THE ART OF MY LIFE by visual artist, Essex Garner is the newest exhibit on display at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center. This exhibition features inspiring oil and watercolor paintings on African American life.  This vivid and iconic exhibition has been displayed in numerous galleries and museums throughout the United States. 

Formally trained as an artist at Lincoln University, in Jefferson City, MO, and influenced by the artists, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Dean Mitchell, Essex Garner holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Art Education and a Master’s in Education in Leadership Training & Curriculum Development with an emphasis in Art Education.

Garner currently resides in Jefferson City, MO but is a Kansas City native, and was raised a few blocks from the historic 18th & Vine district. He attended Central Jr. & Sr. High Schools. He is a four time juried artist with the National Oil & Acrylic Painter Society Best of America, and a Professor of Fine Arts at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

The Art of My Life exhibition features iconic paintings of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America, Michelle Obama, Aretha Franklin, the Buffalo Soldiers, and much more.

The exhibit will be  displayed January 13th through March 10, 2018.