Willie Birch facts for kids

A street art piece by Willie Birch

Willie Birch, born in 1942, is an American artist. He creates art using many different ways. These include drawing, painting, and making sculptures. Willie Birch was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He still lives and works there today. He studied art at Southern University. He also earned a special art degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.

Willie Birch's Artworks

Willie Birch lived in New York City after finishing his advanced art studies. There, he became well-known for his sculptures made from papier-mâché. This is a fun art material made from paper and glue. In the late 1970s, he was part of a special art project. This project helped artists get jobs and support their work.

Storytelling Through Art

In the 1990s, Willie Birch's art was described as "storytelling art." He used his amazing art skills to tell stories. He moved back to New Orleans in 1994. By 1997, he started a project drawing people from his neighborhood.

He wanted to show real people. He felt that some pictures of African-Americans in the French Quarter were not fair. These pictures often showed people in a silly or untrue way. Birch explained that the rest of New Orleans was very different. He wanted his art to show how people sometimes see others as "different." He explored what that means in a changing world. He made these special prints called monotypes for this project.

Black and White Drawings

After the year 2000, Willie Birch started working only in black and white. He made very large drawings. These drawings were shown in a big art show called Prospect.1 in 2008. This show happens every three years in New Orleans.

He often uses charcoal and acrylic paint on paper. His art shows everyday life in New Orleans. It also features parts of the city's unique culture. This includes lively brass bands and "second lines." Second lines are parades where people dance and follow a band. He also drew famous musicians like Trombone Shorty.

Art After Hurricane Katrina

In 2015, Willie Birch was one of six artists in an exhibition called "Ten Years Gone." This show was at the New Orleans Museum of Art. It marked ten years since Hurricane Katrina hit the city. His artwork showed plants that grew wild in his yard after the storm. The city was closed down for a while, and nature took over. He also made bronze casts of crawfish mounds. These are mud homes built by crawfish. The storm had moved the crawfish into his yard.

Art Exhibitions

Willie Birch's art has been shown in many places across the United States. Some of these include the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. His work has also been displayed at the SculptureCenter in New York City.

Artist Residencies

Willie Birch has been an artist in residence at several places. This means he lived and worked there for a period of time. These places include the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the Tamarind Institute. He also had a residency in Nantes, France.

Awards and Grants

Willie Birch has received many important awards and grants for his art. He was a James Baldwin Fellow for the United States Artists. He also received a Life Time Achievement Award from the National Conference of Artists.

He has received money and support from many foundations. These include The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He also received awards from the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans.

Art Collections

Willie Birch's artwork is part of many important art collections. You can find his pieces in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His art is also in the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Other places include the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.