EDUCATION

2012 MFA, Honors, Interdisciplinary, Art Institute of Boston, Boston MA 2005 JD, Cum Laude,University of Florida, College of Law, Gainesville, FL 2002 BFA, Cum Laude, Painting, Florida State University, FL

SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025	Forthcoming: Solo Exhibition, University of Tampa Gallery, Tampa, FL
2024	“Survey: The West” Traveling Exhibition, Raymond James Museum of Western Art, St. Pete, FL
2023	“HENGE,” Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL “dis-tance II,” Gallery 221, YBOR, Tampa, FL, Curator Amanda Poss
	“Hurricane,” Baker Museum, Florida Contemporary Exhibition, Naples, FL, Organized by Artis—Naples
2022	“Survey: The West” Traveling Exhibition, Ogden Contemporary, Ogden, UT
2021	“American Roots,” Ringling Museum of Arts, Sarasota, FL
	“dis-tance,” Gallery 221, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL, Curator Amanda Poss
2020	“VANTAGE POINT,” Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Pompano, FL
2019	“Floss,” SNAP! Gallery, Orlando, FL
	“Penumbra: Corridor of Ambiance,” Tempus Gallery, Tampa, FL

2018 “UNLOADED,” Orlando Museum of Fine Art, Orlando, FL, Curator Coralie Claeysen-Gleyzon

“Ya La’Ford: GLYPHS,” Florida Craft Art Gallery, St. Pete, FL

2017 “Hurricane,” 10th Annual Festival Angelica, Los Angeles, CA

“The Human Pattern,” Articles Gallery, St. Pete, FL

“A Gathering of Voices,” Rosenthal Gallery, Fayetteville, NC “VIBRATIONS: Ancestral Voices,” YEELAN Gallery, Miami, FL “Intersections,” SNAP! Gallery Downtown, Orlando, FL

“Ours,” Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ, Curator Victor L Davson

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 “That Which Compels Me So,” Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD, Curator Dr. Myrtis Bedolla

IFPDA Print Fair, Javits Center, New York, NY

“Florida Contemporary,” Baker Museum, Naples, FL, Curators Courtney McNeil & Rangsook Yoon

2022 "AFROFUTURE." CADA, Miami Design District, Miami, FL, Curator Ludlow E. Bailey

2020 – 21 “Skyway 20/21: A Contemporary Collaboration,” Traveling Exhibition, The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL; the Tampa Museum of Art; and the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL, Curators Ola Wlusek, Christopher Jones, Keith D., Claire Tancons, and Linda L. Monda

2018 ”The End.” Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs, FL

“Without Stopping,” National Black Arts Festival, Westside Cultural Arts Center, Atalnta, GA, Curator Jonell Jaime Logan

2017 “Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration,” Tampa Museum & Ringling Museum of Arts, St. Petersburg, FL, Curators Joanna Robotham and Seth Pevnick

“Ekphrastic.” WADA Contemporary Arts, St. Petersburg, FL

SELECT PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS

2024 UPSIDES, 15’ Sculpture, MOXY, Marriot 2023 The Radius, Stainlesssteel sculpture 7’x12’

Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL

2023 Ties That Bind, Large-scale Architectural Sculpture, 32’ x 225’ aluminum panels, St. Pete Museum of History, St. Pete, FL

2022 Boulevard Flow, Stainless steel sphere 10’x15’

Geometric landscape and stone pathway,

Tampa Housing Authority, Tampa, FL

2022 Eternal RING, Large-scale mural 24’x45’ with

Stainless 7’ led ring sculpture, Gallery 3100

Development, St. Pete, FL

2021 Love Shines, Mural with LED sculpture, 17’x 35’,

Smith & Associates Beach Drive Office, St. Pete, FL

2021 Blue Jays Way, Geometric cityscape logo, 17’x14’,

Toronto Blue Jays Player Dev. Complex, Dunedin, FL

2021 Equality, geometric baseball diamond w led backlit

equality lettering, 32’ x 8’ Toronto Blue Jays Player

Dev. Complex, Dunedin, FL

2021 Racer’s Zone, Indy Car Installation, 19’x6’ for McClaren Indy Car, St. Pete, FL

2021 Tornado Corridor, Mural with LED backlit letter

	9’x25’ Trinity School for Children, Tampa, FL
2021	Burn Out, INDY-500 raceway installation, 15’x’15’
	room with audio, Indianapolis, IN
2020	Community Footwork, large-scale mural 10’x65’,
	Tampa Bay Rowdies Soccer Team, St. Pete, FL
2020	Community Woven, large-scale mural 17’x 47’
	Warehouse Arts District, St. Pete, FL
2020	City-Rise, 17’x15’ Mural, Community Foundation, St.
	Pete, FL
2020	REFLECTION 10’ x 17’ Mural, City of Tampa, Tampa, FL
2020	Entangled Edison Bulb Monument, Stainless steel sculpture, City Walk, Fort Myers, FL
2020	Water Frontier, Large-scale Mural 19’ x 67’ Strategic Property Partners, Tampa, FL
2020	Palm Beach Post Bus Shelter, West Palm Beach, FL
2019	RELATED, “Exposed.” Public Artwork Sculpture, George Perez Collection, Miami, FL
2019	BC Gram Elementary, “Undivided.” Community Public Art Social Justice Project Installation, St. Pete, FL
2019	Woodson Elementary, “Signals.” Community Public Art Social Justice Project, Installation, Tampa, FL
2019	AL Lang Soccer Stadium, “Together we.” Sculptural Mural, Public Artwork Commission, St. Pete, FL
2018	NIKE, “Unspoken.” Architectural Mural Installation, Headquarters.

