Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud (b. 1978, Houston) works primarily in painting and installation. Her work is abstract and centers processes such as mark-making, spatial studies, and material investigations. Ayanna’s work brings attention to the sensory, the unseen, and interrogates the environment, geography, and mapping as neutral spaces.

She has participated in exhibitions and residencies throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the U.S. including exhibitions at Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Brooklyn Arts Council and Chashama Project Studio in New York; Polvo Arts Studio in Chicago; Diaspora Vibe Gallery and Art Center/ South Florida in Miami; and Lawndale Art Center, the College of the Mainland Gallery, DiverseWorks, Orange Show for Visionary Art, Artpace, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Houston Public Library’s Gregory School in Houston and Texas. She’s participated in residencies in Morelia, Michoacán, México, as part of Identidades: Art in Public Spaces International Encounter, organized by 5célula, and International Cultural Exchanges organized by Diaspora Vibe Gallery in the Bahamas and St. Maarten. She was also an artist-in-residence at Lawndale Art Center as part of the Artist Studio Program in Houston.

Ayanna also leads environmental advocacy and cultural strategy. Since 2021, she has served as the Executive Director and, in 2026, Co-Executive Director of Bayou City Waterkeeper, where she leads collaborative efforts on water quality, wetland protection, and flood resiliency, with a focus on environmental justice and climate resilience. Before this, Ayanna launched public programs at a botanic garden, led multidisciplinary and cross-cultural program development at nonprofits and universities throughout the U.S., and founded a cross-disciplinary creative studio.

Recent awards include the Texas Women in Conservation – Terry Hershey 2025 award through the Texas Audubon; Rachel’s Network 2024 Catalyst awardee for mid-career environmental leaders of color; the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund in 2023-24; and Artadia 2023 as a finalist.

Ayanna studied Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Contact: archipelaga at gmail

NEWS / PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

  • Moving Like Water with Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud, Rachel’s Network, December 4, 2025

  • Panel: Art in the Face of the Climate Crisis: Responses from the Gulf Coast, Rice University's Moody Center for the Arts, April 30, 2025

  • Fog and Mist, solo exhibition, College of the Mainland Gallery, Texas City, March 10- April 3, 2025

  • Interview: Burnaway Magazine with Amarie Cemone Gipson, November 2024

  • Panel: Water is Life, River on Fire symposium, DiverseWorks, November 2024

  • Catalyst Awardee, Rachel’s Network, 2024

  • New Suns, solo exhibition, Lawndale Art Center, Sep 26 - November 2, 2024

  • River on Fire, DiverseWorks Artspace, Sep. 28 - November 16, 2024

  • Texas Biennial, 2024