Lava Thomas

Lava Thomas is an American artist, arts advocate, and activist who works for social justice and change through a multidisciplinary practice that amplifies Black Women’s empowerment, resilience, and visibility. In 2020 she was awarded the monument commission to honor Dr. Maya Angelou for the SF Main Library, after leading a year-long, community-wide effort for restorative justice: reversing city officials’ controversial rejection of her initial selection in 2019, challenging anti-blackness and the primacy of neoclassical aesthetics to represent Black women in monuments, and advocating for racial equity, accountability, and transparency in San Francisco’s public art processes. Awards include the 2020 San Francisco Artadia Award, the Joan Mitchell Grant for Painters and Sculptors, and the Lucas Artist Fellowship in Visual Art. Her work can be found in the permanent collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, SFMOMA and Berkeley Art Museum.