Adrienne Wheeler is a multi-media artist, independent curator, arts educator, and advocate for social justice. She lives and works in Newark, NJ. Through her practice, Adrienne addresses the injustices that plague society, particularly those injustices affecting the lives of women and children.

Wheeler’s work references various Central and West African traditions (ancestral, spiritual, and cultural) and investigates the ways in which these marginalized cultures have mustered resistance against the inhumanity of slavery and like oppressions. These works include wood sculpture, mixed media installation, glass book arts, photography and video. Wheeler’s latest project is a papier-mache rendition of Njorowe or “belly masks.” Njorowe is the body plate of an important female ancestral masquerade, belonging to the Makonde People of Southeastern Tanzania and Northern Mozambique.