Natural Tie Dye

Carter M. Rice is a West Virginia–born Appalachian artist working across performance, visual art, and comunity-centered design. Classically trained as a cellist from age seven, Carter approaches art as storytelling—rooted in place, identity, and shared experience.

Their visual work focuses on queer icons created on natural materials, alongside textile-based tie-dye work developed over more than 15 years of practice. Carter’s art blends traditional craft with joy, resistance, and visibility, drawing from both Appalachian heritage and queer lived experience.

In addition to gallery work, Carter creates visual concepts and immersive designs for Say Gay Dance Night and is one of the creators of the Say Gay Art Show, presented at Casa Nueva and The Union. Their work is grounded in accessibility, community, and the belief that art should be lived with, not kept at a distance.