2018 City of St. Petersburg 85’ Tunnel, “CINCO.”, Large-Scale Outdoor Environment (Architectural Light), St. Pete, FL

2018 Jan Moran Public Library, “Woven.” Community Public Art Social Justice Project, Installation, Pompano Beach, FL

2018 Fairmount Elementary, “360 Degrees” Community Public Art Social JusticeProject, Installation, St. Pete, FL

2017 University of South Florida, “Golden Dimension” Entire Building Mural, PublicArtwork Commission, Downtown, St. Pete, FL

2017 HYATT Mural, “The Peninsula.” Public Artwork Commission, Downtown, St. Pete, FL

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.cltampa.com/arts/tampa-bay-artist-ya-laford-unlocks-time-and-space-in-latest-solo-show-henge-16579414

https://www.kuer.org/arts-culture-entertainment/2022-06-08/ya-lafords-survey-t he-west-exhibition-seeks-the-soul-of-utahs-landscapes

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2023/04/12/tampa-bays-boom-can-d evelopment-art-mix-ask-ya-laford/’

https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2022/03/19/ya-laford-ogden-contemporary-art-re sidency/

http://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/ya-laford-ogden-contemporary-arts-in augural-artist-in-residence-traverses-utahs-artistic-landscape/

https://southwestcontemporary.com/ya-lafords-survey-renews-perspectives-of-the

-american-west/

https://stpetecatalyst.com/artist-laford-unveils-courageous-twelve-monument-desi gn/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Spark%2011-19-2022&utm_content=Daily%20Spark%2011-19-2022+CID_951ac4be0caeae408f649c45289e92f2&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Artist%20LaFord%20unveils%20Courageous%20Twelve%20monument%20design

https://www.83degreesmedia.com/features/Ya-La-Ford-Boulevard-Flow-public-art

-unveiled-in-Tampa-West-River-110822.aspx

https://theweeklychallenger.com/st-petersburg-museum-of-history-announces-ya-l aford-as-artist-behind-final-expansion-piece/

https://stpetecatalyst.com/ya-laford-to-create-public-art-for-history-museum-expa nsion/

https://lesley.edu/stories/ya-laford

https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/2021/06/22/the-st-petersburg-museum- of-history-is-expanding/

https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/2021/04/22/st-petersburg-artist-will-pai nt-an-indycar-at-grand-prix/

https://hamptonsarthub.com/2017/05/26/reviews-art-review-ya-levy-laford-finds

-unexpected-connections-in-sublimation/

https://artisnaples.org/baker-museum/exhibitions/2022-23/florida-contemporary

https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/arts/visual-arts/2021/01/19/ya-laford-ex plores-space-with-distance-in-tampa/

AWARDS AND HONORS

2024 Moving the Margins: Artist in Residency Program, Jacksonville, FL . 2023 Rossignol Selected Artist Partnership, Isere, France

2023	Spartanburg Methodist College Women’s History Honor, Spartanburg,SC
2023	Courageous 12 Integration Memorial Tribute Sculpture, St. Pete, FL
2022	Blanche Armwood Legacy Award, National Alumni Spelman, ATL
2022	Ogden Contemporary Arts Solo Artist in Residency, Ogden, Utah
2021	Indy 500 Activation, NASCAR & VUSE, Selected Artist, Speedway, IN
2021	Grand Prix & McLaren Project: Selected Arts, St. Pete, FL
2019	HELIX, Weizmann Institute Experience, YEELEN Gallery, Miami, FL
2019	Selected Hillsboro County School Board, Public Art Commission, FL
2018	Florida Prize Artist Exhibition, Orlando Museum of Fine Arts, Orlando, FL
2018	STUDIO HONORS Awardee, St. Pete, FL
2018	Awarded RFP USF, Public Art Project, St Pete, FL
2018	Community Impact Award, VSPC, Visit, Clearwater, FL

2017	Selected Artist site specific Large Scale Indoor Mural, Macbeth Voodoo
	Intersections, Studio 620, St. Pete, FL
2017	Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration Tampa Museum of Art
2017	Pompano Beach, Community Artist 2-Year Artist Residency, PompanoBeach
	FL
2017	United Nations Gender Equality, Interactive Installation, St. Pete, FL
2017	Artist in Residency, Atelier of Alexandria, Egypt
2017	Cuba Exchange, Art of Living Foundation, Havana, Cuba

SELECT PATRONS/ COLLECTORS

Jorge Perez

St Petersburg History Museum Tampa Museum of Fine Arts Ringling Museum

Jeff & Penny Vinik Bill & Melinda Gates

St Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts Clark Atlanta University

Maya Angelou Collection Boston Public Library Janet Jackson

NIKE NFL

Rossignol Capital One

McLaren Automotive

Ya La'Ford

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