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Melody Croft paints narrative work that connects with human emotions. Since 2004, her paintings have focused on people and their stories to look inside of what appears to be seen. The common thread in her work is humanity and unlike the lens of a camera that objectively documents a moment in time and space, her lens subjectively observes and comments on the psychological, sociological, and emotional complexities of race, gender, age, and culture.
Croft’s current work focuses on America’s racial injustice and the #Black Lives Matter movement. As a whole, the work creates an empathic narrative sparked from her many years as an elementary school teacher: forming emotional connections with young African American children.
Since 2012, Melody’s work has been chosen in numerous exhibitions in Georgia, the Southeast, the Midwest, and New York City. Several works have earned awards. Larry Ossei-Mensah as the juror of the Lyndon House 45th Annual Juried Exhibition (2020) and a former Susanne Feld Hilberry senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, presented the painting, Learning Without Wisdom is Like a Load of Books on a Donkey’s Back, a Merit Award. The Georgia Museum of Art selected Croft in 2012 as a winner in the Kress Project and published her winning painting in their book The Winning Entries, The Kress Project (Georgia Press 2013). Melody’s paintings are published in several periodicals and on the cover of the book of poetry, A Thousand Scattered Moments.
Croft is a self-taught artist living in Athens, GA. She was born in Jackson, Minnesota, and moved to the Southeast at age 11. Melody lives in Athens, Georgia, and commutes daily to her art studio in Jefferson, GA. To learn more about Melody or to contact her, please visit her website at melodycroft.com.
