Threading the Needle: A Conversation with Visual Artist Tabitha Arnold

By Kevin Murphy Wilson Photos Provided 

Tabitha Arnold is a Tennessee-based activist/artist whose provocative works are held in prominent collections (both private and public) far and wide, including the Museum of Fine Arts—Boston and Dom Museum Wien. A self-described socialist and labor organizer, her pieces frequently draw upon imagery from Bible Belt spirituality, social-realist propaganda, and ancient art motifs to create new historical artifacts from a working-class perspective. We recently caught up with this 2025 recipient of the Southern Prize for Visual Art for a quick look backwards and forwards. 

VOICE-TRIBUNE: Can you tell us a bit about your background/ education/experience? 

Tabitha Arnold: “I was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My mom’s family are working-class Portuguese and Polish immigrants. My dad’s side is more educated, ‘WASP-y,’ and very religious: my grandfather was a preacher who died in the pulpit while giving a sermon. I didn’t learn much about class struggle or unions from my family growing up. I moved to Southeastern Pennsylvania in my early teens and eventually went on to study painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA) in center city Philadelphia.” 

VT: So, what sparked your interest in Labor and Class Struggle initially? 

TA: “Living in Philly [sic] for several years definitely put labor unions on my radar. Class struggle is something you can observe on a street level; as strikes are very visible, Scabby The Rat [an American labor icon often used in protests] appears everywhere, and the building trade unions are still relatively powerful in city politics. But it wasn’t until I graduated college and worked at a coffee shop that I began to get radicalized to the idea that I, myself, could have a union at my job. I was part of the very beginning of a citywide cafe workers’ movement that would become a national phenomenon, mostly led by Starbucks Workers United.” 

VT: Your recent solo exhibition was titled “Gospel of the Working Class.” As a socialist, were you also influenced by Liberation Theology and/or the Catholic Worker Movement? 

TA: “The show title references a book of the same name by Erik S. Gellman and Jarod Roll. It follows two Southern preachers, Claude Williams and Owen Whitfield, who were essentially radicalized by their congregations into becoming leaders in the labor movement of the 1930s. They bumped elbows with liberation theologists at Vanderbilt and the founders of Highlander Folk School, a communist-led organizer training center just 45 minutes outside of Chattanooga. So, yes, I notice how liberation theology trickles into political action here in the South. As for the Catholic Worker Movement, that’s something I admittedly need to learn more about, but I know it has directly inspired my DSA chapter’s mutual aid program to cook free meals at scale for the community.” 

VT: Are there any specific artists that inspired you or that you wanted to emulate, or alternatively were there any that you knew you didn’t want to be like?

TA: “For a long time I’ve looked to Palestinian artists, specifically the liberation posters of the 1970s and 1980s, to find inspiration. I’m inspired by collective movements, like the Chilean arpillera artists, and public art programs, like the WPA post office murals. Ironically, my own art practice is very solitary, as I do all of the work myself. I want to avoid contracting out the craft or labor of my work to other, uncredited artists; which I know is the norm for a lot of late-career artists to set up their own “art factory” as they get wealthier. I’m looking for ways to expand my practice to be more collective in the future.”

VT: How has your relationship to materials and processes evolved over the years?

TA: “I spent my teens trying to be a painter, but the process never brought me joy. I just thought it was the default path for serious people who wanted a career as a studio artist. Then, around age 21, I discovered tapestry weaving, which did bring me joy! I love how meditative it is, and how you build an image one line at a time, from the ground up. But when I wanted to move to more complicated imagery, I felt frustrated with the limitations of weaving; and that’s when I got into the punch needle and realized I could use it as an embroidery tool. So now I have my own unique mix of processes, where I am using painting canvas stretchers to brace a linen backing for punch needle, which I use in geometric patterns from the ground up to emulate tapestry weaving, and I show the ‘back’ of the work instead of the tufted side, so it resembles embroidery.”

VT: What are you up to at the moment in terms of an emerging body of work and/or any upcoming exhibitions?

TA: “I’m still working on ‘Gospel of the Working Class.’ I believe it needs one more historical tapestry about Chattanooga to be complete, and that piece will likely go on view in Lexington, Kentucky next year. I’m at a residency in Omaha right now, experimenting with mosaic tile, which I want to use for more permanent and weatherproof artwork. I’m also refining a screenplay I wrote about a union drive, that I hope I can get some eyes on in the next few months.”

VT: You were recently awarded the 2025 Southern Prize for Visual Arts during a ceremony at KMAC, which is a nice marker of achievement. But generally speaking, in this day and age, and at this point in your career, how do you measure success as an artist?

TA: “I measure success in how many working people and union organizers tell me that my work has directly helped or inspired them! At this point, this happens almost daily, so much that I can’t always keep up with responding to everyone personally. But it means so much to me every single time, and it lets me know I’m on the right path.”

Tabitha Arnold’s work is on view here in Louisville through November 2, 2025 as part of The South Arts 2025 Exhibition of the Southern Prize and State Fellows for Visual Arts at KMAC. For more information about the artist, visit tabithaarnold.com.