Tiffany Gaines is a writer, curator, and multimedia creator interested in highlighting the diverse arts and artists of her community through curatorial work, content creation, and writing. As an artist and creative, her growing practice unpacks the intersections of narrative, history, and possibility as she explores her own identity as a Black woman in America. She says, “The work that I do allows me to amplify the voices of artists of color who have been historically excluded from the fine arts, whose work resonates with my experience of the world on a personal level, as well as explore my own lived experiences through my art practice.”

Gaines earned her undergraduate degree in journalism and has been asked to create prose to complement Hanesworth’s poetry and Bottoms’s paintings for this exhibition. Her goal is to persistently center the voices of her community, reflecting an unwavering and tenacious sense of pride, love, and perseverance. She has written, “There is an intricate poetry to Blackness, to say the least. Blackness is not a monolith, but rather a dynamic flow of intertwined stories that connect us back to our past through shared values. These values transcend moments of survival and struggle, resilience, and righteousness to live at the core of our understanding and purpose.” Her work in this exhibition is an extension of her artistic and professional mission that aspires to “encourage people from all walks of life to engage in art on multiple levels.” It is her firm belief “that art can be an impactful way to weave communities together; it is only through the shared emotion, reflection, and contemplation experienced through art that real change becomes possible.”