Emerging New Man, Fragment II, 1996
Artis Lane was born in all black community in Ontario, Canada, a community primarily made up of descendents of slaves who escaped there through the Underground Railroad. She studied art for two years in Toronto, Canada, before transferring to Cranbrooke Art Academy in Detroit. While in Detroit she developed her career in portraiture, sculpting the likeness of many of the business and political leaders of the day. She then moved around to New York, New Mexico, and Mexico City, completing numerous commissioned portraits before settling down in Los Angeles, the city she continues to call home.
Some of her most famous works include the Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to civil rights activist and friend Rosa Parks, a portrait of Parks for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and portraits of such dignitaries as Jacqueline Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, President Reagan, Oprah Winfrey, and President Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama. In 2013, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Women’s Caucus for Art.
Some of her most famous works include the Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to civil rights activist and friend Rosa Parks, a portrait of Parks for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and portraits of such dignitaries as Jacqueline Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, President Reagan, Oprah Winfrey, and President Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama. In 2013, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Women’s Caucus for Art.