Tiff Massey is a Detroit artist whose practice centers around adornment and community. Massey creates jewelry, sculpture, performance, video, and music, as well as immersive art environments. Massey was the first Black woman to earn an MFA in metal smithing from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She draws on 1980s hip-hop culture and her experiences as a Detroit native to examine the concept of adornment as an examination of the African diaspora and contemporary issues of race, class, and popular culture.

Inspired by the jewelry she crafts for herself and others, these sculptural works address notions of self-identity, community, and of being a part of a place and group. As a direct response to gentrification in Detroit, Massey has merged her art practice with real estate development and owns several properties in the City.

Her art has been featured in solo and group shows around the U.S. and internationally and has garnered her multiple awards. She is the winner of the 2021 United States Artist Fellowship,2019 Art Jewelry Forum Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grant, a two-time winner of the John S.and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge, and a 2015 Kresge Artists Fellowship recipient.