Paul Branton was born in 1973 in Chicago. He was influenced at an early age by the sights & sounds of the South Side’s urban environment. Writing short stories & putting on plays with his sister quickly became a passion and a means of expressing himself. It was this passion that guided his education, which ultimately guided his career.

Choosing visual art as his main focus, he entered Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, majoring in Commercial Art with a strong emphasis in painting. It was at Millikin where he also discovered a love for poetry, a strong desire for painting, eventually putting on a one man art exhibit displaying his works. During these same years, he also helped his college buddy Skee Skinner with several student film projects, opening up another doorway from which to express himself. Not only taking on writing & production credits, Paul spent much of his time on both sides of the camera playing supporting and lead roles.

He recently combined the two art forms by creating a series of paintings for the feature film Pieces of a Dream, in which he also portrayed a main character. Also merging visual art and poetry, Paul put together the upcoming coffee table book To Dream In Colour.

The art of Paul Branton is/has been exhibited throughout Illinois, including Millikin University, South Side Community Art Center, Gallery Guichard, University of Illinois at Chicago, Gallery D’Estee, Phoenix Gallery, NYCH Gallery, Chicago Truborn, Legendary Gallery, Galleryna 19 and Hyde Park Art Center . His work hangs in the homes of private owners from New York to Los Angeles

James Nelson discovered art at a very young age. His first portrait was a drawing of his mother. He drew every detail, from the creases of her smile to the roundness of her face. Afraid and uncertain that his mother would unhappily accept the drawing because of the delicate details in the portrait drawing. She accepted the black and white drawing saying “Draw everything you see son”.

Frank Frazier began his work as a fine artist early, at the age of seven. He was creating paintings in his family’s Harlem, New York City home. A husband and father of five, he recalls growing up, “we were not poor, but my family was a little different.” At the age of 15, his family moved to downtown New York City, which precipitated his “getting into a lot of trouble” as a youngster. A move to Queens, New York, brought with it a stint at a boys’ institution in upstate New York, but it also marked the point where Frazier turned his life around. While at the school, he was responsible for creating art for the “different bunks.” Teachers noticed his talent and later as a Sergeant in the Army during Vietnam, officers gave him the responsibility of painting art and shirts for the platoons. Frazier’s designs included a mixture of different scenes which he completed for free; he and his fellow soldiers weren’t thinking about money when they did their work. Amazingly, after his stint in the service, “I recall my family throwing lots of my art away.” Ironically, today it is the love and support of his immediate and “great extended family” that inspires him.

This sculptor, painter, and collagist cites the Creator as his biggest influence. “The Creator inspires me. He puts whatever I need in me. He also admits that he “loves black women and likes to use them in his art.” Frazier also credits Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Elizabeth Catlett as his biggest artistic inspirations. Speaking on how the Diaspora influences his art, Frank muses, “I go to Senegal, West Africa a lot. Many of my collages are influenced from there.” As far as the media he works with, the sky is the limit. “I paint with oils, watercolors, and charcoal, anything that’s available,” says Frazier.

Artist Dana Todd Pope has transformed from being a beautiful canvas for high fashion designers into using mediums of her own to produce fine art. A former Ford Model Management print and runway model, Dana has successfully transitioned to become one of the most sought after emerging artists in the country. Influenced by personal experiences, the perspective of her ingenuity is rooted in children, family, womanhood, spirituality, and entrepreneurship.

Building pride in oneself and directing the viewer to a greater purpose are her foremost objectives, whether displayed in the captured movement of girls jumping rope, or the vibrant luminescence of metallic colors flowing through her abstract pieces. Dana Todd Pope’s work has been on the season finale of EMPIRE on FOX-TV, ESSENCE Music Festival, The Chicago Jazz Festival, The University of Illinois Pediatric Clinics, The Libby Center of Metropolitan Family Services, The Museum of Science and Industry, The Chicago Board of Education, Macy’s Herald Square in New York, Embrace at The Mason Murer Gallery in Atlanta, The Mulholland Tennis Club in Hollywood, DuSable Museum, Gallery D’Estee, Macy’s Romare Bearden Ten City Tour, The Union League Club in Chicago, Gallery Guichard in Chicago and many others.

Contemporary painter Blake D. Lenoir, “B. Len,” paints in a style he calls “Propaganda Contemporary.” Using elements of graffiti, B Len’s infuses his work with abstract strokes, quotes, haikus, and pop culture references. His goal? To convey a message, or capture an idea – sometimes an uncomfortable one - that reverberates and resonates with the viewer. His work is rendered in acrylic, India ink, liquid latex and body paint. He embraces the unpredictable nature of these mediums, that when combined with his unique brush stroke, build textures that allow the works to speak for themselves, and reveal the messages hidden within his canvas.

B. Len embraces the cubist stylization of painting with its expression of oblong shapes and deformities. The cubist styling is his preferred niche because it allows him to leave his audience with a memorable impression that demands conversation. Whether through harsh impressionistic works that reflect our country’s current social state; or cubist expressions of inner turmoil caused by society; or more easily interpreted pieces that seek to entertain, rather than provoke, a B Len work is a riot of texture, color and most of all meaning.

B Len’s background in sociology and the social sciences inform his work, and direct references to cultural and psychoanalytical themes of behavior are often woven into it. He embraced art as his passion while studying at Western Illinois University where he majored in Art, with a focus on drawing, and a minor in Sociology. However, his artistic journey began at the age of two when he first found inspiration in a duck’s feather that he sought to depict in exacting accuracy. He offers that now creating comes to him as naturally as breathing, and is as familiar as his own handwriting. He grew up in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood where he excelled as a student athlete despite being a reclusive child. Art allowed him an expressive and fun outlet that he believes to be a democratizing force.

B. Len is equally comfortable in fine art galleries and at live painting events. And the Cancerian can always be counted on to show up and show out with a smile and a great backstory about his work.

AfroMexican "Blaxican" Fine Artist by way of Chicago, Il. Noted for her intricate freehand Line-work and layered print making process, She pulls from her genetic well of indigenous African and Mexican aesthetics with a Mod sensibility.

I have a compulsive mark making approach to my drawings. Fluidity is important, the intention is a priority. I often reflect on interpersonal dynamics in relationships and assign lines and colors and visualize this interconnectedness as a mapping metaphor. I refer to my work as a type of human experience cartography experience. A map of choices and paths of the human experience. Some lines, like choices, lead to others, and some are merely dead ends. My work is primarily on a variety of paper substrates. Illustration pens, Acrylic Inks and watercolor are my preferred mediums.