Joyce J. Scott  is an African-American artist, sculptor, quilter, performance artist, installation artist, print-maker, lecturer, and educator. Named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016, and a Smithsonian Visionary Artist in 2019, Scott is best known for her figurative sculptures and jewelry using free form, off-loom bead weaving techniques. Each piece is often constructed using thousands of glass seed beads, and sometimes other found objects or materials. Scott is renowned for her social commentary on issues such as racism, classism, sexism, violence, and cultural stereotypes, as well as themes of spiritual healing. Scott graduated with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1970, and then earned an MFA from the Instituto Allende in Mexico. Later, Scott pursued further education at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. Scott's works are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Baltimore Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri; the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.