About the Practice
Emily Clanton is a Weaverville, North Carolina-based artist and community engagement specialist with an MA in Arts in Medicine from the University of Florida. Her work combines participatory visual methods, qualitative engagement, and public-facing documentation for health, planning, recovery, and civic contexts across the Southeast.
My practice bridges public art, arts in health, community engagement, and qualitative documentation. It's built on the belief that participation should be visible, accessible, and meaningful to the people being asked to contribute — engagement designed to take form over time, not end at a single event.
Methodology
CBPR Methodology
Community-based participatory research, qualitative inquiry, and arts-in-health research grounding.
Participatory Visual Methods
Making community experience visible through documentation, visioning, installation, and material engagement.
Facilitation Design
Engagement structures that can operate independently and support public-facing institutional work.
Credentials
Graduate Degree
MA, Arts in Medicine — University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, 2023
Presentations
— National Convening on Art and Social Connection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2026 — “Making Belonging Visible” (opening session)
— Creative Placemaking Conference, Montgomery, AL, 2025 — “Many Strands, One Bridge”
Research & Publications
— Participatory Public Art: Presentations & Frameworks. Emily Clanton Art, LLC — Zenodo Research Collection, 2026.
https://zenodo.org/communities/participatory-public-art-presentations-and-frameworks/
— The Ties That Bind Asheville — Research & Documentation. Emily Clanton Art, LLC — Zenodo Research Collection, 2026.
https://zenodo.org/communities/the-ties-that-bind-asheville-frameworks/
— Masters Work Portfolio — Center for Arts in Medicine, University of Florida (2022–2024).
https://zenodo.org/communities/uf-cam-masters-portfolio-2022-2024
— Determining the Acceptability of a Participatory Public Art Project... University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, December 2025.
https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.17797046
— Policy Brief: Exploring the Health Benefits of Mindful Public Art Projects in Rural Communities. Emily Clanton Art, LLC, January 2026.
https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18166574
Institutional Commissions
— Medical University of South Carolina — Many Hands, Light Work (permanent installation, 2025)
— City of Homestead — Utility Box Wrap Series (municipal installation, 2025)
Selected Partners & Contexts
Spartanburg Art Museum · Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs · City of Homestead · Chattanooga Public Art · Medical University of South Carolina
[Most engagement work consults the public around a plan that's already decided. I work differently: participation happens throughout the process, in a form low-barrier enough to reach people who don't have the time or bandwidth to track a public process closely. When people feel more amenable to the work, their participation — and the outcomes that depend on it — has a better chance of improving, for the institution as much as the community it serves.]