The Missouri Arts Council has chosen Solomon L. Thurman of St. Louis as the Individual Artist honoree of the 2018 Missouri Arts Awards, the state’s highest honor in the arts.
For more than three decades, Solomon L. Thurman has been bringing art, history, and community together through paintings, drawings, and sculptures that tell stories of the African diaspora in America, drawn from historical events and his own family’s past. His best-known work is the Black Americans in Flight 51-foot mural at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which he co-created in 1990 with his mentor, the late Spencer Taylor. His art has been the focus of numerous one-person and group exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, and Brazil.
A teacher and researcher as well as painter and sculptor, Thurman is a community outreach instructor at the Saint Louis Art Museum. He and his wife, Pat Smith-Thurman, are the founders and owners of the 10th Street Gallery in downtown St. Louis, showcasing contemporary, modern abstract, and realistic works by regional artists.
Since founding the Missouri Arts Awards in 1983, the Missouri Arts Council and the State of Missouri have honored 207 people, organizations, and communities. Honorees are recognized for their profound and lasting contributions to the artistic and cultural legacy of Missouri in the categories of Arts Education, Arts Organization, Creative Community, Individual Artist, Leadership in the Arts, and Philanthropy. Awards recipients are selected from public nominations by an independent panel representing the arts community throughout the state. These are the other honorees:
Arts Education | Jeff Sandquist, Rolla
Arts Organization | Ragtag Film Society, Columbia
Creative Community | The Delmar Loop, University City and St. Louis
Individual Artist | Solomon L. Thurman, painter, St. Louis
Leadership in the Arts | Sharon G. Kosek, St. Joseph
Philanthropy | Tom and Cathy Sakiyama, Chesterfield
The awards will be presented in a public ceremony on February 7, 2018, in the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City.
For more information, visit www.missouriartscouncil.org.
