center, Sauk City, WI
Colucci Gallery, Madison, WI
2004 A Decade of Art, Wisconsin Academy Gallery, Madison, WI
Convergence/Divergence, Goldstein Museum of Design, St. Paul, MN
Draw Drawing, Gallery 32, London, England
2003 Rhythm of Crochet, Gallery 510, Decatur, IL
Moonstone Gallery, Lake Geneva, WI
Fiber Arts Center, Amherst, MA
Black Russian, Galerie Francoise, e.s.f., Brooklandville, MD
Triennial, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin
Destinies: Yoruba Art in America- Sonya Clark, Michael Harris, Moyo Ogundipe, and Moyo Okediji,
Myhren Gallery, University of Denver, Denver, CO
Threading the Eye, Sherry Leedy Contemporary, Kansas City, MO
Women on the Edge, R. Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Contemporary Art of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasilia, Brazil Museu
de Arte de Brasilia, Brazil
Pins and Needles, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Charmed Lives, Facere Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
Breaking Ground, Gallery at The Park School, Baltimore, MD
Hair Stories, Scottsdale Museum of Art, AZ; Traveled to Chicago Cultural Center, IL; Clark Atlanta University
Art Gallery, GA; Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA; Contemporary Arts Center,
New Orleans, LA; Forty Acres Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA (catalog)
30 Years at Second Street Gallery, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
2002 7th International Mini-Textiles Triennial, Jean Lurcat Tapestry Museum, Angers, France; Traveled to St. Gall
Textile Museum, Switzerland (catalog)
The Relevance of Making, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
Made from Scratch, Chicago Athenaeum, Chicago, IL
The Audacious Bead, Bead Museum, Washington, DC
The Freed Bead, Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA
The Belles of Amherst, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA
African Inspirations, Victor Valley Museum, Apple Valley, CA
2001 Amherst College Alumni Exhibit, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA
Objects of Affection, N.C.A. Gallery, Fisher Building, Detroit, MI
2000 Out on a Limb, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
Crosscurrents 2000, The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (catalog)
Women's World: A Work in Progress, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT
Bead International 2000, Dairy Barn Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center, Athens, OH;
Traveled to Mitchell Museum, Mount Vernon, IL; Pratt Museum, Homer, AK; University of
Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK; York County Museum, Rock Hill, SC; Holland Arts Council,
Holland, MI; Museum in the Community, Hurricane, WV (catalog)
Women's Work: Sonya Clark, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, and Gabrielle Ellertson, Gallery 101,
University of Wisconsin, River Falls, WI
7th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI; Traveled to
Kukui Grove Center Exhibition Hall, Lilue, HI; Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT; American Cultural
Center, Taipei, Taiwan; National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Providence University,
Taichung, Taiwan; University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR; Wright State University, Dayton, OH;
Murray State University, Murray, KY; Art Center at Hargate, St. Paul's School, Concord, NH;
East Hawaii Cultural Center, Hilo, HI; Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Kahului, HI
Mosaic: Culture and Identity in America, Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA
1999 Needle and Thread, Wendy Cooper Gallery, Madison, WI
The Practiced Hand: Constructions and Sculptural Fiber, South Bend Regional Art Museum, South Bend, IN
The Beaded Universe: Strands of Culture, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
Wisconsin Triennial, Madison Art Center, Madison, WI (catalog)
Cultural Influences in Craft, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
Color Theory, College of Visual Art, St. Paul, MN
State of the Art, Gallery of Design, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
Ancestral Images: Contemporary Interpretations, George Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO
NON-Function: Objects for Contemplation, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
1998 Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; Traveled to
The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, St. Louis Art
Museum, St. Louis, MO; Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, AK; Carlos Museum,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA; Detroit Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI; Smithsonian
Institution: National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC; UCLA Fowler Museum,
Los Angeles, CA (catalog)
Le Corps Habite, Galerie Noel Guyomarc'h, Bijoux d'Art. Montreal, Canada
Clarity of Seduction, Network Gallery, Pontiac, MI
Transformed: Textiles as Creative Medium, Natal Society of the Arts, Durban, South Africa
Exposed Treasures: Sonya Clark, Liz Cherry Jones, Joyce Scott, Tuttle Gallery, McDonogh, MD
1997 Pure Vision: American Bead Artists, Union Art Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA;
Traveled to Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA; Lowe Museum, Coral Gables, FL; Lamont Gallery,
Exeter, NH; Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK; Leedy Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO; Islip Art
Museum, East Islip, NY; Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA; Decorative Arts Museum:
