CHERYL R. RILEY is an artist, furniture designer and art advisor who's focus is artists of the Black African Diaspora. She has created wall art, installations, site-specific public artworks, custom and licenced lighting and furniture designs since 1986. Cheryl is a member of BADG (The Black Artists and Designers Guild) founded by artist/designer, Malene Barnett. She is designing a Sanctuary (Meditation/Grief/Worship) space that will feature the art of Renee Cox for Black Artists + Designers Guilds (“BADG”) Virtual Concept House, which launches October 2020. FROM CHERYL: “My art explores similarities between seemingly disparate cultures viewed through the lens of gender, history, rituals, implements and symbols. Two sculpture projects have occupied me for the last three years that address societal structures, nourishment, representation, aspiration and transcendence. I have exhibited in over 60 group and solo shows throughout the U.S. My public art projects are installed in New York City, San Francisco, Sacramento and Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. Furniture designs are in private collections, as well as museums, including two Smithsonian's and SFMoMA and I am a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist grant recipient. I've juried art shows, taught, lectured and served on panels nationally, including the NY School of Interior Design, Yale University, the School of Visual Art and The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia. Service on the executive boards of museums and non-profits has enabled me to be a contribution to the diversity of their programming and grant-making choices. These entities include the first site-specific artist residency in the U.S., Capp Street Project, and the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) in New York City. I’ve authored articles about artists in national publications and curated corporate collections for entities such as BET. Educating neophyte art-lovers is a passion I’ve fed through lectures on subjects like "The Art of Art Collecting" and by hosting group trips to destinations such as Cuba for the Havana Biennale.