"Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis

 

I am presenting my new series, "Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris. The show displays my mural project for Lycée Paul Lapie, depicting diverse students reading and the books that have excited them. The paintings will be displayed in my show "Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis , in Paris, during June, 2021. More information at www.fondationdesetatsunis.org/renaissance-lecture/   A 1 minute video describing my show ""Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris. I have been developing murals with students at Lycée Paul Lapie. I was fortunate to  receive a 2020-2021 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, to create these paintings since October 2020. The paintings show students looking at scenes from fantasy stories. This project is a way to encourage students to read. The paintings show how interesting the stories in books are. They are painted in a realistic style at close to life size to establish a belief in the world of stories. The paintings are based on the students’ favorite books, including The Chronicles of Narnia, Les Chevaliers d’Émeraude and Star Wars. Students also posed for the paintings and helped paint sections on the mural’s borders. Each painting celebrates learning as a unifying link between students of multicultural backgrounds in France. This appreciation of diversity is important as immigration to France continues to increase. Also the promotion of reading is important as reading remains an essential resource in education. By showing the world of stories, the paintings celebrate the appeal of books.

Click images to view larger "A New Narnia" (5 x 5 feet, Oil and Acrylic) A video of the process behind the painting on Youtube  "The World of Reading" (5 x 5 feet, Oil and Acrylic) A video of the process behind this painting on Youtube  "Space Escape" (5 x 5 feet, Oil and Acrylic) A video of the process behind this painting on Youtube  Opening on June 2nd, 5pm-8pm as part of Art-Hop-Polis Exhibition from June 2nd-16th 2021   Guided tours: June 3rd (11am), June 4th (2:30pm), June 8th (2pm) , June 9th (6pm)  Please reserve online for the opening or a guided visit:  www.fondationdesetatsunis.org/renaissance-lecture This event is a part of Art-Hop-Polis, the art hopping of the Cité international (CiuP), takes place every first Wednesday of the month from 7pm to 8.30pm.

The paintings will also be displayed on June 19th in the annual reading festival, "The Festival of Mots libres" , in Courbevoie, the town that Lycée Paul Lapie is in. An event to show the paintings at the Château de Fontainebleau is also being planned for July 14th, in collaboration with the artists and musicians in residence at Fondation des États-Unis. I will stay in touch with more information.

Paintings at Woodmere Art Museum

 

Two of my paintings will be on view at the Woodmere Art Museum in their annual "Seeing the Story" Exhibition. While this exhibition, originally scheduled for summer of 2020, was delayed until this year, I was fortunate that my mother could drop the paintings off while I am in Paris. Both paintings in the exhibition are from my book My book "The Great Library", an overview of scholars from the ancient library of Alexandria in Egypt. "Embark Discovery", Oil, 17 x 30 inches                                     "A Cure", Oil, 9 x 12 inches More information at Woodmereartmuseum.org   Woodmere Art Museum   9201 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118

I’m also fortunate to announce that I’m one of 20 artists selected for MuralArts’ 2021 Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists! This virtual Fellowship, presented by TD Bank, will be supporting my paintings with $2,000 in unrestricted funding. I’ll also be receiving financial planning sessions, social media promotion, and evaluative sessions with awesome curators from Rush Arts Philadelphia, HAHA Magazine, and StreetsDept.com.  Follow Mural Arts and check back soon for a full feature of my work on their Instagram page, and learn more about the 2021 Cohort HERE