Colony Little, Culture Shock Art

The hardest part of this Artist a Day series is when I come across an artist where limited biographical information exists.

Bay area artist and printmaker Cleveland Bellow showed work in over 60 shows throughout his career and taught art in addition to his civic engagement as Alameda County’s Art Commissioner. Bellow passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2009, and unfortunately catalogues and oral histories of his career and practice are difficult to come by online.

This print of a young boy was reproduced in a large-scale billboard mural in Oakland in 1970. I love the look of joy on the child’s face, and want to learn more about the story behind the mural and how this image was chosen for the billboard.

Art mysteries like this are reminders that there’s much work to be done to preserve the legacies of those whose work influenced future generations of artists. There are many, many more stories to tell. Onward.