It was such an honor to receive a Labby Award at the 2026 Monument Lab Summit this past May, alongside Devon Henry. I am grateful to Monument Lab for this acknowledgment and to the many communities, collaborators, and supporters whose insights, trust, and partnership continue inspire. Much gratitude to Executive Director Paul Farber, Senior Curator Yolanda Wisher, Dir of Advancement Stephani Pescitelli, and the rest of the Monument Lab team.
Repossesions
The Slaughter List, Illuminated (2026), was part of the Repossessions exhibition at Spelman College, in the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts.
Repossessions brought Black artists together to transform documents and objects from the era of enslavement into powerful works of truth and repair. Curated by Dr. Bridget R. Cooks, the exhibition reclaimed these artifacts to confront the legacy of slavery through bold re-imagination. More information here.
EXPO Chicago
Looking Back III and IV were exhibited with Jessica Silverman Gallery at Expo Chicago. Jessica Silverman was included in the Profile section of the fair, curated by Essence Harden. Harden—also curator of the Focus section at Frieze Los Angeles and Made in LA 2025 at the Hammer Museum—brings a deeply considered, scholarly approach shaped by her work across leading institutions. Read more about Profile and the galleries included here.
Frieze LA
Frieze LA was invigorating. Everybody Is A Star was on display in Jessica Silverman’s booth. I was also excited to see my catalog HOMECOMING on the shelves at Hauser + Wirth.
SF ART WEEK 2026
During SF Art Week 2026, I had the pleasure of joining Key Jo Lee, Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Public Programs, at the Museum of African Diaspora. We discussed MoAD's central role in the intergenerational care and mentorship of Black artists, and the women who have been instrumental in my career.
Fog Fair 2026
Fog Fair 2026 was such a success. I was delighted to have I Want to Take You Higher included in In the Blue, a curated presentation by Jessica Silverman. I also had the pleasure of joining Anoushka Mirchandani, Arleene Correa Valencia, and Jonathan Carver Moore for Personal Histories, Public Narratives. We explored how artists transform lived experience - migration, memory, family, and identity - into meaningful public narratives.
Art Basel Miami
Thank you Jessica Silverman Gallery for making Art Basel Miami extra special this year! On view: Looking Back I and II, 2015
Now Represented by Jessica Silverman
Portrait of Lava Thomas, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco. Photo: Em Monforte.
After ten wonderful years with Rena Bransten Gallery, I am excited to share that I am now represented by Jessica Silverman. This partnership marks a new chapter for my work - one that reaches a broader global audience while staying grounded in the values that have guided me from the start: conveying Black life with care, reverence, and grace.
Lava Thomas featured in Black Women's Art Ecosystems: Sites of Wellness and Self-Care
My practice is featured in Black Women's Art Ecosystems: Sites of Wellness and Self-Care by Dr. Tanisha M. Jackson. Jackson analyzes visual and personal narratives, historical archives, and artmaking practices to reveal how Black women artists facilitate wellness through creative expression and cultural knowledge.
Order your copy here.
Nexus:sF/Bay Area Black Art Week 2025 in review!
Nexus:SF/Bay Area Black Art Week! Pictured below: the opening of Continuum: MoAD Over Time, which includes Ms. Addie J. Hamerter, a panel to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the MoAD at The Battery, the inaugural show Ritual and Resistance at TNT Art Lab, which featured a new interactive work titled Courage, The Afropolitan Ball: MoAD's annual gala that celebrates Black Art & Artists, and the one year anniversary program to celebrate Portrait Of a Phenomenal Woman: A Monument to Honor Dr. Maya Angelou at the San Francisco Main Library.
Headlands 2025 Auction
As a new Board member and former Headland’s Artist in Resident, I am so pleased that the Headlands 2025 Auction was an outstanding success. The auction raised over 1 million dollars, and I’m happy to have contributed to the night’s success with the donation of Eye of a Monument. Works by Ruth Asawa, Teresa Baker, CrossLypka, Alec Egan, Laeh Glenn, Brett Goodroad, Patricia Iglesias Peco, Isaac Julien, Dashiell Manley, Alicia McCarthy, Vincent Pocsic, Michele Pred, Clare Rojas, Rose B Simpson, Stephanie Syjuco, Taller Los Tepalcates, Rafael Triboli, Catherine Wagner, Michelle Yi Martin, Livien Yen, and Maryam Yousif were also sold. Special thanks to Executive Director Louisa Gloger, Director of Development MJ Brown, the Auction Committee, and Board of Directors for a fun evening in support of the Headlands.
Reunited Exhibition closed May 17th at CCA Campus Gallery
Portrait of Maya Angelou was featured in Reunited, a group exhibition that featured 12 artists who were from the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ longstanding Women to Watch program. Works varied across mediums and engaged with themes of identity, empowerment, history, labor, and cultural heritage. My work was featured alongside Sofía Córdova, Julia Goodman, Nicki Green, Rhonda Holberton, Cathy Lu, Adia Millett, Sandra Ono, Genevieve Quick, Davina Semo, Amy Tavern, and Katherine Vetne.
