alewis-biography

BIOGRAPHY

Anissa Lewis was born and raised in Covington, KY. She received her B. A. in Studio Art in 1996 from Knox College and her M. F. A. in Painting / Printmaking from Yale University School of Art in 1999.

After graduating from Yale, she moved to Philadelphia, PA and pursued community art projects and teaching. Some of her collaborations include: team teaching arts based women empowerment classes at a Philadelphia County prison drug and alcohol abuse unit; painting neighborhood murals with high school students for community betterment; and, participating in a group show and as a panelist to discuss art and social justice.

In 2005, Anissa returned home to Kentucky to paint full time. Her work has shown in numerous solo and group shows from Philadelphia to Atlanta, and points in between, as well as garnered lead gallery representation from Avisca Fine Arts, in Atlanta, GA. Most notable are her exhibitions go figure at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, a regionally recognized arts venue, a solo exhibition at her alma mater, Knox College, and the bi-annual nationally juried exhibition at Hampton University Museum in Hampton, VA. Titled New Power Generation, this exhibition featured “emerging and working artists who are creating new forms and charting new directions.”

She also has continued her commitment to community, working with area youth to paint neighborhood murals and sharing her experiences as an artist with both high school and college students.

Summer 2008 was Anissa's curatorial debut at Dicere Gallery in Cincinnati, OH. The show, Exquisite Drawing, turns attention away from the ‘final product.' Instead, viewers are asked to consider the sketches, prototypes and rough edits that serve to deepen the artists' translations of their everyday experiences into art. She adjuncts at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.