Untitled

Sydney G. James knows this well. Through her vivid, gorgeous portraits of black women, the award-winning illustrator and mural artist has brought beauty, social justice and empowerment to outdoor spaces in Detroit and around the globe, from New Orleans to Honolulu to Accra, Ghana.

The College of Creative Studies graduate started her career in advertising but made the switch to fine art after a job on the ABC Family show “Lincoln Heights” (she was hired to produce the works that one of the characters — an aspiring artist — “created” on the show).

James depicts black women “as they are,” says Valerie Mercer, curator and department head of African American Art at the DIA. “Her expressive vision is consistently as honest as she is when she speaks about how inspirational Detroit and its people are for her work.”

The overarching concept behind James’ work is “Appropriated Not Appreciated,” a theme informed by the #SayHerName campaign (which was launched in 2014 and seeks to bring awareness and justice to black women who’ve been brutalized by police) and her observations of how black women’s contributions to society, including their influence on fashion and pop culture, often go ignored. “Appropriation is really erasure,” says James. “We’re always ahead of the trend. We are the trend, but then we’re left far behind once the trend catches on.”