CCA Honorary Doctorate Recipient 2025
It was an extraordinary honor to receive an honorary doctorate from my alma mater, California College of the Arts, alongside filmmaker Rob Epstein, and artist Chris Johnson. Thank you to President David Howse, the CCA Board of Directors, and Faculty for this recognition of my work. I also thank my community of colleagues, mentors, collaborators, supporters, advocates, and friends.
Library Laureates 2025 presented by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library
On May 3rd, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library presented “Spring Awakening: A Tribute to San Francisco Libraries in Bloom”. What a privilege it was to be named as a Library Laureate along with writers, poets and creatives Kevin Adler, Robert Mailer Anderson, Elaine Castillo, Dr. Monica Gandhi, Katy Hays, Leticia Hernández-Linares, Cathy Park Hong, E.Hughes, R.O. Kwon, Dorothy Lazard, Ginny Lim, Eve Marie Little, Alexis Madrigal, Lauren Markham, Abi Maxwell, Tomas Moniz, Brittany Newell, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Alison Owings, Kenard Pak, Beverly Parayno, Samantha Rajaram, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Sam Sax, Rebecca Solnit, Kara Swisher, Jim Van Buskirk, Hetal Vasavada, Steve Wasserman, and Colin Winnette. Pictured here with San Francisco’s Poet Laureate, Genny Lim, who is the first Chinese-American Poet Laureate of San Francisco. A special thank you to co-chairs Roselyne Chroman Swig, Susan Swig, Adam Swig and Genny Lim.
NEXUS/SF Bay Area Black Art Week Panel on April 20th 2025.
I had the pleasure of being on the panel to discuss NEXUS SF/ Bay Area Black Art Week during the San Francisco Art Fair. I was joined by NEXUS Founder and Executive Director and CEO of the Museum of African Diaspora Monetta White, SF gallerist extraordinaire Jonathan Carver Moore, polymath artist, author, and designer George McCalman. The panel was moderated by Director of Interpretation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Abram Jackson. Look for NEXUS this fall.
Summoning Opening Reception - December 7th 2024
Summoning opens at Rena Bransten Gallery (1275 Minnesota Street, San Francisco, CA), this Saturday, November 23, with the opening reception on Saturday, December 7th. Looking Back IV will be exhibited along side a new tambourine installation. I’m in good company with Dawoud Bey, William Blake, Sydney Cain, Jonathan Calm, Rodney Ewing, Rupert Garcia, Doug Hall, Oliver Jackson, Hung Liu, Amalia Mesa Bains, Robert Minervini, Tracey Moffatt, Viviana Parades, and Rose Piper.
Learn more about the exhibition here.
Panel Discussion: Women in Public Art at San Francisco Main Library - November 7, 2024
On Thursday, November 7th, Mildred Howard, Cheryl Derricotte, and I will be in conversation about our public art practices as well as our work with galleries and museums. Join us from 6PM to 7:30PM in the Koret Auditorium in the San Francisco Main Library. I hope to see you there. Learn more about the event here.
Beyond Conflict: Democracy and Unpacking the Causes of Exclusion at SFMoMA - October 24, 2024
Left to Right: Gamynne Guillotte, Tim Phillips, José Maria Argueta, Monica McWilliams, Lava Thomas.
On Thursday, October 24th, I participated in a panel discussion moderated by Gamynne Guillotte, Chief Education and Community Engagement Officer at SFMoMA, with Monica McWilliams, Emeritus Professor at Ulster University’s Transitional Justice Institute, José Maria Argueta, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the Organization of American States (OAS) (2014–present), and Tim Phillips, founder of Beyond Conflict. Produced in collaboration with SFMoMA, California College of the Arts (CCA), and Beyond Conflict, we discussed the arts as a tool for building empathy in a climate of civic divide. Learn more about the panel here.
California College of the Arts Campus Unification: Making Futures Opening Celebration - October 19, 2024
It was pure pleasure to celebrate California College of the Arts’s (CCA) long-awaited campus expansion on Saturday, October 19th during the Making Futures Opening Ceremony. Remarks were given by President David C. Howse, Faculty TT Takemoto, Studio Operations Manager Jeremiah Jenkins, Writing and Literature student Alyssa Bardge, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and me, Distinguished Alum. The new campus and studios are absolutely stunning.
Museum of the African Diaspora: Afropolitan Ball 2024 - October 5, 2024
Photography by Chloe Jackman
MoAD’s Afropolitan Ball is the party of the year in San Francisco! This year it was also the culmination of NEXUS, San Francisco Bay Area Black Art Week, the brainchild of MoAD’s CEO, Monetta White. Thank you, MoAD, for inviting me to speak about the global significance of Black culture and MoAD’s impact on Black Artists’s careers - especially mine.