By Patrice Wilson

ASC Creative Renewal Fellowship recipient Princess Cureton’s story is one of triumph. It has not, however, been bereft of challenges.

“I was one of those children who were bused around town as a part of desegregation in the school system,” she said. Cureton grew up in Washington, DC, during the era of Jim Crow laws―one of the most inequitable, uncertain and dangerous eras for Black people in U.S. history.

However, as a young Black girl, she knew for certain who she was. Art played a part in that.

“I’ve always done art, from when I was a little girl,” she said. “When anyone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would tell them a famous artist.”

Cureton began to seriously pursue art in middle school and joined an arts program where she was mentored by art collector and civil rights activist Peggy Cooper Cafritz.

“She was a mover and a groover and she really supported me,” she said. “She had this program for young people who were interested in the arts. They had everything―music, art, dance. My dance teacher was Debbie Allen. It was just an amazing experience.”

After high school Cureton attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where she received her B.F.A. and then received her M.F.A. with focus in arts education. Shortly before graduation, she had the opportunity to work with Harlem Children’s Art Carnival and was mentored by activist and founder Betty Blayton Taylor.

“That was a wonderful experience,” she said. “I had these strong women behind me, and my mother―God bless my mother―and so I just knew I had to give back.”

While Cureton―a figurative painter―has been a practicing artist most of her life, she spent nearly 40 years in arts education. Her arts education career included teaching across all K-12 grade levels in public schools, teaching at the University of the Virgin Islands and receiving a Fulbright grant that allowed her to teach art in China and explore arts and culture in Japan.

Cureton not only gave back through her work as a teacher, but also by beginning an outreach program in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, to help middle and high school students interested in a career in the arts build their portfolios.

However, as she approached retirement, she knew what was next.

“A lot of people when they retire ask, ‘What am I going to do now?,’” she said. “I knew when I was ready for the next and the next was retirement and fulltime practice in a studio.”

Since moving to Mint Hill several years ago, the now-retired Cureton has exhibited and sold her work locally and regionally and has won several awards. She’s now seeking opportunities for personal growth and rejuvenation.

Cureton is using her ASC Creative Renewal Fellowship to explore an innovative range of material and technology with waterborne paints and mediums through two residency programs.

“A grant like this allows you to do it, to explore it, to try and to maybe do it in a way you had never done before,” she said.

Currently, Cureton is housed at the Visual and Performing Arts Center (VAPA). “There is nothing like being surrounded by other creative minds and that is what I get from VAPA and ASC,” she said.

Throughout her career, Cureton has nurtured, uplifted and invested in students of all ages and walks of life. Now, ASC is doing the same for her.

“The Arts & Science Council nurtures the artist and funds dreams,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”