Ekua Holmes facts for kids

Ekua Holmes (born in 1955) is an American artist known for her unique mixed-media collages. She creates colorful pictures by layering different materials like newspaper, photos, and fabric. Many of her artworks show scenes from her childhood in the Washington Park neighborhood of Roxbury, Boston. Besides being a fine artist, Ekua Holmes also illustrates children's books and works with various art organizations.

Early Life and Learning

Ekua Holmes was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1955. She attended the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. There, she earned a degree in Photography, which is a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA).

Her Art Career

As a young artist, Ekua Holmes discovered the power of using "found objects" in her art. These are everyday items that she finds and then uses to create something new. She uses things like old newspapers, magazines, and stamps. She often arranges these materials to make interesting patterns.

What Her Art Is About

Many of Holmes's artworks explore themes like childhood, family connections, memories, and strength. Her collages often remind people of works by famous African and African American artists. These include Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Like these artists, Ekua Holmes's work focuses on showing Black people and their stories in art.

Ekua Holmes once said about her art: "In everything I create I hear them saying, ‘Remember Me.’ Through my work, I honor their stories by bringing them to life. I use torn and cut shapes of colors and textures I find. With these scraps, put together like a homemade quilt, I rebuild my world. I add what speaks to my own story and my culture."

Google Doodle Artwork

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2015, Ekua Holmes's artwork was featured on Google's U.S. homepage. This special illustration, called a Google Doodle, honored the civil rights leader. Her collage showed Dr. King walking hand-in-hand with other activists in Selma, Alabama.

Working with Art Groups

Ekua Holmes started an organization called The Great Black Art Collection. This group helps new artists show their work and introduces Black art to more people.

Currently, Holmes is the Vice-Chair of the Boston Art Commission. This group helps decide where public art goes in Boston. She also works as an assistant director at the Center for Art and Community Partnerships at MassArt. There, she helps manage a mobile art program called sparc! the ArtMobile.

Illustrating Children's Books

Ekua Holmes has illustrated several children's picture books. Many of these books have won awards.

• Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement (2015), written by Carole Boston Weatherford.
• Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets (2017), by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth.
• The Stuff of Stars (2018), by Marion Dane Bauer.
• What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (2018), by Chris Barton.
• Black Is a Rainbow Color (2020), by Angela Joy.

Art Shows and Collections

In 2021, some of Ekua Holmes's award-winning book illustrations were shown at the MFA Boston. This solo exhibition was called "Paper Stories, Layered Dreams The Art of Ekua Holmes". It included collages and original drawings from her published books.

Her very first art show was in 2000. It was called "Renewal and Regeneration" and took place at the Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington, Massachusetts.

She has also shown her art at the Hess Gallery of Pine Manor College and Harvard Medical School's Transit Gallery.

Ekua Holmes's art can be found in several public collections. These include the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston Medical Center, Boston Arts Academy, Dana Farber Cancer Center, and the Boston Children's Hospital.

Her artwork "Crosswalks and Bus Stops" was displayed at Northeastern University. It was placed in large glass windows facing Parker Street and Huntington Avenue. This work was part of Northeastern's Public Art Initiative. This program helps show art from local and international artists.

Awards and Honors

In 2013, Ekua Holmes received the NAACP Image Award.

Her book Voice of Freedom won several important awards. These include a Caldecott Honor, a Robert F. Sibert Honor, the John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor.

Holmes was also awarded the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award in 2018 for Out of Wonder. She won this award again in 2019 for The Stuff of Stars.

In 2013, Ekua Holmes received a Brother Thomas Fellowship from The Boston Foundation. Also in 2013, she was chosen to be part of the Boston Art Commission. This group helps manage public art projects in the city. In 2015, she created a large interactive collage for an opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston. This artwork showed scenes of Boston changing and growing.