Stevens Jay Carter  (1958-2021) Remembering Stevens Jay Carter

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, he earned a B.A. in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh.

 

Throughout his interesting career, Carter has always tried to be artistically diverse, commanding several skills while maintaining a multitude of visions.  “I look forward to the day when contemporary artists develop their skills to match their visions.”

 

Carter’s artistic credits include commissioned murals in such places as New York City, (the Pathfinder Publishing Co. and the Carlton Arms Hotel), the City of Altoona, Altoona, PA, the Williamsport Arts Council, Williamsport, PA, the Blue Mountain School District, Pottsville, PA, the PA State Correctional System, Harrisburg, PA, the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Washington, DC. He also created a backdrop New World Dance Co. in Washington, DC which has been used by the likes of Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and entertainer Stevie Wonder; the Millennium Image for The Capital Jazz Fest in Annapolis, MD, a public commission for Montgomery County in Silver Spring, MD and a mural for Independent Living Skills Project in collaboration with Blair Underwood in Oakland, CA.

 

In addition, Carter has exhibited nationally including the Blair Museum, Hollidaysburg, PA, the Southern Alleghenies Museum, Johnstown, PA, the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, PA, Artspace Gallery, Sacramento, CA, Ariel Gallery, New York, NY, the Palm Beach Gallery, Houston, TX, the Ira Pinto Gallery, Washington, DC, Gallery 10, Washington, DC, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, the Anacostia Museum, Washington, DC, The Smithsonian, Washington, DC, The Sumner Museum, Washington, DC, Harmony Hall, Ft. Washington, MD, Gallérie Intemporel, Paris, France, American Painting, New York & Washington, DC, the Ratner Museum, Bethesda, MD and the Pfizer Gallery in New York City.

 

Carter has won several awards such as the DC Commission on the Arts Technical Assistance Award, a visiting Smithsonian Institution of Fellowship, several Artist-in-Residence grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, he won the ArTrends Gallery Choice Awards 2000 for Best Contemporary Artist and received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award in 2006.  Additionally, he has held faculty positions at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Slippery Rock University. 

 

Included in his career are lectures at the Smithsonian Institute, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Pittsburgh.  Carter has led the non-profit alternative arts organization Project Brasas since 1991 and is co-founder of the International Peace and Art Center in Oakland, CA.  His bibliography list includes Evening Magazine Channel 2, the 2-Day Show, Black Chronicle, Pittsburgh Magazine, the Shooting Star Review, The Washington City Paper, DC Arts, Art Trends Magazine, The Washington Times, The Pitt Magazine and The Washington Post.

 

Carter’s list of collectors is diverse, including the Evans Tibbs Collection, The International Multicultural Arts Foundation, Carnegie Library, the Mosby Lifeline Publishing Co. and the District of Columbia.