D1 Birds and Benches Mentor Artist Presentation: Alice Aida Ayers

ALICE “AIDA” AYERS

Aida is an interdisciplinary artist and arts educator whose career spans over three decades across the Americas, Africa, and Europe. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in Art Education, and her professional journey has included residencies in theatre, visual arts, and art therapy, as well as roles as an adjunct professor.

Since 1989, Ayers has been a dedicated teaching artist, completing residencies in more than 300 schools, colleges, community centers, and libraries. She has designed and led art programs, art therapy initiatives, and restorative practices for diverse audiences, while also collaborating with government agencies to organize community events such as art camps, mural projects, and cultural exchanges.

For the past six years, Ayers has focused her practice on working with incarcerated men and women, as well as women in recovery and re-entry programs. In both the studio and classroom, she encourages students to question assumptions, examine their relationships to ideas, and connect insights to broader cultural and societal contexts.

Ayers’ personal artwork in textile arts explores spirituality, tradition, and belief systems drawn from African and American cultures. She works with ethnic, hand-dyed, and repurposed fabrics, found objects, and collected artifacts, using layering and hand-stitching to create rich textures that reimagine the practices of her childhood through a contemporary lens.

In addition to her visual arts practice, Ayers is the author of three books: It’s Me I’m Running From, Tomorrow’s Garden, and Lead with Love. Her work as an artist, educator, and author reflects a lifelong commitment to cultural exploration, creative expression, and community transformation.

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Host or Publisher City of Sacramento, Office of Arts and Culture