Cierra Johnson is a artist, advocate and culture worker. She mixes illustration, painting and collage with graphic design and photography to construct narratives that amplify the experiences of marginalized people. She is best known for her work in storytelling and cultural preservation with the Martindale Brightwood community in her hometown, Indianapolis Indiana.
Born and raised on the Eastside of the Circle City, Johnson has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Her first exposure to fine art was in Indianapolis Public Schools where she entered the magnet programs for gifted students. She went on to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
After returning home, Johnson began showing fine art professionally in 2013. She has shown in the Center for Black Literature & Culture, Harrison Center, Newfields and the Indiana Black Expo. Her work has been acquired by the McKinney School of Law and many private collectors.
She has done digital art in partnership with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s “Know The Facts Campaign”. In addition, she has taught creative workshops with Artmix, Arts for Lawrence and the Eiteljorg.
She began interviewing local residents for Storytelling Drawing Sessions in 2022 and helped to develop Martindale-Brightwood’s Quality Of Life Implementation Plan. She worked extensively on the team that launched the Polklore Micro-Museum dedicated to her neighborhood in 2024. She sits on the board of One Voice, Martindale Brightwood’s resident led congress and resource sharing group.
She was a Central Indiana Community Foundation grantee and 2021 On-Ramp Fellowship Recipient. She was a Christel DeHaan Fellowship for Accessible Arts recipient and was Creative Placemaking Fellow with the Harrison Center. She continues her work in accessibility with Count US IN as a Racial Justice and Accessibility Fellow.
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