Barriane Franks is a 2020 graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and NOCCA 2017 Visual Arts Alum. Her sophomore year at NOCCA, she began her acclaimed Social Injustice series displayed in solo shows at Cornerstone United Methodist Church’s (CUMC), St. Mary’s Academy’s, and NOCCA’s Black History Programs. Her first solo exhibition, “This is America,” showcased her Social Injustice series in the Xavier University of Louisiana Art Village Gallery. Several pieces in this series have also exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Purdue University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Kelwood Contemporary Art, the Alabama State University Civil Rights Museum, Ashé Powerhouse Theater, and 5 Press Gallery.
Additionally, select works have been published in the CAC Teen Zine 2017 and issue 38 of Studio Visit Magazine, and three pieces won statewide in the NAACP ACT-SO competition. Her series also won “Honorable Mention for Portfolio” award in the National Scholastic Art and Writing 2017 Competition. Active in the New Orleans community, she has interned at the CAC; NOMA; and StudioBE. She was a selected artist for LUNA Fete in 2017 by the Arts Council New Orleans and 2019 at The New Orleans Jazz Museum Sound Collage and served as the official cartoonist/ illustrator for The Xavier Herald. In 2019, she worked nationally curating the “With Her Hands: Women’s Fiber Art from Gapuwiyak The Louise Hamby Gift” exhibit at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia (UVA). In Fall 2020 and Summer of 2021, she participated in several zoom internships focused on art and art history with the Alliance of HBCU Museums and Galleries. This included discussions with various professionals in art fields such as conservation, art history, curation, and more with several colleges and universities including the Bard Graduate Center, Fisk University, Tuskegee University, the University of Delaware and Winterthur, and Yale University and arts institutions such as LACMA, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and the MET.