“a thailand color story,” 2024, yarn, spinning fiber, hand-dyed cotton, 36 × 96 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Aliana Grace Bailey
Teaching Artist Cohort
,
2026
Aliana Grace Bailey is an interdisciplinary fiber artist, designer, and care worker—taking up space with bold softness. She was born and raised in Washington, DC, and her practice is based in Baltimore. She is a passionate advocate for radical self-love, wellness, healing, and grief support. Her work embraces artmaking as a vehicle for fostering growth, building intimacy, and creating inner peace. Through fiber, Aliana weaves layers of interconnection, comfort, and storytelling. Her work invites the viewer to consider their relationships, how they choose to love themselves, and how they choose to love the people closest to their hearts.
Aliana is a proud alumna of North Carolina A&T State University, where she double majored, earning a Bachelor of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts Media Design. She has worked as a socially engaged teaching artist since 2017, after completing the Art for Social Impact Fellowship at the Sanctuaries. In 2020, she earned her MFA in Community Arts and a Certificate in the College Teaching of Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Aliana is a 2023 Rubys Grantee, 2025 Grit Fund Project Grant Recipient, and 2025 Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize Finalist. She has completed art residencies in Ghana, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia, as well as at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, alongside an apprenticeship at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia.
Aliana’s artwork juxtaposes beauty and a sense of optimism against traumatic realities—creating spaces where joy and healing can coexist. In this tension, her work finds its transformative power, offering both sanctuary and a catalyst for change.
Selected works
“1972 Stevie Wonder, Music of My Mind,” 2022, handwoven yarn, spinning fiber, fabric, hand-dyed cotton, 36 × 165 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“breathing, holding, bridging,” 2025, yarn, spinning fiber, thread, hand-dyed cotton, 47 × 72 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“of labor and love,” 2024, collage on 100% cotton; water-based pigment inks and dyes, thread, blessing notes, family cloth, hand-dyed cotton, 91 × 75 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“fly: surrender to the air & ride it,” 2025, yarn, spinning fiber, acrylic on canvas, hand-dyed cotton, 18 × 30.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“blue: ancestral healing,” 2022, handwoven yarn, spinning fiber, hand-dyed fabric, 30 × 223 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“patience,” 2023, hand-dyed cotton, 54 × 73 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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