Maya Freelon

Maya Freelon is an award-winning visual artist whose work was described by the late poet Maya Angelou as “visualizing the truth about the vulnerability and power of the human being.”

Her artwork was featured on the cover of Walter Magazine magazine and Garden & Gun magazine highlighted her work in the new book Southern Women. Cosmopolitan Magazine called her “one of the most badass female artists in the biz,” Huffington Post hailed her as one of “30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know;” and Complex Magazine celebrated her “Making Waves in the Art World.”Miami New Times selected Maya as one of “five Young Artists to Watch During Miami Art Week 2019” and her unique tissue paper art was praised by the International Review of African American Art as “a vibrant, beating assemblage of color.”

Freelon’s artwork has been  commissioned and collected by museums and galleries worldwide, as well as major universities and corporations including Google, Cadillac, Duke Hospital, the North Carolina Museum of Art. Her monumental tissue paper sculpture, created for Halcyon, was displayed at the  Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building. Maya’s work has been exhibited internationally, including shows in Paris, Jamaica, Madagascar, and Italy. She has completed residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, Queenspace in NYC, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Art on the Vine in Martha’s Vineyard and the Korobitey Institute in Ghana. Maya Freelon earned a BA from Lafayette College in 2005, and an MFA from the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2007.

Photo of Maya Freelon by Lissa Gotwals, detail