Catalogue Launch | Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald

Celebrate the release of the catalogue Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald with a panel discussion bringing together curator Kyle Croft, Chloe Hayward (Director of Education, Studio Museum in Harlem), and Katherine Cheairs (Artist and Visual AIDS Board Member).

The conversation will explore key themes from the catalogue, including the therapeutic possibilities of art, creative practices that thrive outside the traditional art market, and the role of churches and visual culture in the history of Black AIDS activism. 

Published by Visual AIDS in collaboration with The Bronx Museum, Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald is the first book dedicated to McDonald’s sculptural practice and features essays by Croft and Dr. Jareh Das, alongside a conversation between McDonald and fellow artist Rafael Sánchez. The catalogue is available to purchase for $35 on the Visual AIDS store.

This program is presented in partnership with The Bronx Museum on the occasion of Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald, the first museum exhibition devoted to the artist’s work. A longtime Visual AIDS Artist Member, McDonald began working with clay in 1997 through an art therapy program, shortly after her diagnosis with HIV. She quickly recognized the medium’s potential for healing and transformation. Working intuitively, she allows figures to emerge from the clay, giving form to memories and emotion while processing experiences of addiction, domestic violence, and illness.