In 2026 I unveiled What We Carry Forward, a permanent sculpture created for the new Healing Arts Center at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Commissioned through the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ INSITE Fund, the sculpture brings together hundreds of upcycled objects donated by dancers, students, family members, friends and the broader CPRD community. Collected over more than a year, these objects form a portrait of a life and legacy devoted to movement, culture and community.

Working alongside Real Art Life LLC, I began the project with a simple question: What matters enough to be remembered? The answers led us from rehearsal halls and family archives to backstage closets and storage units filled with decades of history. As the Healing Arts Center took shape, I collaborated with the building’s contractor and design team to integrate the sculpture into its surroundings. Its warm palette reflects the colors of the new building, creating a work that feels inseparable from the space.

What We Carry Forward continues my exploration of memory through personal belongings, inspired by my childhood in a military family and my travels through Tanzania. The sculpture now stands near the portrait of Cleo I gifted her nearly a decade ago. Together, the works honor our creative relationship—one capturing her likeness and the other preserving the people, places and objects that shaped her life’s work.