For this edition of the Alumni Spotlight, the Clinton School of Public Service is highlighting CC Mercer Watson, a 2019 alumna whose career beautifully illustrates the unique path a Master of Public Service graduate can take.
Watson is a multidisciplinary artist working as a textile artist, actor, poet, playwright, author, activist, and executive director of the nonprofit, A BLACK SPACE. She was named the 2025 Artist of the Year by the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. She has traded the traditional office for a life of creative freedom, though she notes that freedom requires discipline and a scholar’s heart.
Fittingly, her maiden name, Mercer, translates to “a merchant in textiles.” As the Lead Designer and Merchant of Mercer Textile Mercantile, she is a maven of her craft, merging farm-to-fashion with fine art through thousands of hours of hand-stitching every year.
Watson leverages her creative talents as a tool for education and community building. She is the author of two books, “A Love Story Waiting To Happen” and “From Cotton to Silk: The Magic of Black Hair.” Her work has been exhibited on international stages and in galleries that include The Studio Accra (Accra, Ghana), SOO Visual Arts Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 21c Museum Hotel (Bentonville), Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and Little Rock City Hall.
Watson’s practice is deeply rooted in her heritage. As the daughter of the late civil rights attorney Christopher C. Mercer, Jr., she honors his legacy by using artistic mediums to facilitate education and awareness, whether through performing on stage, leading workshops, or hosting exhibits. At her core, Watson is a storyteller committed to positioning Arkansas as a vibrant cultural mecca of the South.
From her International Public Service Project in Ghana to her deep roots in the Little Rock community, she reflected on how the Clinton School taught her balance while using her art as an altar to honor the past and a portal to inspire the future.
What do you most enjoy about your current role?
I am a full-time artist in the mediums of theatre, poetry, and textiles. I am so free, though this free life is not always free. I wake up, take meetings, answer emails, and manage the house. I am able to set my own expectations. My calendar is still booked most of the time, but I am free. I can have a cup of tea and talk with my husband for two hours. I can spend 17 hours stitching on a quilt. I can spend two weeks in New York to visit my nieces and stitch with them and still be about my work.
What I enjoy most is that I am free. I answer only to myself. I am able to use my work as a marker for where I am in this part of the timeline. I use it as an altar to honor my ancestors and as a portal to invite people in to see their own reactions. I get to create and observe on my own time. At the end of last year, when I had 10 public projects and October came to an end, all I did was write because I hadn’t written in such a long time. I wake up happy and peaceful, draped in the freedom to do what I want, and that is what I enjoy most.
What does public service mean to you?
Public service is about having empathy and the ability to recognize the life and potential in everything around you. It might be an animal shelter or the preservation of historic land, whatever it is for a person. For me, it’s about being my most human self and my most artistic self when I meet people who need something. They might not be in need, but they need something to get them to their next adventure. If I can help them, then I will.
A lot of people are not familiar with a master’s degree in public service. I felt like I had to become a master of myself to become a master of public service. I didn’t get the lesson only inside these walls; I got the lesson out in the community. I got the lesson in Practicum and during my IPSP; I got the lesson from my father who worked in civil rights; I got the lesson on stage. Public service is not always pretty pictures. It’s research, having every book open, and going through the IRB process. You must approach it from a place of being a scholar and a good steward of what you are delivering to the people. It’s not about my wants or desires. It’s not easy work. To go into public service, you really have to be about that life. It doesn’t stop when you walk across the graduation stage. Whatever your degree, profession, or talent is, you have the ability to help someone else.
What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?
I’m an avid horror fan. I love the science fiction and mythological lore of some of these stories. People assume I am so sweet because I am a poet, but being into cinema, particularly horror, science fiction, and the macabre, is a big part of me.
What was your favorite class in your time as a Clinton School student?
My favorite class was Program Planning and Development with Dr. Al Bavon. I love Dr. Bavon because he is to the point, gave us great materials, and walked us through the text. He was very kind. I got an opportunity to visit with him during my International Public Service Project because he was attending a conference in Ghana, which is his home country. How cool is it that I got to see him while I was still doing my work in school?
I also loved Dr. Charlotte Williams’ Community Philanthropy class. The work she did to give us a pathway and blueprint is impressive. Those were my top two classes that really stood out. I equally enjoyed my time with Dr. Arvind Singhal, Dean Rutherford, and Dean DiPippa in the classes that I had with them. We were always in conversations that made us think deeper and act with intention. I also wanted to mention how special Dr. Christina Standerfer is to me. She was my advisor during my time at the Clinton School, and in addition to the other professors that I mentioned, she was supportive, understanding, and really a champion for students.
What skills did you learn at the Clinton School that you still put to use in your job or life today?
Being in this space, and it was not easy, allowed me to tap into being adaptable, controlling my emotions, and being a scholar, and I carry that with me today.
I learned to be adaptable because I had to balance 16 or 18 hours a semester while balancing life. I put it all on the line for the Clinton School; I left my job because I wanted to reach the next level of my life. During my IPSP in Ghana, I remember having a moment on the Atlantic Ocean where I felt my infinite rage and my infinite peace. I learned how to control myself and not be so reactionary, lean into how revolutionary I am. It took being in situations that agitated me or gave me difficult tasks to overcome to realize I could triumph.
I can make choices that will impact myself and others. I was glad to have an opportunity to remember that I am studious when people usually see me as an artist. I wrote so many papers and had so many brilliant thoughts prompted by these courses at the Clinton School. I remembered that not only am I creative, but I am a scholar.