Image above: Grounded (outside facade sculpture), by Maya Freelon

About this Exhibition

“We touch the Earth to remember where we come from and where we will all go”

Through new site-specific installations in dialogue with works spanning two decades of her artistic journey, Artist-in-Residence Maya Freelon invites visitors on an immersive journey through Grounded at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design—a space shaped by the architectural influence of her father, Phil Freelon, an NC State College of Design alum and principal architect for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Grounded, which spotlights Freelon’s signature use of vibrant color and layered tissue paper inspired by her maternal grandmother, debuts an art experience shaped by heritage and legacy that contrasts dueling dimensions of fragility and strength through material and memory. Works created across different phases of Freelon’s career, alongside artwork by her father and great-grandfather, Allan Freelon, Sr., a pioneer African American Impressionist painter active during the Harlem Renaissance, reveal recurring themes of loss, healing, transformation, and interconnectedness.

Blurring the line between personal history and collective experience, Grounded pushes beyond a traditional retrospective by offering an evolving meditation on what it means to remain connected—to self, to family, to community, to earth, and to the histories that shape us—and transforms the Gregg Museum into a sanctuary for well-being, reflection, and discovery.

Message from Maya Freelon

“Looking both backward and forward through the lens of the Gregg Museum’s space revealed recurring themes of transformation, loss, and healing across my artistic practice. The juxtaposition of these new immersive environments alongside artwork by my father and great-grandfather, a pioneer African American Impressionist painter during the Harlem Renaissance, bring new meaning to this retrospective collection of my career,” said Freelon, who was raised in Durham, NC and previously taught at the College of Design. “Serving as the Gregg Museum’s Artist-in-Residence has made this experience especially meaningful, creating opportunities to engage with students, faculty, and community members through shared creative exploration.”

About the Artist

Maya Freelon is an award-winning visual artist and educator whose work has been exhibited internationally, including shows in Paris, Jamaica, Madagascar, and Italy. Huffington Post hailed Maya as one of “30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know”; and Complex Magazine celebrated her “Making Waves in the Art World.” Her artwork was featured on the cover of Walter Magazine and in books Art of the State and Garden & Gun’s Southern Women.

Freelon’s artwork has been commissioned and collected by the National Gallery of Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art, as well as major corporations and universities including Google, Cadillac, Duke Hospital, Johns Hopkins University and First Citizens Bank. Her monumental tissue paper sculpture, created for Halcyon, was displayed at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building. Miami New Times selected her 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 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. She earned a BA from Lafayette College in 2005 and an MFA from the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2007.

Gallery Snapshot

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