“I’m documenting and making statements about our society, social injustice.” That’s the mission that drives E.B. Lewis, an award winning illustrator, artist, visual storyteller, educator and father of three from Philadelphia. He’s taught for nearly four decades, has illustrated over 70 books for children, and has art galleries in France.
During a visit to Minneapolis, Lewis gave an hour-long presentation to an audience on the northside and sat down with Unicorn Riot to speak about his path to becoming one of the most important contemporary American watercolorists. “I am a Black artist, but I don’t look at my work as such.”
Lewis said he grew up with dyslexia, he spoke with a stutter and his childhood years in school were a struggle. He credits his uncles for influencing him, one of whom he said “saved” and changed his life by coming from Jersey to Philly every Saturday morning to bring him to an art class for six years straight. “I knew at that point that I wanted to be an artist, without a doubt,” Lewis said.
After nearly a half century of artistry, Lewis said in his work now that he’s “trying to make a difference.” “In the beginning,” he said, “I didn’t know where I was and what I was trying to do. I was just making imagery. And then I realized that you don’t become an artist until you have something to say.”
“The mere fact that you can draw with paint or play music and or write or dance does not make you the artist. You don’t become an artist until you have something to say.”
E.B. Lewis
Lewis said as an artist he’s on the periphery of society “documenting life … in constant observation of the world and in that observation, I want to leave something behind. I’m capturing, recording, documenting and leaving those little statements behind. And that’s important for me. I have spent a lifetime in art.”
There’s a very thin line between his visual storytelling as an artist and as an illustrator, Lewis said. As an artist of fine art, he’s working for more of a niche world audience. Catering to that audience, Lewis has two galleries in France carrying his work.
As an illustrator, he’s producing work for children “from infancy up to 90” while also “understanding the power of that.”
For his illustrations for Black American children’s books, Lewis has been awarded the Randolph Caldecott Honor, the most prestigious award for children’s literature, for Jacqueline Woodson’s Coming on Home Soon. He’s won the Coretta Scott King Award for Talkin’ About Bessie by Nikki Grimes and won the Coretta Scott King Honor for four other illustrations. Lewis also won the New York Times Best Book Award for illustrating Jabari Asim’s Preaching to the Chickens.
While visiting Minnesota in 2023, Lewis immersed himself in community, showing up at youth programs and speaking at an event on the Northside hosted by the youth-serving non-profit WE WIN Institute. He said he was asked “what did he see” when looking at the children, “I see me,” he replied. Lewis said he’s been an educator, teaching illustration for over 38 years.
During a presentation to the community, which you can watch in full below, Lewis described the different mediums in which he produces art and how he immerses himself in researching the subjects that he’s representing in his art.
“I’m loving this idea that now I’m considered an artist. That’s an important thing in a society. The artists have always been feared. If you go back into antiquity, you will see that any time there was an overthrow of power … the first people that were persecuted were the artists. And so that says something. We’re the critical thinkers and I love that.”
EB Lewis
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