Tiff Massey is internationally recognized for immersive installations, public art, wearable sculptures, and performances inspired by her experiences living and working in Detroit over the past four decades. Trained as a metalsmith and jeweler, Massey merges metalsmithing with meaningful community-based work to explore the relationship between the body and urban space, and she was the first Black woman to earn an MFA in metalsmithing from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She draws on 1980s hip-hop culture and her experiences as a Detroit native to explore the concept of adornment in the African diaspora and contemporary issues surrounding race, class, and popular culture. Massey’s art has been featured in solo and group shows nationally and internationally and has garnered her multiple awards. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Art and Design in New York and the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. She is a 2021 United States Artist Fellow, 2019 Art Jewelry Forum Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grantee, two-time Knight Arts Challenge Grantee, and 2015 Kresge Artists Fellow. Her mid-career retrospective at the Detroit Institute of Arts opened in May 2024.