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID; Pensacola Museum of Art,
Pensacola, FL (catalog)
New Eyes for Ancient Gods: Yoruba Orisa in Contemporary Art, Afro American & African Studies Gallery,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Traveled to African American Cultural and Historical
Museum, Washtenaw, MI
Rituals and Celebrations of the African Diaspora, South Shore Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
SOFA: Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art, Navy Pier, Representation: Anderson Gallery, Chicago, IL
Crosscurrents: Journeys Within the African Diaspora (catalog), Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
Surface to Surface, Art and Design Gallery, School of Fine Arts, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
What's in the Air, Kansas City Artists Coalition, MO (catalog)
Peripheral Visions: Contemporary African American Artists, Valencia College Art Gallery, Orlando, FL
12th Annual Greater Midwest International Exhibition, Art Center Gallery, Central Missouri State,
Warrensburg, MO
1996 The Rebellious Bead, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA (traveled through 1999)
Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
NIFTA (New Initiatives for the Arts) Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition, Besser Museum, Alpena, MI;
Traveled to Northern Michigan University Art Museum, Marquette, MI; Saginaw Art Museum,
Saginaw, MI; Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI
Materials: Hard and Soft, Meadows Gallery, Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, TX (catalog)
Growing Into the 21st Century: New Acquisitions from 1990-1996, Hampton University Art Museum,
Hampton, VA
ARTstravaganza, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
Art Reflects, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Word/Image, N.C.A. Gallery, Detroit, MI
1995 The Ties That Bind, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Traveled to Museum of African
American History, Detroit, MI; Jesse Besser Museum, Alpena, MI; Northwood University,
Midland, MI (catalog)
New Work from Cranbrook Academy of Art, John Wilson Center Gallery, Washington, DC
Celebration of Style, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
New Directions, Hoffman Gallery, Portland, OR
In/Justice, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
Intersections Interstices (catalog), Burlingham Building, Pontiac, MI
Expressions of Faith and a Marginalized Existence, Dadian Gallery, Washington, DC
Rhythms, N.C.A. Gallery, Detroit, MI
1994 Necessity and Memory, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI (catalog)
Hard vs. Soft, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI (catalog)
New Habits, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago, IL
Antibodies at the End of the Millennium, Forum Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1993 Chautauqua International, Adams Art Gallery, Dunkirk, NY
BEADED PRAYERS PROJECT
www.beadedprayersproject.com a collaborative project designed and directed by Sonya Clark created by over 4500 participants from more than 30 countries
EXHIBITS
2012 Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2009 Anderson Gallery, VCU Arts, Richmond, Virginia
2008 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Newark Museum of Art, Newark, New Jersey
Icebox, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2007 Haystack Community Center, Deer Isle, Maine
Purdue University Galleries, West Lafayette, Indiana
Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Queens Borough Public Library, Jamaica, New York
2006 Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, California
King Arts Complex, Columbus, Ohio
2005 Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, Massachusetts
NCA Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
Association of the Worldwide Study of the African Diaspora Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Florida A &M University, Tallahassee, Florida
2004 Silver Cultural Arts Center, Plymouth, New Hampshire
River Arts Center, Sauk City, Wisconsin
Montreal Arts Interculturels, Montreal, Canada
2003 Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Art Gallery, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky
McLean Arts Center, Bloomington, Illinois
2002 St. Thomas University, St. Paul, Minnesota,
American Library Association Conference, Atlanta, Georgia
McDonogh School, Owings Mills, Maryland
College of Art at Kwame Nkrumah University, Kumasi, Ghana
2001 Creative Alliance, Baltimore, Maryland
Madison Municipal Building Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
Seippel Center for the Arts, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
2000 Gallery of Design, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Canberra School of Art, Australian National University
SELECTED LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
Over 75 lectures and workshops held
2024 Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
Museum of Art and Design with Dr. Lowery Sims, New York, NY
2019 Textile Museum, Washington, DC
2005 Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
2004 Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, Maryland
2003 Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky
Milwaukee Area Technical College. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, Maryland
2002 Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, Maryland
Waverly Center for Teen Parents, Baltimore, Maryland
Columbia College, Art Department. Chicago, Illinois
