Ashley A. Jones: The Colorism Project

Ashley A. Jones’ exhibition “The Colorism Project” featured beautifully rendered drawings that speak to the histories and contemporary challenges of Black identity in America. 

Ashley A. Jones is a mixed-media visual artist and educator, best known for her illustrations and portraits, which have evolved to speak to the histories and contemporary challenges of Black identity in America. Jones’s identity as an educator directly shapes her practice, as she uses her work to incorporate personal experiences of her own and experiences of other Black women while also demonstrating the intersection of art and education. Jones’s goal is to create an artistic representation to honor and tell the stories of people that have often been ignored and marginalized and to offer a different visual perspective of Black life.

Ashley A. Jones is an American visual artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She received a BA in studio art from Central State University in Ohio and an MFA in drawing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she formerly served as an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts and the Director of the Kipp Gallery.  Currently, Jones serves as an art faculty member at St. Edmund’s Academy in Pittsburgh.  Her art has been featured and exhibited nationally and internationally in a wide range of galleries, museums, and traveling exhibits and held in numerous collections.  Jones’s artwork and continued research on identity and colorism in the African American community have been favorably reviewed and recognized in several publications.