If you had told me a few years ago that curation would become a major part of my creative path, I would’ve laughed. When I first mapped out my business plan, curation wasn’t even in the margins. I saw myself strictly as an artist, storyteller, and creator of healing experiences, not a curator.
But life has a way of rearranging the pieces when you stop limiting yourself. This year, especially this summer, proved that alignment in the most unexpected and deeply affirming ways. One creative opportunity flowed into the next, stacking effortlessly like Lego blocks.
A Summer of Stepping Into My Gifts
This season I found myself stepping into roles I never planned for, yet was clearly prepared for:
• Division Lead for Visual Art with Fade to Black
• Curator for the Visual Art Activation at the Atlanta Black Theater Festival at Spelman College, where my artwork What Is Dying Empty was showcased
• Curator for the Freedom to Dream Exhibit with Montrose Grace Place
• Host of healing-through-art youth workshops and private creative wellness sessions
• Featured speaker and fireside chat facilitator at the Melanin Minds Mental Health Conference
Each space stretched me. Each project revealed a new layer of who I am. Each moment reminded me that nothing in my journey is accidental.
And in the midst of it all, my original artworks were acquired by major social impact leaders, including Cicley Gay, Chair of the National Black Lives Matter Movement, and Dannette Davis of Kay Davis in The Community, a confirmation that the work is not only seen but felt.
What It Means to Die Empty
“To live fully is to die empty.”
This phrase has echoed in my spirit for years, but this year made it real.
To die empty means leaving nothing unexplored no gift unused, no calling ignored, no creativity hoarded out of fear or perfectionism. It means asking yourself:
• Have I stretched into all the things I was built to be?
• Have I honored the ideas I’ve been entrusted with?
• Have I poured out what I came here to give?
My artwork and now developing series What Is Dying Empty is not just a piece it’s a declaration of how I intend to live.
Gratitude as the Year Comes to a Close
As we step into the holiday season, gratitude hits differently. I’m gearing up for two new curation projects heading into the new year, and I feel grounded in the truth that this year has been one long exercise in walking boldly in my gifts.
I didn’t just curate art.
I curated alignment.
I curated courage.
I curated a life that mirrors the fullness I intend to leave behind.
I refuse to shrink.
I refuse to limit myself.
I refuse to leave my gifts buried.
Here’s to a year of expansion
and to entering the new one even more committed
to living fully, creating boldly,
and ultimately… dying empty.