Fourth-generation Vineyard family history, the Black Is Beautiful series, and the Martha's Vineyard Vitrine Collection™ sculptures draw devoted collectors and lifelong islanders alike
OAK BLUFFS, Mass., Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Artist Stacey Ellerbe Carter presented her first solo exhibition and private collector event in August 2026 at a private residence in the Preserves in Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard. The afternoon drew islanders, longtime summer families, and collectors from across the country, and closed as a sold-out show.
The program opened with remarks from Judith Lee, CFP®, CRPC™, SE-AWMA™, Senior Vice President and Senior Resident Director of The Lee Casey Group, a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management practice, who spoke on longevity, investing, inheritance, and the work of building and transferring wealth within the community — themes that framed the evening's conversation about art as both cultural legacy and long-term asset.
Ayo Sanderson Wilson, founder and chief curator of Great Room Gallery (GRG), followed with a one-on-one conversation with the artist, the centerpiece of the evening. Ayo asked wide-ranging questions rooted in Carter's history on Martha's Vineyard, drawing out her motivations behind different bodies of work and her signature use of texture.
That conversation began where Carter's work begins: on the Vineyard. Carter's family has been coming to Martha's Vineyard for more than 70 years, and she spoke about how four generations of summers on the island shaped her eye, her sense of place, and ultimately her practice.
Carter also discussed her Black Is Beautiful series and the two women who set her on this path. Her mother, an artist and educator from Charleston, South Carolina, filled their home in Teaneck, New Jersey, with her own artwork, adorning nearly every room. Carter's Auntie Loïs Mailou Jones — the renowned painter — was another formative influence — one who inspired her as a young adult to begin painting, and to continue that practice throughout the years. Jones — whose work is held in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among others — held her own first solo exhibition on Martha's Vineyard, and is buried in Oak Bluffs.
"Martha's Vineyard isn't just where my family vacations. It's where four generations of us have lived, gathered, and made this island part of who we are — and now, so is my art," said Carter.Paintings from the Black Is Beautiful series sold throughout the evening, including Euphoria, a 60 x 40 textured abstract acquired by a private collector from Chicago.
Also sold were works from Carter's Vitrine Collection™ — one-of-a-kind, hand-built 13 x 13 inch sculptural monuments shaped after Martha's Vineyard's iconic map.
Each piece captures the feeling of a place islanders know by name: Circuit Avenue, the Inkwell, Back Door Donuts, Noman, the Flying Horses, and many more. Each sculpture is encased in a museum-quality acrylic encasement, made especially for Stacey Carter | Art. Collectors responded to the pieces as portraits of memory rather than souvenirs — objects that hold a specific summer, a specific corner of the island, a specific family story.
Carter continued her exhibitions on the island with a solo exhibition at the Summercamp Hotel in Oak Bluffs, where she showcased the Martha's Vineyard Vitrine Collection™. Hotel guests and passersby stopped through the lobby for a chance to speak with the artist one-on-one and get a close-up look at her unique sculptures of the Martha's Vineyard map.
About Stacey Carter | Art (SCA)
Stacey Ellerbe Carter is a sculptor and painter whose work spans large-scale three-dimensional pieces and the hand-built Martha's Vineyard Vitrine Collection™. Her practice is rooted in place, memory, and Black legacy, carrying forward a family artistic lineage that includes her mother, a Charleston, South Carolina artist and educator, and her renowned auntie, artist Loïs Mailou Jones. Carter's family has summered on Martha's Vineyard for more than 70 years.
Work is available for private acquisition, commission, and gallery placement.
Instagram: @staceycarter.art
Media Contact
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High-resolution images and additional information available upon request
Media Contact
Sam Elliott, Lion Strategiess LLC, 1 5616294988, [email protected]
SOURCE Stacey Ellerbe Carter
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