Lavett Ballard is an artist, an educator, a historian, author, culture keeper. Her work
is immediately recognizable in that she uses slices of aged wood and slices of birch
in her work, specifically wooden fences. She began this practice for her thesis and
continues to evolve it. Influenced by Denzel Washington’s performance in the movie
Fences she says, “Fences are a metaphor for those things that both keep us in and

things that keep us out.” Her work The Bus Riders – Demanding Dignity depicting
Rosa Parks was on the cover of Time Magazine in 2020. Today we’ll learn more
about her practice, influences and motivations.