Clarence Heyward is a North Carolina–based painter whose work examines the Black American experience through explorations of identity, constructions of masculinity, and critical social commentary. His figurative paintings are distinguished by the use of an altered skin tone - chroma key green, which challenges dominant media representations and interrogates the social construction of race.

Heyward's career has been shaped by a series of prestigious fellowships and residencies, including the Brightwork Fellowship at Anchorlight Raleigh (2019–2020), the Emerging Artist Residency at Artspace Raleigh (2021), and an Artist-in-Residence appointment at North Carolina State University (2022).

His work has been exhibited at institutions including the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Raleigh, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and The Houston Museum of African American Culture.

Heyward's paintings are held in major public and private collections, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the Mint Museum, the Cameron Art Museum, the Ackland Art Museum, the Taubman Museum of Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Weathersoon Art Museum and the Alfred University Permanent Collection.