We were lucky to catch up with Bianca McGraw recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bianca, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I found myself lost as an artist after the shooting that took place in Buffalo on May 14, 2022. I was struggling with America’s addiction to guns and decided to create a watercolor project using coffee. The project involved me using the idea of Coffee addiction juxtaposed to America’s Gun addiction. My coffee paintings were both celebratory and sobering, foregrounding the creativity of various Buffalo-based Black artists such as Ten Thousand, Jillian Hanesworth, DJ Sike, and Drea D’Nur; juxtaposed with gun violence and the lives lost at the Tops Friendly Markets. I started this project as a way to process the shooting in Buffalo. I paint at various events, restaurants and bars throughout Buffalo so I could channel the healing vibes of the city. I was impacted by an on campus shooting in 2008 at NIU and doing art was all I could do then…and now…art is still my bandaid. This is why this project is meaningful to me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an international practicing multimedia installation/performance artist, poet, educator, higher education advocate, community development and engagement facilitator, and diversity presenter. I use art, poetry, performance and space as a vehicle for discussion about identity, diversity and perspectives while exploring personal, societal and communal experiences.

I am very passionate about the importance of how art, advocacy, and communal/cultural environments intercept. This passion is an interchangeable balance between art, design, diversity, poetry, community development and personal engagement. My artistic exploits have allowed me to showcase my messages in various countries like the United States, Canada, France, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Provide more access to resources. Artist of color struggle with this as resources or grant support is often limited.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Community is my mission. Creating works and opportunities that create safe spaces, resources, and/or awareness for others in the community is a goal driving my creative journey.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @biancalperiod
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LPeriod

Image Credits
Bianca Doing Poetry.jpeg Photo by Autumn Christine Louise Bradley