Edwina Joyce Moore

A Renaissance woman defined as a Christian, self-taught artist, writer, community activist and advocate of the arts, E. Joyce Moore, whose artistic name is JEMI, held a passion for the arts since childhood. Edwina Joyce Moore was born January 15, 1952, to William and Florence Moore in Franklin, Tennessee. She was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana from a young age, where she quickly became a support system, along with her sister Ann, as her mother raised 6 children, along with the many other neighborhood children who considered her house a home. 

Joyce accomplished many things in her life based on her physical gifts, but she would consider becoming a child of God her most important accomplishment and goal in life. Because of His love for her and His spiritual gifts, she was able to be a light and source of comfort and love for her family, friends and anyone who knew her. Her goal was to make the lives of others and the world better. She started her walk with God as a teen and was baptized into the Worldwide Church of God in 1971 and at the time of her death she was a faithful member of the Church of God a Worldwide Association.

Joyce attended school 60, then went on to Shortridge High School where she developed friendships, and realized her immense talent and potential for art and fashion design. In an effort to help her mother financially, her artistic passions were partially set aside to find employment after graduation. This dedication to family did not quell her desire to create; she continued to draw and design. She pursued that dream when she left Indianapolis to attend college, majoring in Home Economics at Ambassador University. Her junior year, she found a way to attend both Ambassador and Kilgore College concurrently, so that she could take additional courses in Fashion Merchandising. After college, her road toward design took a detour, as family responsibilities took priority. While living in Chicago, Joyce worked toward a Master of Arts degree in Advertising at Northwestern University but decided that it would not help achieve her creative and financial goals. Joyce spent nineteen years in management with AT&T where she developed her strategic, entrepreneurial and developmental planning strengths, along with formal training in project management.

In 1997, she combined her corporate-honed business skills with her passion for the arts and education, to found a grassroots organization supporting the education of and about artists of color and African descent: the Alliance of African American Artists, Inc. From 2000 through 2004, the Alliance was invited to participate in the National Black Fine Art Show in Manhattan, a show previously hosted by such celebrities as Danny Glover, Susan Taylor, Leon (Robinson), and others. As a result of the Alliance’s consistent success in its exhibition of high-quality fine art, the Alliance was invited to participate in the 2000 COLOR: National Black Fine Art Exposition in Chicago, which was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. In June 2001, the Alliance hosted LINESTM, a four-day program event, at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. In May 2002, the Alliance also developed, sponsored, and promoted the New Harlem RenaissanceTM exhibition in Indiana, renting the Indianapolis Art Center as the venue. In 2003, the Alliance was invited to include an exhibition of its member artists’ work in the Indiana Black Expo Cultural Pavilion. Her passion for fine arts gave her the opportunity to work with such talents as author Dr. Halima Taha, Ora Reed – cultural ambassador for the state of Mississippi, jazz musician Pharez Whitted, and classic tenor Derrick Alton.

Joyce was an artist, a fine art advocate, a poet and a writer of numerous articles published by Black Suburban Journal newspaper, American Vision magazine, and Newslink, a professional development publication, including an on-going column "From the Stoop." She wrote play and movie reviews for NUVO newspaper, and had op-eds and articles published with an array of e-zines, national and international online news sources and various hard-copy magazines and publications. Her writing experiences include interviews of public figures such as Kwesi Mfume, Ed Gordon, Slide Hampton and the Hampton family. Ramblings Through the Attic of Thought is her first collection of poetry, and her non-fiction book, ‘SHIPS were both published by ATTMP Press, a small publisher in Maine. She was a contributor to a number of books, including Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, What is the Purpose of a Banana by Dr. Carlton Green, Gumbo for the Soul and the MoAD Stories Project: I’ve Known Rivers. She expressed her creativity on film, directing a cable television show in Indiana back in 1984, creating an infomercial for AT&T products in 1988 and producing a video, introducing various emerging artists, for the 2000 National Black Fine Arts Show. Joyce also completed the writing of two children’s books: I Like Brown, illustrated by fine artist Charlotte Riley-Webb and the second -- Jahzzara -- is a large multimedia project that she was developing and continued to hope to launch up to her final days. Joyce penned several scripts including a play, television series pilot, television movie and dramatic screenplay. Before her passing, she was eager to release a collection of cinquains, as well as a poetry book collaboration with her niece, Jourdan.

Joyce leaves behind a multitude of friends, admirers, and family members. She is preceded in death by her father, William Moore. She is survived by her mother, Florence Angelin Hamilton Moore; three sisters, Wilma Ann Hampton (Arnold), Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Markey (Bernard), and Bettina Laurell “Tina” Woodall (Jay); two brothers, William Alfonzo “Fonzo” Moore (Judy), and Gregory Scott “Greg” Moore. She also leaves behind many nieces and nephews with whom she developed deep and lasting relationships, who will all miss her presence and influence deeply.

Joyce fought a rare and debilitating illness with all her strength, but ultimately relied on her faith in God to heal her as only He could. She believed that the love He had for her would bless her to know the joy and peace promised in His word. She was looking forward to seeing the perfect beauty of the kingdom of God where she will enjoy the awesome, thunderous sounds of an ocean unlike any she had seen before. Early on Sunday morning, September 8, 2024, she died peacefully knowing that at the return of Jesus Christ, she will awaken to see the amazing vibrant colors of a perfect sunrise from that beach. 

A memorial is being planned at "her happy place" - the beach for some time in November.

In lieu of flowers, the family has chosen 3 organizations that Joyce passionately supported to which you can make donations in her name, E. Joyce Moore. 

Hammonds House Museum - https://hammondshouse.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate-to-hammonds-house. The main page is www.hammondshouse.com.

Tahathinksculture - https://www.tahathinksculture.org/donate. The main page is www.tahathinksculture.org

Ailvin Ailey Dance Company - https://www.ailey.org/?campaign=592388. The main page is www.ailey.org 

The family appreciates the love, support, and prayers sent during her illness and subsequent passing.