Episode Details

Artist Joyce McDonald was born in 1951 and raised in Brooklyn's Farragut Houses. But she didn't start pursuing art until the 1990s, after being introduced to sculpture in an art therapy program while recovering from drug addiction. McDonald, who was also diagnosed with HIV in 1985, found that art gave her a way to express herself, and honed her craft with Visual AIDS, which supports artists living with HIV. Her ceramic pieces and archival materials are the subject of a new exhibit at the Bronx Museum, 'Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald,' on view through January 11. McDonald discusses her life and art, and why she decided to become a minister at the Church of the Open Door.