When I create, I hope that people connect with the joy, the loss, the conflict, the resilience, and the hope and leave determined to converse about change.
To me, life is filled with twists, blocks, turns and waves. How we swerve through those changes tells a powerful story and makes for a magical visual. I create vibrant landscapes layered with geometric shapes, architecture, and figures. It’s like visual jazz. Recently, I have become deeply inspired by how elements of our environments shape us. My latest work explores the intersection between physical space and human behavior.
Roach discusses the inspiration for her new work - Patterns: People in Transition The paintings are a contemplation of pivotal moments in American history. They speak to the patterns of oppression and resistance that have persisted for generations and addresses the complexities surrounding relocation to an unfamiliar new place. “Art has the power to transform historical narratives into something people can feel”, Roach said. “These works are intended to be dynamic, engaging platforms for viewers to take in our shared stories about what we are, what we have been and challenge us to consider what we aspire to become.” “When I create, I hope that people connect with the joy, the loss, the conflict, the resilience, and the hope and leave determined to converse about change.”
Raised in New Brunswick, NJ, Martryce Roach is a self-taught artist whose style is marked by her mix of history, musical references, figures, and geometric shapes in the construction of surrealistic stories about human experiences and relationships particularly as they relate to African American culture. Roach has a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health and Africana Studies and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. The context for Roach’s work stems from her passion for humanitarianism.
In 2021, Roach was named Curator’s Choice by Pro Arts in Jersey City. In 2022, she was awarded the Mid Atlantic Arts Individual Artist Fellowship Grant through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Also in 2022, she was commissioned by the Meyerhoff Alumni Association to visually capture the life story of University of Maryland Baltimore County former President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski. In 2023, Roach completed an artist residency with ArtCrawl Harlem on Governor's Island, NY. Her pastel drawing,”Facing the Future Together,’’ was licensed by Newark Liberty International Airport, where a massive, mural-sized image of it was displayed digitally in Terminal A from 2022 through 2023. Last year, Roach was the Public Art and Community Engagement Mural Ambassador for a 240-foot mural installed at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Several of Roach’s works, including oil paintings and pastel on paper, have been acquired into permanent museum collection.
Martryce Roach creates to inspire social change. She is an advocate and an artist.
Education
Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ
Master of Social Work (MSW) January, 2013
Bachelor of Science (BS) October, 2005
Areas of Concentration: Social Work, Public Health, & Africana Studies
Residencies, Grants, and Fellowships:
November 2023 South Jersey Cultural Alliance 2023 SJCA Artist Micro-Grant
October 2023 Young Audiences Arts for Learning of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania Artist Grant
Summer 2023 Governors Island NY - Artist in Residence – ArtCrawl Harlem
March 2022 New Jersey State Council on the Arts: MidAtlantic Arts Fellowship Grant Award
Solo Exhibition History
July 2025 Patterns: People in Transition Akwaaba Gallery
Newark, NJ
