Art

Young artist aims to spread peace through her paintings

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Olivia Bruce is a recent graduate of Marist College and a full time artist.

Published

6 years ago

February 12, 2019

By Sheletta Brundidge

When walking in the doors of Bouquets by Carolyn Flower Shop on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, you’re awestruck by hundreds of ravishing red roses and heathy hydrangea.

The floral arrangements decorating the shelves are eye candy and they smell better than hot fish grease on Good Friday.

Hanging on the wall behind the spray is something even more dazzling however: a handful of beautiful original pictures designed by a young artist.

Carolyn Smaller, the shop’s owner, proudly declared, “Those were done by my granddaughter Olivia. She’s quite talented. She’s been drawing since she was a young girl.”

Now 23 years old, Olivia Bruce is a recent graduate of Marist College and a full time artist in Washington, D.C. She makes a living selling her signature pieces online and at craft shows.

Bruce uses water colors, markers and color pencils, acrylic and oil pints to come up with one-of-a-kind creations that have captured the attention of Michelle Obama, who selected her to design an official White House holiday tour guide several years ago.

It’s no wonder the former First Lady sought out Bruce. Her pictures are vivid, colorful, lively and fun. Her craftsmanship and skill are that of a seasoned artist twice her age.

One of her pieces, entitled Unity, depicts two women, of different ethnic backgrounds, holding hands, fingers locked, in a show of support for one another.

I want to do my part to spread joy. That’s what my artwork is all about.

In another water color drawing called Love Is, a colorful couple is embracing. The dynamics of the photo are unique because the man in the picture is painted blue while the woman is colored orange. But as their bodies come together, the colors blend together in one unique pattern.

The pictures were so striking, we had to talk to the artist behind them to find out what inspires her to create these timeless classics.

Bruce recently sat down with Sheletta & Lindy of the Two Haute Mamas podcast and says the Love Is piece is one of her favorites. “I love it the most because of its synergy. I enjoy watching how the colors collide. The picture shows how love is intertwined and connected. Everyone has their own interpretation of what love is. This drawing is my interpretation.”

The young artist says she comes up with ideas from the strangest places, “Every piece has its own inspiration. It may be based on an iconic person like Angela Davis. Or it can be something as simple as watching the seasons change that spur me to draw something new. Inspiration comes from all parts of my life and my environment.”

Bruce says the first picture she recalls creating was a self-portrait when she was just nine years old. “My art teacher allowed us to think outside the box so I just remember picturing myself as a tree and designing my face with all different shades of brown. I entitled it Mocha Mix. It was my first sale. My grandmother bought it from me for $10. I thought that was big money back then.”

[/media-credit] “Love Is”

Now she has hundreds of pieces to her credit that sell for quite a bit more than the 10 bucks.

Her latest creation, a monthly wall calendar, boasts a dozen of her favorite pieces. “My main motivation for doing this was to bring some beauty to 2019. You know, I just felt like 2018 was such an ugly year with the divisive political climate and all the school shootings. I decided to put my best artwork in one place to create this calendar. Each month, I’ve selected a different design of peaceful beauty that anyone can enjoy.

“My hope is that when people put my calendar on the wall in their office or stick it on the side of the fridge at their home, it brings a sense of love and light to their lives. I want to do my part to spread joy. That’s what my artwork is all about, lifting people up out of what may be a dark place.”

Whether it’s her picture in November of two small boys walking to school in their snowsuits or the September photo entitled Guardian Angel that shows a winged man taking care of a sick child, it’s sure to put a smile on your face.

To get check out Bruce’s calendar and see some of her original artwork, log on to her website https://www.oliviasprints.com

To listen to her entire interview with Sheletta & Lindy on their Two Haute Mamas podcast log on to their website twohautemamas.com

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Sheletta Brundidge

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

1 month ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

2 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

2 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.