Noelle Lorraine Williams is an artist whose life’s work exemplifies her continued interest in engaging individuals in conversations about community and spirituality using art, history and contemporary culture. She was born in Jersey City in 1975 and moved to 16th Avenue and 21st street on the borderline between Newark/Irvington in 1987. She lives, works and studies in Newark currently.
Over the past thirty years, Noelle Lorraine Williams life’s work as a volunteer, organizer and artist has been culturally empowering individuals as a vehicle to empower communities.
As a public humanities professional, Williams is multimedia artist, researcher and curator. She uses the visual realm to engage audiences in conversations about history and social justice. Specifically, Williams activate women’s craft, photography/video, and expressive culture to communicate stories of African American movements and rebellion. She presents Black women’s stories to illuminate what it means to be American today. Her work is public facing whether it is an exhibit in a gallery, museum or exhibition space or online it promotes conversations about our shared history. Her life’s work is where history, spirituality, culture, and rebellion meet at the crossroads. Currently her multimedia and multi platform (web, social media, exhibition and programming) work amplifies her virtual exhibition “Black Power! 19th Century.”
Her work as a visual artist has been mentioned and critiqued in the New York Times, Art News, and other publications. She has exhibited in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Louisiana. She is a recognized artist and was accepted in the Aljira Emerge program, received two best in show awards, profiled in The StarLedger as a part of their profile on “The Newark School” and invited to speak at Jersey City Museum, Newark Museum, AIR Gallery and Rutgers University amongst other places. She currently continues to make art, teach and write about history, African American women’s lives and liberated communities in the United States.