October 2020 Bayonne, NJ
Transcendence: The Art of Martryce Roach Bridge Art Gallery
Murals and Public Art:
March 2025 Irvington, NJ
October 2024 New Brunswick, NJ
April 2024 New Brunswick, NJ
October 2023 New Brunswick, NJ
November 2022 Newark, NJ
October 2022 Newark, NJ
Legends Way – Lebby Jones Mural – PSEG
Our Space – Public Art and Community Engagement Mural – RWJUH
Roosevelt Elementary School – We Are What We Eat Mural
New Brunswick Youth Sports Complex – Spotlight Mural
Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal A – Facing the Future Together
Grover Cleveland Elementary School: Reaching for KnowledgeSept 2022 New Brunswick, NJ
New Brunswick Domestic Violence Awareness Coalition
Museum Exhibition History
Aug 2025 The Bias Inside Us Monmouth Museum Lincroft, NJ
Mar-Dec 2024 The Intermission The Colored Girls Museum Philadelphia, PA
June 2024 ETV: For the Love of Art Montclair Art Museum Montclair, NJ
February 2024 Love Black Springfield Museum of Art Springfield, OH
October 2023 Cross Cultural Perspectives Newark Museum of Art Newark, NJ
June 2023 ETV: For the Love of Art Montclair Art Museum Montclair, NJ
Apr-May 2022 Windows of Understanding Newark Museum of Art Newark, NJ
Jun 2022-Apr 2023 New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence NJ State Museum Trenton , NJ
Jun 2022 ETV: For the Love of Art Fundraiser Montclair Museum Montclair , NJ
Select Group Exhibition History
June 2025 Pride Art Show Montclair, NJ
Ria X Gallery
May 2025 Phenomenal Women Glenside, PA
Moody Jones Gallery
Apr 2025 Home Charlottesville, VA
Second Street Gallery
Dec 2024 Newark, NJ
The Reveal: Prelude to a New Season Akwaaba Gallery
Sept 2024 No Dead Artists New Orleans, LA
Ferrara Showman Gallery
Apr 2024 Buy What You Love Rema Hortman Foundation
New York, NY
Mar 2024 The Light of Truth Glenside, PA
Moody Jones Gallery
Mar 2024 Annual Women’s Exhibition Kente Royal Gallery
New York, NY
Jan 2024 Rye, NY
Black Artists in the Spotlight Rye Arts CenterDec 2023 Annual 12x12 Show Elephant Room Gallery
Chicago, IL
Nov-Feb 2024 Summit, NJ
Art for the Heart and Soul Overlook Hospital Art Auxiliary
Aug-Oct 2023 About Home New Haven, CT
Ely Center of Contemporary Art
March 2023 Women Celebrate Women New York, NY
El Barrios Artspace
March 2023 Harlem, NY
Annual Women’s History Month Exhibition Kente Royal Gallery
March 2023 New Brunswick, NJ
The Blk Child Our New Superhero Above Art Studio
March 2023 Chicago, IL
Windows to the Inside: Expressions of Mental Health Woman Made Gallery
March 2023 The Universe In Black East Hanover, NJ
ATA @ Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Feb 2023 Rise Above Ellicot City, MD
Howard County Welcome Center
Feb 2023 Expressions of Our Blackness Kaplan ’02 Gallery
Bloomfield, NJ
Feb 2023 Cultural Connections Rahway, NJ
The Gallery Space
Sep 2022 Garden Renaissance Jersey City, NJ
Firmament Gallery
Jul 2022 Urban Surrealism Wilmington, DE
Bridge Art Gallery
June 2022 Morristown, NJ
A Celebration of Black Fine Art Art in the Atrium
Apr 2022 Summit, NJ
Celebrating Black Women Through Art and Poetry Overlook Medical Center
Mar 2022 Healing & Hope Harlem, NY
Kente Royal Gallery
Feb 2022 Unapologetic Invitational Exhibit
Willingboro, NJ
Jan 2022 Expressive, Creative Soul Exhibition Bridge Art Gallery
Bayonne, NJJan 2022 Washington DC
Frequency Exhibit The Yard
Aug 2021 Washington DC
Heal Exhibit The Yard
July 2021 Bayonne, NJ
Be The Light Exhibit Bridge Art Gallery
June 2021 Jersey City, NJ
Pro Arts Jersey City Presents: Curator’s Choice 2021 Art150 Gallery
June 2021 West Orange, NJ
Black Lives Matter: For Justice, For Equality, For Liberty West Orange Arts Council
May 2021 Newark, NJ
Soul of a Badass Warrior Akwaaba Gallery
