Far, Dark Places
Craig Cromartie
September 4 - November 1, 2026
During his time in the prison system, Craig Cromartie found creative ways to occupy his mind. While locked away, Cromartie was able to explore imagined and remembered places, as he sought to transcend the monotony and casual cruelty of America's penal system. Restricted to supplies available to those incarcerated, Cromartie devised entire worlds of psychedelic surrealism or fantasy melting into abstraction with colored pencils, q-tips, and watercolors, all on painstakingly taped standard sheets of paper.
Making art that symbolically illustrates different periods in his life and their attendant struggles, his images often feature contradictions and opposing forces. Themes of mental health, journeys and decision-making, as well as the battle of good and evil, and the healing power of music, art, and nature, appear repeatedly.
Through it all, the viewer and the tableaux are often under surveillance, through a pervasive all-seeing eye, seemingly observing both artist and viewer.
About the Artist
Craig Cromartie was born and raised in and around Boston, MA. He spent his youth running errands for his elders in the Old Dudley neighborhood as well as Dorchester, Roxbury, Mission Hill, and the lower South End. But soon life began to spiral out of control: a house fire separated his family of ten siblings and he ended up dropping out of school in the 6th grade. Peer pressure and a young mind led to a life of crime and constant arrests. He spent over twenty years in and out of the court system, and at the age of forty-six Cromartie found himself imprisoned once again. However, this time he found a new outlet to express himself. Through art he was allowed to express the trauma and pain of childhood and reflect on life choices.
Cromartie has found a love for creating and sharing his art. Since his release in late 2025 he has turned his efforts toward creating new art and exhibiting the works he made while in prison. Now, Cromartie continues to expand on his experiences in the world outside of prison. You may find him rolling around the streets of Roxbury, MA in his cart, painting en plein air. His new works are inspired by this expanded world and a bright open future.
About the Curator
Marla L. McLeod explores identity and social constructs within Black communities through her curation, as well as working as a portrait painter, textile artist, and sculptor.
Currently a Wagner Foundation Studio Resident at the Boston Center for the Arts, McLeod opened her first solo museum exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio in 2023 as the Aminah Robinson Resident Artist. Her artwork has been exhibited in spaces such as the Boston Sculptors Gallery, the deCordova Museum Triennial, Boston City Hall, Mighty Real/Queer Detroit, MI, Black Portraitures at NYU, and Columbia College in SC.
She began her curatorial role in 2020 working on the Area Code Art fair in Boston, MA and her latest curatorial project “Weaving: an Address” with Umbrella Arts in Concord, MA closed in October of 2025 and celebrated the Black history of Concord, MA.
McLeod began her teaching career as an adjunct professor immediately after receiving her MFA from the SMFA where she was a Post-Teaching Graduate Fellow in 2020. She has since taught at institutions such as MIT and Boston College in MA, MECAD in ME, and SCSU in CT. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Southern Connecticut State University in CT and supports the Art Therapy program with New Beginnings Re-Entry Services in Boston,MA.