Ellamaria Foley-Ray, an interdisciplinary artist, embraces hand-built ceramic techniques and storytelling to understand, analyze, and enjoy cross-cultural human experiences, particularly those of Black people. Clay, fiber, and performing art form the crucible where she consults her muses, and “writes” visual stories that privilege women’s lives and children’s dreams. Fusing African mask motifs, akua’ma figures, and written African symbols, particularly adinkra and nsibidi symbols, she believes fresh aesthetic narratives and dialogues emerge. She is a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Department of Africana Studies. While she is a “daughter of [Denver’s] dust,” Foley-Ray cherishes her family’s southern roots and uses her artwork to honor Spirit and her ancestors.