Atlanta Contemporary is excited to host an artist talk alongside the Asian American Pacific Islander Design Association (AAPIDA), as interior designer Jessica Davis, hospitality designer Renee Chiarelli, and artist Sonya Yong James come together for an intimate conversation exploring how art and design inform one another.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Sonya Yong James lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. She received a BFA from Georgia State University, focusing on printmaking and sculpture. James has exhibited nationally and internationally for the past twenty years and has been the recipient of several prestigious grants, including the Artadia grant in 2019. She was also a nominee for the 2023 United States Artists Fellowship award.
Her work is held in numerous collections, including Art in Embassies, and has been exhibited at MOCA GA, The Minnesota Museum of American Art, UAB's Abroms-Engels Institute for the Visual Arts, and the Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans. In addition to her residency at Atlanta Contemporary, James has received grants for residencies at Mass MOCA and has upcoming residencies planned in Mexico City for 2024.
The Asian American Pacific Islander Design Alliance (AAPIDA) is an organization and collective that engages, promotes, and empowers Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders working within the home and design industries to foster visibility, collaboration and representation industry-wide.
Our goals are to mobilize, empower, and engage AAPI professionals in the home and design industries and beyond, to enact change by catalyzing the creative energy and talent of our peers through the following mission pillars:
Advocacy
To advocate for awareness of AAPI cultures, and elevate AAPI issues to the forefront in the home and design industry.
Awareness
To raise awareness and be a voice for AAPI designers, artists, companies, projects, and others in the home and design industry.
Collaboration
To encourage and create collaboration opportunities between AAPI designers, brands, and other industry partners.
Community
To encourage connection with our AAPI community and Allies, within AAPIDA and beyond.
Dialogue
To foster an inclusive and open-minded dialogue of AAPI experiences in the home and design industry through increased representation at industry gatherings and AAPI-oriented events.
Mentorship
To provide mentorship and educational opportunities for AAPI members in the home and design industry.
Join us for a family-friendly art workshop as part of the Contemporary Kids program, where kids of all ages can explore their creativity and engage with the themes of contemporary art!
A Cross Pollination Iron Art Event | by Allen Peterson and Friends
Ticketed
We kick off the new year with a performance art event with Allen Peterson and Friends in which crews of sculptors melt scrap iron and pour it into reusable molds to form bird-sized honeybee forms. Like puppets, these bees “fly” through the night in formations inspired by the dance-based language honeybees use to communicate and cooperate inside the hive.