Boys and Girls Club, Madison, Wisconsin
St. Paul's Schools, Brooklandville, Maryland
College Art Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2001 St. Paul's Schools, Brooklandville, Maryland
International Creators: 13th Annual Series. Harbourfront Center, Toronto, Canada
Textile Program, Sheridan College, Oakville, Canada
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
Packer Collegiate, Brooklyn, New York
City of Madison Minority Affairs Committee, Madison, Wisconsin
Vera Court Girl Neighborhood Power, Madison, Wisconsin
African American Ethnic Academy, Madison, Wisconsin
Wilson School, Mequon, Wisconsin
artWORKS Afterschool Program, Packer Community Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Upward Bound, Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin
Fiber Program, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Seippel Center for the Arts, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Coolidge Elementary School, Detroit, Michigan
Jefferson School, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Penland School of Craft, Penland, North Carolina
Textile Friends at Roslyn Chapel, Pencuik, Scotland
Mahindra United World College, Pune, India
2000 YMI Cultural Center. Asheville, North Carolina
Park School, Baltimore, Maryland
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Art Department
Sauk City Middle School, Sauk City, Wisconsin
Memorial High School, Madison, Wisconsin
Greater Madison Urban League, Teen Parenting Program, Madison, Wisconsin
Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, Virginia
River Falls Public Library, River Falls, Wisconsin
Milwaukee County Historical Society, Wisconsin
Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin
1999 Columbus Art Museum, Ohio
Prevent Child Abuse Association, Madison, Wisconsin
Greater Chicago Bead Society, Chicago, Illinois
GRANTS, AWARDS, AND RESIDENCIES
2020 Rapport Art Prize, Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum,
Lincoln, MA Kehinde Wiley's Inaugural Residency Program, Black Rock Senegal, Yoff Virage, Dakar
College of Fellow Award, American Craft Council, Minneapolis, MN
2018 James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award, Washington, DC
James Weldon Johnson Foundation Fellowship, Artist-in-Residence, Great Barrington, MA
2017 Commonwealth Professor, highest distinction, Virginia Commonwealth University
American Academy in Rome, VCUarts Affiliate Resident, Rome, Italy
Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs, New York
Brandywine Workshop Lifetime Achievement Award with Ruth Fine and El Anatsui
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship
2016 University Distinguished Scholarship Award, Virginia Commonwealth University
Distinguished Research Faculty Fellow, School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University
BAU Institute Residency at Carmago Foundation, Cassis, France
Gibbes Museum Artist in Residence, Charleston, South Carolina
2015 VCU Arts Faculty Award for Distinguished Achievement in Research, Richmond, VA
Style Weekly 2015 Power List, Top Ten In Arts And Culture, Richmond, VA
Kidder Artist-in-Residence, Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Fanoon Center for Printmedia Research, VCU-Qatar, Doha, Qatar
2014 ArtPrize Grand Juried Prize co-winner
ArtPrize Juried Award, Best Two-Dimensional Work
1858 Award for Southern Contemporary Art, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC
CODA Award for public art project with Gensler and Indianapolis Museum at Alexander Hotel
Theresa Pollak Award, Richmond VA
2013 Craft Research Grant, Center for Craft Creativity and Design
2012 Belle Women in the Arts Award, Richmond, VA
Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, Umbertide, Italy
2011 United States Artists Fellow
Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship
Cranbrook Academy of Art Distinguished Mid-Career Alumni Award
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship
McColl Center Artist in Residence, Charlotte, North Carolina
2010 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship
2009 Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) Fellowship
Outstanding Woman in the Arts for the State of Virginia VCA
Terry Family Foundation Edenfred Residency, Madison, Wisconsin
Donald Jay Gordon Visiting Artist, Swarthmore College
2008 Top Ten Exhibits 2008 (City Paper) in Baltimore, Maryland
2006 Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio Residency, Bellagio, Italy
Pollock Krasner Grant
2005 Ruth Chenven Foundation Award
Red Gate Artist in Residence, Beijing, China
2004 Romnes Award, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Emily Mead Baldwin-Bascom Professorship in Creative Arts
Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professor in the Arts Residency, Marshall University, West Virginia
2002 University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Grant
Meta Schroeder Beckner Endowment Grant Funding for the Beaded Prayers Project
2001 University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Grant
CityArts Grant (Baltimore, Maryland)
2000 University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Grant
Lillian Elliott Award
Meta Schroeder Beckner Endowment Grant
Wisconsin Arts Board Artist Fellowship Award
1999 Arts Institute Edna Wiechers Grant
1997 University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Grant
1996 Hunter Museum of Art Juror's Choice Award, Juror: Sam Gilliam
1994 Nita "Billie" Barak Memorial Merit Scholarship (Cranbrook Academy of Art)
Smithsonian Institution Graduate Fellowship (National Museum of African Art)
