Visual Art and Design Professional, Entrepreneur, Curator, Mentor, Art Instructor, Smithsonian Artist, Art Coach, and Former Gallery Owner
Myesha Francis is an artist, teacher, curator and successful arts entrepreneur with work in important public and private collections including The Smithsonian -National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Myesha holds a B.A. in Art History and Studio Art and an M.A. in Museum Studies and has also studied art expertise abroad in Florence, Italy at Lorenzo de Medici Art Institute and surveyed a range of visual artists on location in East and West Africa.
Myesha has personally taught and inspired thousands of children and adults in painting and multi-media arts classes through the creation of her paint and sip component of her business (Passion 2 Paint) and her kids art program (Kids Ka Doodle.) Myesha has received numerous awards in arts entrepreneurship and organizational excellence from organizations such as Essence Music Fest, Sundial (Shea Moisture), Asante Awards (New Orleans) and The St. Louis Museum of Art as a Romare Bearden Fellow.
Artist Statement
The work I create is a visual representation of my personal spiritual journey across space and time. Whether it is an abstract painting reflecting my connection with "love and light" or a jazz piece expressing my wild, spontaneous nature, all of my work is about my constant quest to align and live fully in the flow of the one true essence.
Through studying various religions, cultures and people, my summation of life and spirituality is simple - There is only One God and God is Love. My work and my life is thus an expression of the realization of that love and connection with what I like to call "The Soul of the World."
“It is mostly in the posture of surrender that I find myself coming alive. I become more present, more engaged, more aware and in the flow of life. It is in this space where I express myself best creatively and become one- Wild with the waves! Whether I am painting jazz, abstraction, or figurative beings of light, my work is just a continuous and ever evolving expression of my inner most passions and relationship with the divine as I live in the flow.“
She Believed She Could - So She Did
Awards and Achievements
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Outstanding Arts Organization Award- Asante Awards Organization -
Essence and Madam CJ Walker Award for Entrepreneurship Excellence in the Arts -
Selected as a Romare Bearden fellow of the Saint Louis Art Museum. -
Recipient of a $25k Fundraiser for a One Year Artist Sabbatical - Exodus Summit -
-Star Entrepreneur Award from B.A.S.E. -
-Honorary Arts Chair 2011- Delta Sigma Theta Sorority -
Margaret Burroughs Wright Fellowship, Association of African American Museums -
Dr. Leeta Allen Haynes’ Award for Academic Excellence -
Contributor to The Oprah Bracelet Project, a Fairwinds Trading initiative, enabling women artists from New Orleans and Rwanda to heal from trauma through art. Ms. Winfrey successfully sold the bracelets in Macy’s. -
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Studied art in Florence, Italy, and surveyed visual artists in East and West Africa.
The Story of my Business as an Art Entrepreneur
Although my work is still currently on display in New Orleans, LA - (click here to book an appointment to view work) -
M. Francis Gallery is now primarily an online based business where I teach and share my creative works.
I first opened the doors of my first gallery space in 2009 in a small upper room at the Entergy Innovation Center located in the Upper 9th ward of New Orleans. Just six months later, the gallery moved to 604 Julia Street in the heart of the Arts District of New Orleans, becoming the 2nd and only African American owned art gallery in the Warehouse District. At this location, I curated monthly art exhibitions featuring several new, emerging and established artists. Within two years, the gallery transformed to become a studio space as well, offering paint and sip parties and kids art classes. Over the course of four and a half years at this location, business grew and was propelled into finding a larger, more suitable location to host its growing art shows and painting parties.
In 2014, the gallery moved to a location just outside of the French Quarter called the Faubourg (neighborhood) Marigny where it continued to grow and prosper until a sale of the building forced the business to move again.
Two years later, the gallery moved to O.C. Haley Blvd. where it lived for just six months. In 2018 the business moved to 2007 Orleans Ave. where it operated for two years before closing its physical location.
Update:
Well, it's 2021 now y'all and the journey of M. Francis Gallery has been interesting to say the least. Shortly after Covid-19 Pandemic hit last year in 2020, I moved the business into my now home studio. I still exhibit and sell work online and plan to offer a few new offerings soon. Stay tuned and much love!!!
Creatively Yours,
Myesha
604 Julia St.
