Nov 14 – Dec 12 🆓 Free
The Experience
- Nov 14 – Dec 12
- Lower Level Gallery · Directions
- Free
The Experience
by Martryce Roach
On View: November 14 – December 12, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 14, 3-5pm
in the Lower Level Gallery
Exhibition Statement:
The Experience connects right now to the period from 1916 through 1970, when millions of African Americans journeyed North and Midwest from the Jim Crow South, changing the landscapes of major cities across the country and shaping American culture. These paintings and pastel drawings invite viewers to reflect on visual stories that preserve our memories and inform of the collective, lasting impact of the Great Migration.
Roach has created surrealistic landscapes that incorporate elements of blues music, environment, and cultural folklore into her works to portray layers of endurance, resilience, and creativity evident throughout the journey of African American people. “This exhibition celebrates how we unite to navigate through the burdens, use music to energize ourselves and overcome, and how we can spark change,” she says.
Although many African American families can trace their histories back to the Great Migration and the social fabric of this country is largely influenced by it, the story is not widely discussed in the classroom, Roach observed. She didn’t learn about it as a historical movement until college and later explored a more personal connection. Her great grandmother travelled from Virginia to New York City in the 1930s to become a beautician and sent money back home until her grandmother and other family members could join her in the north.
About the artist:
Raised in New Brunswick, Martryce Roach is a self-taught artist with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health and Africana Studies and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Roach’s style is marked by her mix of history, musical references and geometric shapes assembled to tell surrealistic stories about human experiences and relationships. In 2021, she 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. In 2025, 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 and she installed a PSE&G mural honoring the legacy of Lebby Jones on Nye Avenue in Irvington, NJ, as a part of a collective public art project called Legend’s Way. Her last solo exhibition, Patterns: People in Transition sold 14 new pieces in 2025 at Akwaaba Gallery in the northeast. Several of Roach’s works, including oil paintings and pastel on paper, have been acquired into permanent museum collection. In 2026, Roach has completed two new public art projects in the State of New Jersey, and is currently working on a third which addresses environmental justice and hope for tomorrow. Her most recent mural, Created Equal, was commissioned by the Arts Council of Princeton, and is currently on display on Spring Street in the city.
“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. Working with cultural experiences as source material, my practice serves as visual storytelling, connecting viewers with familiar environments, shared narratives, and layered feelings.” – Martryce Roach
From Arts Council of Princeton. Dates and details can change — check before you go.