1993 Philip Morris Fellowship for graduate education at Cranbrook Academy of Art
1992 Jack Lenor Larsen Scholarship (Haystack Mountain School of Crafts)
Undergraduate Merit Scholarship (Art Institute of Chicago)
1988 Excellence in Scholarship Prize in Psychology (Amherst College)
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arizona State University Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Blanton Museum, University of Texas at Austin
Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, Florida
Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Hampton Museum, Hampton, Virginia
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, Madison, Wisconsin
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin
Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
Memphis Brooks Museum, Memphis, Tennessee
Middlebury College Museum of Art,
Middlebury, Connecticut
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Mott - Warsh Collection, Flint, Michigan
Musees d’Angers, Angers, France
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
Petrucci Family Foundation Collection, Asbury, New Jersey
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
Sprint Collection, Overland Park, Kansas
United States Embassy, Abuja, Nigeria, Art in Embassies, US Department of State
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
United States Embassy, Abuja, Nigeria
Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, Virginia
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
Yale University, The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Connecticut
PRESENTATIONS AND LECTURES
Museums
2009 Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York
2008 Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York
2006 American Folk-Art Museum, New York, New York
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
2002 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
2001 Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
1999 Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.
1998 Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Montreal, Canada
1997 Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.
Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
1996 Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
Hampton Museum, Hampton, Virginia
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.
The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.
1994 National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.
Schools
2022 University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD
2007 Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, Oregon
2006 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
2003 Denver University, Denver, Colorado
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Michigan
Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky
2002 Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
1999 College of Visual Arts, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
1998 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina
1997 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Michigan
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Surface Design Association Conference, Lawrence, Kansas
1996 Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
University of Kansas -Lawrence, Lawrence, Kansas
1994 Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Conferences
2016 Keynote, American Craft Council Conference, Omaha, Nebraska
College Art Association, "The Black Craftsman Situation", Washington, DC
2015 International Society for Improvised Music, Chateaux d'oex, Switzerland
2014 Embodied Knowledge: Sensory Studies in the 21st Century: University of Wisconsin-Madison
2010 A Complex Weave: Women and Identity in Contemporary Art, Towson University
2009 Art of Fine Craft, Lincoln, Nebraska
Embodying the Sacred, VCU Anderson Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Recycling in African Art, Harn Museum, Gainesville, Florida
Making Past, Present and Future Conference, Haystack, Deer Isle, Maine
Panelist, Transformations, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
2005 Craft and Design: Hand, Mind and Creative Process, Haystack, Deer Isle, Maine
2004 Craft and Design: Hand, Mind and Creative Process, Haystack, Deer Isle, Maine
2003 Porter Colloquium on African American Art, Howard University, Washington, DC
2002 College Art Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1999 N. C. A. National Conference, Detroit, Michigan
1998 Bead Society of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Mid-Year Art Conference, Detroit Public Schools, Detroit, Michigan
1997 N. C. A. National Conference, Detroit, Michigan
1994 N. C. A. National Conference, Detroit, Michigan
Fiber Now: Student Conference, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
PUBLISHED ARTICLES
"Sonya Clark," McClister, Nell, ARTFORUM, September 2019, pp. 252-253
"A Legacy: Hair, Language, Textiles", Clark, S., American Craft Inquiry, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2017, pp. 70-81
"Pepper and Perfume," Clark, S., ed. Garrett, N., The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook, Powerhouse Books,
2016, pp. 90-91
"Hair Craft Project", Clark, Sonya, NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art (Duke Press), No. 17,
November 2015, pp. 90-92
"The Hair Craft Project," Clark, Sonya, ed. full color catalogue, 117 pages, 2015
"Sounding the Ancestors: Art, DNA and Music", Art Practical: 6.3 Dimensions Expanded Measures of Textiles,
Feb. 26, 2015 ed. Douglas, Diane and Vicki Halper.
