COURTNEY CLARK
New Orleans, LA
2025-2026 Grant Culture Bearer Initiatives
Grant 2018-2019, 2023-2024, 2024-2025
Courtney Clark is a multi-media artist, culture bearer, culinary artist, and lifelong New Orleanian. She comes from a line of seamstresses, carpenters, and culinary artists, and sees her creativity as deeply rooted in her history, family, and culture. She draws inspiration from her past, her twin children who have autism, her culture, and the wisdom passed down from her ancestors.
Clark will use this grant to continue the artistic journey she began last year—creating merchandise using the traditional beadwork methods of the Mardi Gras Indians. Using the sewing skills she learned from her mother and grandmother, she has spent years helping Mardi Gras Indians sew beads onto their suits. She is now expanding her previous work by incorporating more fabric elements and crocheted designs into her beadwork. Clark is excited to continue passing down this unique art form, taught to her by the matriarchs in her family, by leading workshops at YAYA and sharing her work with the community.
Courtney Clark caters plant-based meals through her business Cocoamo.Cooks. She has displayed artwork across New Orleans and at galleries in Italy and France. She has worked on murals in New Orleans, Aix En Province, France, Germany and Amsterdam. She became a YAYA inaugural artist in 1988 and joined the YAYA Guild in 1989.
All works are copyright of the artist.