About Tiffany

Baltimore City

Tiffany Jones is a visual artist and has received her BFA in photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Jones' art practice often employs interactive types of data collection including interviews and surveys, in order to engage participants. Versatile and varied, Jones’ work is always influenced by history, current events, and societal assumptions. This practice grounded her community work as an artist. Her passion for community art and motivation for engagement grew with her… more

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Our Baltimore

A visual story of the heart of a city.
  • Love
    Love
    Love on the Line, 2015
  • Power
    Power
    Love on the Line, 2015
  • Fearless
    Fearless
    National March, 2015
  • Hope
    Hope
    National March, 2015
  • Our Brothers
    Our Brothers
    Artivist March, 2015
  • Our Sisters
    Our Sisters
    Artivist March, 2015
  • The Beat
    The Beat
    Artivist March, 2015
  • Peace
    Peace
    National March, 2015
  • We Matter
    We Matter
    National March, 2015
  • One Baltimore
    One Baltimore
    National March, 2015

unFaded

The barber shop, a cultural platform of the Black community as early as the 1800’s, was the first privately owned black business. The barber and the barber shop experience nourishes the soul of the unseen man that comes from a population which has been haunted by their outward appearance for centuries. It is in the barber shop where the image of blacks is skillfully composed and the Black identity is crafted. unFaded looks at rites of passage, tradition, and how the barbershop experience has served as a cultural platform for individuals in the Black community.

Thrust into a world of change, Shackled down in fetters,
Given strange new standards, By different pace setters;

Up early, every morning, Before the break of day,
With hair matted down, Like tramped on Hay;

No aids to aid nature, No soap, nor shampoo, No comb, no brush, 
What was a chief to do? Lost was his culture,
Taken from his kind, Picked was his brain,
Confused was his mind.

Tall, strong and sturdy, A ring in his nose
The Chief of his tribe, Wearing “corn rows”.

A band on his forehead, A pick in his hair,
The spear by his side, Showing a man of care.
The feeling of rejection, His soul had to face
With the changing of time, And the change of pace. 
- Bessie Ann Watkins

FREEDOM BEFORE SLAVERY: PRECEDING 1612
"Rooted Pride"
The African pick, a symbol of culture, heritage, and beauty is carefully designed to help maintain the kink and curl of black hair. It represents the sense of self-worth and dignity blacks were forced to leave behind along with their freedom. As a product of their identity black hair is not a commodity. The barbershop is a Black Space central to the production of black identity.

CIVIL WAR: 1861 – 1865
PROFESSIONALIZATION MOVEMENT: 1880’S - 1890’S
"Color-Lines"
Barbering was viewed as a racialized skill since slaves 
learned from their masters. By the end of the nineteenth century, blacks mastered this skill and transformed into master barber businessmen making barbershops one of the first black owned businesses. However, barbershops, such as those in the south, were bound to a new kind of bondage, white clients only.

JIM CROW: 1877 – 1960’S
GREAT MIGRATION: 1910 - 1970
"Migration by a New Generation"
Barbershops began defining their Black Space during the turn of the twentieth century. The industry shifted from a service to whites into a foundation for the beginning of a black cultural movement. The number of black barbershops increased as a new generation considered the organization and safety of black communities.


  • Rooted Pride
    Rooted Pride
    FREEDOM BEFORE SLAVERY: PRECEDING 1612 "Rooted Pride" The African pick, a symbol of culture, heritage, and beauty is carefully designed to help maintain the kink and curl of black hair. It represents the sense of self-worth and dignity blacks were forced to leave behind along with their freedom. As a product of their identity black hair is not a commodity. The barbershop is a Black Space central to the production of black identity.
  • Color-Lines
    Color-Lines
    triptych; installation view
  • Color-Lines
    Color-Lines
    CIVIL WAR: 1861 – 1865 PROFESSIONALIZATION MOVEMENT: 1880’S - 1890’S "Color-Lines" Barbering was viewed as a racialized skill since slaves learned from their masters. By the end of the nineteenth century, blacks mastered this skill and transformed into master barber businessmen making barbershops one of the first black owned businesses. However, barbershops, such as those in the south, were bound to a new kind of bondage, white clients only.
  • Production of Masculinity
    Production of Masculinity
    Mixed Media
  • Migration by a New Generation
    Migration by a New Generation
    triptych, installation view
  • Migration by a New Generation
    Migration by a New Generation
    JIM CROW: 1877 – 1960’S GREAT MIGRATION: 1910 - 1970 "Migration by a New Generation" Barbershops began defining their Black Space during the turn of the twentieth century. The industry shifted from a service to whites into a foundation for the beginning of a black cultural movement. The number of black barbershops increased as a new generation considered the organization and safety of black communities.
  • The Cut, The Shape, The Man
    The Cut, The Shape, The Man
    triptych, installation view
  • Tool Kit
    Tool Kit
    Tool Kit contextualizes tools to in the creation of the identity of the black man. Each of the wooden blocks features a black owned Barber Shop starting from the 1940's to now and what their specialty service was for the community they served. Harry's Afro Hut, Est. 1975, Specializing in Free Hypertension Testing & Barber Classes at Westside Skill Center

I, Colored.

Open for nearly thirty-six years, Pool #2 was the only swimming pool for blacks in Baltimore. Accompanied by tennis courts and eventually a playground, Druid Hill Park carved a space in its grove of trees for blacks to enjoy family, sports, and recreation. For many years Pool #2 and its tennis courts provided an environment to enjoy life and celebrate wins during strained times. I, Colored acknowledges the rich experience of black life despite Jim Crow, playing with language of the period to present ideas of segregation versus integration.

I, Colored.
Written by Tiffany Jones, Voice Over by Alisa Brock

I Colored that day. I Colored every day. I Colored in the morning, I Colored in the afternoon, I even Colored late into the night. Yellows, browns and blues are my favorite, they just make me feel so warm inside... peaceful … at ease -- but sometimes I sneak in a red, give it a little edge, yah know? And the best part is, I stayed in the lines -- those Black ones. You know the ones that just keep everything together, the ones that just keep everything where it’s supposed to be.
I followed the directions, “Color - in - the - lines.”
My friends who would Color with me, well some of them would stay in the lines, like me -- but of course some wouldn’t. I tried that one time before yah know, to Color outside of the lines … I just couldn’t, it didn’t feel right -- it didn’t to me at least.
I watched them though… my other friends, they were bold, they took risks! They didn’t let those black lines stop them at all! My friends would say, “girrrl I love how you always Color in those lines, but you know you should try Coloring outside of the lines, just once, just one time, for me! Pleeeease, we can do it together.”
I thought t o myself, it’s Coloring, right? What’s the big deal? I won’t be Coloring alone, and I would have all my friends Coloring with me, so why not?!
So…I went for it, and I Colored that day. I Colored that morning, I Colored that afternoon, I even Colored late into the night. Once it was too dark to keep going, I stopped.
I stepped back. To look.  To see.
Those black lines -- they’re still there, still trying to, you know, keep everything together.
That next morning, I woke up -- and I, Colored.

I Know This to be True

I Know This to be True is an interpretation of my mother’s passing and my healing. Inspired by the peace lily, a common plant traditionally given as a gesture of sympathy, symbolizes the rebirth of the soul as his or her true self. Drawing parallels between our physical characteristics such as hair and the care and maintenance of the peace lily, this work considers our understanding of our realities, and the spiritual energy and life force that connects us.

July, 2017
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
    Installation View
  • I Know This Much is True
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
  • I Know This to be True
    I Know This to be True
    Detail View