Allena Marie Brazier

Allena Marie Brazier is an artist from East St. Louis, Illinois. In the spring of 2021, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in Sculpture and a minor in Art History from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

From a young age, Allena has expressed an interest in subject matters of race, class, and systematic structures, especially as they pertain to and involve Black Americans from the past to contemporary times. Being raised in a city with a rich history of talent, success, economic indifference, segregation, redlining, and riots, she is inspired to express the history of Black Americans in the United States from her perspective through her artwork.

Throughout her educational career, Allena has embodied why East St. Louis is called the City of Champions. She has volunteered for several charity organizations, including youth organizations, campus activities, and senior living facilities. She has been on the dean’s list and recognized for her artistic accomplishments. In 2018, Allena served as the Katherine Dunham Fellow with the St. Louis Arts and Education Council. In 2019, her outdoor sculpture, Katherine Dunham: Perpetual Motion, was awarded the First Place Luis Jimenez Award during the SIUE Sculpture on Campus annual event. In spring 2020, Allena was honored with the Elevate East St. Louis Scholarship from the Department of Art and Design for exemplary academic achievement.

In addition to her academic achievements, Allena has exhibited her sculptures and 2D works throughout the region at places such as Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, IL; The Art and Design West Gallery on the SIUE campus; Flood Plain Gallery in St. Louis; and the Wood River Museum in Wood River, IL. Allena has also exhibited internationally through a group competition for the International Exhibition: Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design in Chicago and The In Art Gallery (online). Recently she was selected for the 2021 International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement Award for her sculpture Passionate Desires.

Currently, Allena is on track to continue her practice and education at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, where she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art degree.