Sydney James

Interdisciplinary artist Sydney G. James is proudly a “girl raised in, and by”, Detroit with the colors and brushwork of her paintings as strikingly defiant and ever-changing as the city itself. A graduate of Detroit’s College of Creative Studies, James’ murals have transformed Detroit’s neighborhoods, skyline as well as the city’s art narrative. Her work appears on walls, canvas, fabric, Vans shoes, and on whatever she damned well chooses. In paintings, sculptures and murals, James places Black People first, never last nor forgotten. She is also a co-founder of the biannual BLKOUT Walls Mural festival which debuted in Detroit in 2021.

The 2024 College for Creative Studies Distinguished Alumni and awardee of the 2017 Kresge Foundation Fellowship, James’ work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Cranbrook Art Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Muskegon Museum of Art, the Jane Lombard Gallery in New York as well as the Arts, Beats and Lyrics traveling exhibit. Sydney’s public artworks have lit up walls and spaces in cities across the United States, such as New Orleans, Brooklyn, NY; Atlanta, GA.; Los Angeles, CA.; Hawaii, Long Beach, CA, as well as across