"Choosing Craft: A History of Artists' Words" ed. Douglas, Diane and Vicki Halper, University of North Carolina
Press (Chapel Hill), 2009, pp 37-39
"Hand-me-downs: our stories held in objects, materials and processes" Haystack Monograph #17, 2004, pp. 4-8
"In Review: Nick Sargent", Sonya Clark, Surface Design Journal, Vol. 28, No. 1, Fall 2003, pp. 54-55
"Beneath Pattern: Investigating Symmetry", Sonya Clark, Surface Design Journal, Summer 2000
"Sonya Clark in Her Own Words", Doran Ross ed., Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity,
UCLA Fowler Museum,1998. pp. 184-185
"Portfolio: Sonya Clark", American Craft, Vol. 57, No. 5, October/November 1997, p. 100
"Sculptural Headdresses" Sonya Clark, Ornament, Vol. 20, No. 3, Spring 1997, pp. 32-37.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2011 Tacit: recent regional alumni from VCU Craft, Visual Arts Center of Richmond
2008 Familiar Faces, Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Devorah Sperber, Kim Kamens, Xiang Yang, Lia Cook, Na-Jung Kim
2007 Hush Lush, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Martinsville, Virginia
Jack Wax, Debbie Quick, Susie Ganch, Xenobia Bailey, Susie Brandt, Bean Finneran
Xenobia Bailey, Natasha St. Michael, Michal Zehavi, Nancy Koenigsberg, Kyoung Ae Cho
Rachel Hayes, Piper Shepard
2004 Repeat, Repeat, Design Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Co-curator: Jennifer Angus)
Jerry Bleem, Susie Brandt, Kyoung Ae Cho, and Piper Shepard
2000 Joyful Blues: Pattern in Yoruba Adire Cloth (Photography curator), Gallery of Design,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
MEMBERSHIPS AND COMMITTEES
Advisory Board, Advisory Committee of the Center for the Art of Africa and its Diasporas,
University of Texas-Austin (2013 - present)
Member, American Craft Council, (2011-2014)
Advisory Board, Textile Museum, Washington, DC (2010-2013)
Advisory Board, VMFA, Friends 4A (2010-2013)
Advisory Board, Big Brothers, Big Sisters (2010-2013)
North Carolina Arts Council, Juror FY 2010 Artist Fellowship Program (2010)
Ohio Art Council, Juror FY 2005 Artist Fellowship Program (2004)
Illinois Arts Council, Juror FY 2001 Artists Fellowship Program (2000)
Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission- Arts Grant Advisory Panel (2000)
Wisconsin Arts Board Percent for Art Selection Committee (1998 to 2000)
Board Member, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (2000 to 2003)
Board Member, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2000 to 2009)
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
2018 - Present Professor of Art and the History of Art, Amherst College, Amherst, NY
2018 Acuff Visiting Professor, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville TS
2017 - 2018 Visiting Artist in Residence, Amherst College, Amherst MA
2006 - 2017 Professor and Chair, Craft/Material Studies, VCU School of the Arts, Richmond, Virginia
2004 - 2006 Baldwin Bascom Professor of Creative Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2002 - 2005 Associate Professor, Design Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1997 - 2002 Assistant Professor, Design Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1996 - 1997 Visiting Instructor, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
1996 Adjunct Faculty, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Adjunct Faculty, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
1995 Adjunct Faculty, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1993 Apprentice, The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania