Artwork copyright Tracy Poindexter-Canton. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Tracy Poindexter-Canton. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2021.

Artwork copyright Tracy Poindexter-Canton. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2021.

Artwork copyright Tracy Poindexter-Canton. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2021.

My Rose of the World, 2019

Tracy Poindexter-Canton
(American, born 1980)

Location: Capitol Campus Child Care Center - Maple Park, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Tracy Poindexter-Canton’s collage artwork My Rose of the World is part of her “To Shalimar” series that celebrates the literary greatness of Nobel Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison. My Rose of the World references Morrison’s novel, “Sula.” It examines identity, sisterhood, friendship, beauty, and femininity in relation to the Black American experience. It is a collage made of magazine clippings, scrapbook paper, beads, leather cord, floral wire, found objects, and painted elements.

This artwork is part of a curated collection by Renee Adams for the Maple Park Capitol Campus Child Care Center in Olympia. The art selection committee wanted the art to be mainly for the children. They wanted to focus on Northwest artists from diverse backgrounds and geographies, and artworks with color and nature-inspired imagery. The Child Care Center has six classrooms, as well as outdoor classrooms and play spaces, for eighty-four children.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Enterprise Services.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Tracy Poindexter-Canton is a mixed media artist in Spokane, Eastern Washington. Through collage, vibrancy, and portraiture, she examines Black American identity while blending literary imagery with visual art. She uses a wide variety of materials – including acrylic paints, oil pastels, ink, feathers, beads, magazine clippings, bubble wrap, scrapbook paper, nylon cord, and found objects. She credits her late grandmother with developing her creativity: “Grandma Alma kept a cardboard box for me under the chair in her hallway broom closet filled with ribbons, buttons, knickknacks, and other commonly-discarded scraps, which I used to create all sorts of arts and craftsy things. The possibilities were infinite!”
Poindexter-Canton earned an undergraduate degree in English and Creative Writing from Seattle University and a master's degree in Communications and Leadership from Gonzaga University in Spokane. She has studied art via classes in mixed media, acrylic paints, and graphite pencil, to name a few. Her art has been exhibited in Spokane and through Onyx Fine Arts Collective exhibitions.