Jan 2021 New Brunswick, NJ
Windows of Understanding, “We See Through Hate” AHF
October 2020 Glenside, PA
Phenomenal Women Art Exhibition Moody Jones Gallery
May 2020 Trenton, NJ
Online Silent Auction BSB Gallery
March 2020 Newark, NJ
A Window To My Soul Akwaaba Gallery
March 2020 Morristown, NJ
Art in the Atrium, ATA Morristown Courthouse
Feb 2020 Bayonne, NJ
Creative Expressive Soul Exhibit Bridge Art Gallery
Feb 2020 Willingboro, NJ
Black Artistry Annual Exhibition, “Who We Are” John F. Kennedy Center
Jan 2020 New Brunswick, NJ
Windows of Understanding, “We See Through Hate” Above Art Studios
Oct 2019 Newark, NJ
Newark Arts Festival, “Her Grace Art Exhibition” Akwaaba Gallery
May 2019 Glenside, PA
Phenomenal Woman Art Exhibition Moody Jones Gallery
Aug 2018 Freehold, NJ
African Diaspora Festival, “I’m Every Woman” Freehold Art GalleryFreehold, NJ
Mar 2018 Time Through the Seasons Art Exhibition Freehold Art Gallery
Mar 2018 New Brunswick, NJ
Group Exhibition Above Art Studios
Feb 2018 Willingboro, NJ
Black Artistry Annual Exhibition John F. Kennedy Center
Sep 2014 House of Art Exhibition
New Brunswick, NJ
Art Fairs
Feb 2025 New York, NY
Harlem Fine Arts Show The Glasshouse
Feb 2024 New York, NY
Harlem Fine Arts Show The Glasshouse
April 2023 Chicago, IL
The Other Art Fair Artifact Events
Nov 2022 Jersey City, NJ
Art Fair 14C Jersey City Armory
Sep 2021 Chicago, IL
The Other Art Fair Revel Fulton Market
Jun 2016 Trenton, NJ
Art All Night Artworks
Mar 2016 AC Craft Market Atlantic City, NJ
Noyes Arts Garage
Residencies, Grants, and Fellowships
November 2023 October 2023 Summer 2023 March 2022 South Jersey Cultural Alliance 2023 SJCA Artist Micro-Grant
Young Audiences Arts for Learning of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania Artist Grant
Governors Island NY - Artist in Residence – ArtCrawl Harlem
New Jersey State Council on the Arts: MidAtlantic Arts Fellowship Grant Award
Publications
May 2021 Shoutout Miami, “Social impact: how does your business help the community or the world?”
https://shoutoutmiami.com/social-impact-how-does-your-business-help-the-community-or-the-world-9/
September 2021 Shoutout LA, “Are You A Risk Taker?”
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-martryce-roach-visual-artist/
September 2021 Bridge Arts, Arts, Culture, & Lifestyle, Festival Edition
Garden Renaissance Game Changers in the New Jersey Art Scene
January 2022 TAPinto New Brunswick, “New Brunswick Artist's Work Captures Hurt, Hope of Maternal Health Care Disparities” https://www.tapinto.net/towns/new-brunswick/sections/arts-and-entertainment/articles/new-brunswick-artist-s-work-captures-hurt-hope-of-maternal-health-care-disparities
November 2022 A Gathering of the Tribes, Issue #16: THE BLACK LIVES MATTER ISSUEApril 2023 October 2023 December 2023 June 2024 https://www.tribes.org/shop/tribes-16-the-black-lives-matter-issue
Suboart International Art Magazine, Issue #5 April 2023
https://issuu.com/suboartmagazine/docs/suboart_magazine_5_april_2023_pdf
TAPinto New Brunswick, “Picture of Inspiration: New Sports Mural Unveiled in New Brunswick”
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/new-brunswick/sections/arts-and-entertainment/articles/picture-of-inspiration-new-sports-mural-unveiled-in-new-brunswick
TAPinto New Brunswick, “TAPinto New Brunswick’s People to Watch in 2024: Martryce Roach
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/new-brunswick/sections/arts-and-entertainment/articles/tapinto-new-brunswick-s-people-to-watch-in-2024-martryce-roach
The Philadelphia Inquirer, “She Turned Her Home Into The Colored Girls Museum…”
https://www.inquirer.com/arts/theater/colored-girls-museum-germantown-dubo
