Courtney Adair Johnson
I am a reuse artist. I am interested in materials that go through our hands on a daily basis and how I can use them to create conversations on consumption and waste habits.
I collect mundane things and things that show up in excess for my supplies, like plastics, floss, packaging material, and clothing. The history of an item is intriguing to me, it then can become a layer to be added to the conversation.
Themes and topics I explore are history, social justice, health, motherhood, community, and love.
Courtney Adair Johnson is an artist and curator based in Nashville TN. She is a self-proclaimed reuse artist whose passion is creating conversations on consumption and waste habits. Johnson has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation, Nashville Metro Arts, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. She has participated in residencies and public dialogues with Springboard for the Arts’ Hinge Residency, MN, First Art Museum, TN and MuralArts, PA. From 2016 to 2024, she co-led the McGruder Social Practice Artist Residency (M-SPAR) with artist Marlos E’van, embedding artists in the community to address local needs through creative collaboration. With her private and public work, she finds importance in information sharing and working on topics of love, history and a bunch of words that start with RE like reuse, recycling, reduce.