Taja Lindley
Space Grant (2015-2016)

An 80s baby born in New York and raised in the South, Taja Lindley currently lives in Tennessee working as the Founder of Colored Girls Hustle®️ – a shelter and sanctuary for her self-expression, a sacred portal and platform for her creative projects and collaborations. Her most recent production is the Black Women’s Dept. of Labor – a project and podcast about race, gender and the double entendre of labor – to work and to give birth.  

Lindley is a spirit-led interdisciplinary generative artist creating dynamic and iterative works designed to transform audiences and to shift narratives, culture and consciousness. She is inspired by the healing arts and metaphysical sciences which support her healing journey and inform the rituals of conceiving, developing and presenting her artwork. 

She is most known for her performances, installations, and podcasting addressing state sanctioned violence, reproductive freedom, economic sovereignty, bodily autonomy and our relationship with the past. Her work is often immersive, participatory, socially engaged, political and autobiographical. Her mediums (to date) include film, memory, sound, dance/movement, text, personal archives, storytelling and discarded materials. 

She received her B.A. from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study where she designed her own major, concentrating in public policy and knowledge production with a focus on health and women of color.

Her artwork has been featured at Spring/Break Art Show, Brooklyn Museum, Philbrook Museum, New York Live Arts, the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), the Gallatin Arts Festival at New York University, WOW Café Theater, La Mama Theater, in living rooms, classrooms, conferences and public spaces. She has received coverage in the New York Times, VICE, ELLE, Blouin Art Info, Art Zealous and Artnet News, and ARTSY.

Her 2017 residency at Dixon Place Theater culminated in the world premiere of her one-woman show “The Bag Lady Manifesta” in September 2017 and it has been presented at museums, theaters, and universities nationwide. 

In addition to being an artist, Lindley has been actively engaged in social movements as an artist, consultant, and facilitator. For almost two decades she has worked with non-profits, community based organizations, research institutes and government on policies and programming that impact women and girls, communities of color, low/no/fixed-income families, queer people, youth and immigrants.

To learn more about Lindley’s journey as an artist, be sure to listen and/or watch her interviews here.

Website: https://www.tajalindley.com/