Essex Garner

     I was born in Kansas City, Missouri 1961. Raised by a loving grandmother a few blocks from 18th & Vine. Attended Central Jr. & Sr. High 1972–78. During the 70s & 80s my great uncle was the first Black Chief of Police in Kansas City, KS (Boston Daniel’s), so all of my juvenile activities had to be conducted on the Missouri side of town. 1974-75 I was accepted into the Hallmark Cards Internship Program, and in 1976 started summer enrichment classes at the Kansas City Art Institute.  My approach to oil painting or watercolor is from a realistic perspective; periodically I've dabbled around in Constructivism. Thematic developments are influenced through music, especially (Jazz and Gospel), children in genre, religious metaphors, and historical pictorials.  Formal training in art through Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO, where I received a BSED in Art Education K-12, 2005 and a BFA in 2006.  Graduated 2007 - 2012 the University of Missouri, MED in Leadership Training & Curriculum Development with an emphasis in Art Education. There are only two artist that have seriously influenced me over the course of my life: Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Dean L. Mitchell. I learned from studying Tanner that painting and being judged as a painter in America will always have marginalization attached to the effort.  I learned to circumnavigate in watercolor by studying Dean.  

     My philosophy: " If God gives you a special intelligence at birth; then man cannot take that intelligence from you, but he can hinder it. If you are squandering that precious gift given unto you by the creator, always be mindful that it is just a gift. If you are blessed enough to be endowed by the creator; do not waste time describing your intelligence, just execute. Only emulate those kindred intellect with more talent than you, and then be mindful of whom you emulate. Then prepare yourself of criticism the rest of your days. It’s not where and how you start in this life that counts, but how and where you finish."  Dreams; I paint at the beginning of mine. " My Grandmother gave me the best advice I have heard to date! "Boy, those folks couldn't paint or draw their way out of a paper box, even if the directions on the bottom said, "Turn it up."" For Sabee.

Fellowship Art Research Center 1976-1996, Kansas City, Missouri

Urban Design Projects (Wall Graphic Collaborations): On-the-fly

     1976 Urban Design Award; Burt Fredericks Building, Kansas City, Missouri
     Wheeler Laboratory Building, 1983, Kansas City, Missouri (Downtown)
     U. S. Electrical Construction Inc, 1983, Kansas City, Missouri
     Big Dude's Music City, 1984, Kansas City, Missouri   
     Geometric Shapes at 14th & Walnut, 1985, Kansas City, Missouri
     Pulley Brothers, 1985, Kansas City, Missouri
     Kansas City Power and Light Electrical Substation, 1986, Kansas City, Missouri
   
