Missionary
Mary Proctor

Florida folk artist Missionary Mary Proctor returns to St. Petersburg June 14 to present:
What the World Needs Now
a mixed media workshop
June 14, 2025•2–4 PM
Creative Clay•1846 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL
$50 per person • Space is limited

Join world-renowned artist Missionary Mary Proctor at Creative Clay and create a mixed media one-of-a-kind piece of artwork. Basic supplies, such as boards, glue and paints will be provided.You bring the fun stuff--like mementos, photos or copies of photos, grandma’s buttons, costume jewelry, keys, old letters, dried flowers, ribbon, wire, and anything else you love!

PURCHASE WORKSHOP TICKETS

Missionary Mary Proctor is a self-taught Florida artist known for her vibrant, storytelling assemblages. Using found objects like beads, buttons, and written messages, her work expresses a deeply personal and spiritual vision. After losing loved ones in a tragic fire in the 1990s, she received a spiritual call to “paint a door,” launching her artistic journey. Raised by religious grandparents, Mary views herself as a missionary, using art to share messages of faith, family, and life lessons. Mary runs her own museum and gallery in Tallahassee, Florida called the American Folk Art Museum & Gallery.

Her art has been exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore and is held in numerous museum and private collections across the United States. In 2005, Proctor’s work was featured in On Their Own: Selected Self-Taught Artists at the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum. She has also been recognized internationally, appearing on the cover of Raw Vision, the leading magazine for contemporary folk and outsider art.

Mary Proctor’s artwork is included in permanent collections at Asheville Art Museum (Asheville, NC), High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), Mennello Museum of American Art (Orlando, FL), Polk Museum of Art (Lakeland, FL), Morris Musuem of Art (Augusta, GA), St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg, FL), Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY), New Orleans Museum of Art (New Orleans, LA), and the California African American Museum (Los Angeles, CA).