Leslie Lumeh Newhouse Center for Global Engagement Prof Ken Harper
Classes offer a rare chance for school-age youngsters to explore their creativity, something Dambala-born Lumeh believes is vital
everyday life – concerns that made
art gallery, Art of the Heart, in 2008
him an ideal cartoonist for ‘The
and became president of the Liberia
Liberian Observer’, the country’s first
Association, an organisation devoted
independent newspaper, a post he
to the advancement of art in the
has held since 2005 – and when his
country.
career began to take shape he was
Lumeh’s works do have a childlike,
very willing to offer the mentorship
unaffected quality that suggests his
that was denied him to others.
lack of formal training, but they are
As well as his work with LivArts,
filled with detail that repays close
during time spent in United States
study and the naivety gives some of
he gave lessons on book illustration
the more unsettling elements – child
to children at the Children’s Reading
soldiers, peeping home security
Center in Palatka, Florida.
guards – even greater menace. His
He began showing his work in 1993
skill with the brush gives his water-
but soon after was exiled in Abidjan
colours of rural scenes a lush fluid-
during Liberia’s civil war. He contrib-
ity and his human figures, though
uted to various creative projects
simply rendered, are all wonderfully
launched in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone
suggestive of life and character.
and Gabon and became an artist of note in West Africa. Returning to his
Projects
native country he set about rebuild-
One of Lumeh’s most recent and
ing an artistic identity in the wake of
prestigious projects was his involve-
the war. He opened Monrovia’s first
ment in ‘Lumieres d’Afriques’, a trav-
How to be a part of LivArts Both Liberians and foreigners aged eight to 21 are eligible to apply to the academy, regardless of gender, creed, religion or physical handicap. There are two ways to enrol at Liberia Visual Arts Academy: 1. Recruiters determine whether the applicant qualifies for the LivArts scholarship programme 2. Applicants submit a portfolio to be reviewed by LivArts staff There is a US$ 10 program registration fee, but tuition is free. Both programmes have one field trip each term. Successful applicants will be notified by phone or email. For information on how to help fund the school, email donateLivarts@gmail.com
elling exhibition which showcased
CLASSES
the work of one artist from each of the 54 nations of Africa. His work ‘The Light Within’, a monochrome urban environment illuminated by the people who walk its streets, who seem to glow in colour from within, was chosen. Lumeh has said the work was an attempt to illustrate the “unique individual spirit within every person”, a universal quality he tries to mine in every one of his pupils at LivArts.
FILLED WITH DETAIL Local scene
LivArts is running classes at two locations in Monrovia: on Wednesdays from 2 pm to 3.30 pm on 15th Street, Payne Avenue, Sinkor (Alliance Francaise compound) and on Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm at iCampus 150 Carey Street, Snapper Hill. For more details, email livart2010@gmail.com or call 0888 894 488 or 0886 430 483. FLYafrica
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