Art Exhibit 1986, Euphrates Art Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
Bruce R. Watkins Drive right-of-way Freeway Design Charrette, July 1987, Kansas City, Missouri
George Washington Carver Memorial Mural (The Life of Dr. Carver) 1988-1990
Collected works (Military Heritage Museum) 1993, Saint Joseph, Missouri
Exhibition of Public Art, An Art Research Center 25 Year Retrospective, AIA, 1993, Kansas City
Historically Black College Literary Magazine (Under One Sun) Lincoln University 2003/2004, Jefferson City, Missouri: 7 Works
Adult Art Exhibit 2003, Jefferson City Art Club, Elizabeth Rozier Gallery
Award Art Exhibit 2003, Lincoln University,  (People Choice Award), Jefferson City, Missouri
Mentor (Second Grade) East Elementary School, Jefferson City, Missouri 2003-
Jefferson City Home Magazine, Fall Issue 2004, Artist Profile; (Living His Way)
Senior Art Exhibit 2004, (Dreams Not Deferred) Lincoln University Memorial Hall
Award Art Exhibit 2005, Lincoln University, (Dean's Award), A New Way of Thinking
Graduated Cum Lada, (Bachelor of Science Education K-12) Art Education, Lincoln University, 2005
National Dean's List 2004/05
Teaching Certification (Art K-12), Missouri 2005
Adult Art Exhibit 2005, Jefferson City Art Club, Elizabeth Rozier Gallery
Graduated Cum Lada, (Bachelor of Fine Arts) Lincoln University, 2006
Scholastic, News Source; Some You Should Know, Scholastics, Inc, Vol 8, Issue 1, Jan/Feb06
Public Art Exhibition, Art Inside the Park (Under the Rainbow) Balloon Structure, 2006
Art Exchange Realism Exhibition 2006
     Essex Garner, (Unfinished Business), Elizabeth Rozier Gallery, Union Hotel Jefferson Landing Historical Site,
Jefferson City, 4 Jan - 25 Feb 2006
     Illustrator, A Children's Book of Barack Obama Our 44th President, Author (Larna S. (Neal) Garner, 2009, Published
August 2009
Art Assistant, Lincoln University, 2007 - 2009
An Essay on, Public Art in Public Spaces, The Past, Present and Future, 2010
Adjunct Professor, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri Department of Fine Art, 2010 - present
     In My Father's House 2011, A Tribute to the 62nd & 65th Colored Infantry, Sep 29-30 - Oct 1, 2011, Jefferson City Historical  Landmark, MO
Twenty-first Annual Fine Art Exhibition NOAPS 2011
Graduated  University of Missouri Graduate Program 2007-2012, Leadership Training and Curriculum Development,
Emphasis in Art Education
Faculty Art Exhibit, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri October 22, through November 12, 2010
Missouri Army National Guard Headquarters 1-29 Feb, 2012 (Black History Month) A tribute to the Colored Infantry Soldier
Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center University of Missouri, Graduate Art Exhibit, April 2, 2012 through 31 May, 2012
     (Chalk Art Demonstration) and Visiting Artist Series, The Magic House, Saint Louis, MO, July 14-15, 2012 &
Colored Infantry Soldier
Gallery Talk, Engaging with History through Art, Missouri State Historical Society, University of Missouri, Jul 21, 2012
Faculty Art Exhibit, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri, September 28 through October 12, 2012
     October 26th & 27, 2012, at the Bruce Watkins Cultural Heritage Center in Kansas City, Missouri, Commemoration
Battle of Island Mound kickoff & Bates County Historical Society & Museum African-American Civil War Symposium
     Permanent Exhibition (Learning to Read, a Soldier's Story), in tribute the to men of the 62nd & 65th Colored Infantry,
Scruggs University Center, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri
Missouri Army National Guard Headquarters 1-28 February, 2013 (Black History Month) A tribute to the Buffalo Soldier
     Portraits of American History, the Buffalo and Colored Infantry Soldiers, June 10 through July 31, Extended - August 2013. Memorial Hall Gallery, Lincoln University, Missouri
Twenty-third Annual Fine Art Exhibition NOAPS 2013
2013-14 Portraits of American History, A Tribute to the Buffalo Soldier, Traveling Exhibition
     Copyright Image (Dead Reckoning) Forwarded to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History,
The 54th Massachusetts (Underground Railroad) 2014. Founded in 1965 by Detroit obstetrician Dr. Charles Wright.
     Buffalo Soldier’s of the American West, Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and State Museum & Gallery Talk,
Kansas City, Missouri June 7 through August 30, 2014
     Juneteenth Exhibition June2014 Buffalo Soldiers of the American West Saint Joseph, MO June13-15, 2014, Mini-Museum,& Gallery Talk, Sponsored by the Black Archives of Saint Joseph, Missouri
Twenty-forth Annual Fine Art Exhibition NOAPS 2014
Missouri Army National Guard Headquarters (Fallen Soldier's Memorial) 1-29 February, 2015 (Blue on Black)
Jefferson City Art Club Adult Artist Exhibition (Best of Show) In the Sprit of the Place March 27th - May 3, 2015
Jefferson City Art Club Adult Artist Exhibition (First Place) Chalk and Pastels, 27th - May 3, 2015
   Blue on Black (Five Year Retrospect) The Colored Infantry Soldier (Side B) the Buffalo Soldiers (Side A), April 1-30, 2015, Extended through June 30, 2015. Memorial Hall Gallery, Lincoln University, Missouri
Twenty-fifth Annual Fine Art Exhibition NOAPS 2015
Passages of My Time Exhibition, Essex Garner September - December 2017 (MEH) Memorial Hall, Campus Lincoln University
, Jefferson City, Missouri
 Passages of My Time Exhibition (cont) January - April 2017, at the Bruce Watkins Cultural Heritage Center in Kansas City, Missouri
 

              

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 Essex Garner  "Living His Way"

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