Ekua Holmes
Ekua Holmes, a lifelong resident of Roxbury, is a nationally renowned contemporary artist, community activist, and award-winning picture book illustrator, whose body of work explores themes of family, relationships, hope, and faith. Holmes created the artwork for The Huntington’s 2022 production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Ekua Holmes, a lifelong resident of Roxbury, is a nationally renowned contemporary artist, community activist, and award-winning picture book illustrator, whose body of work explores themes of family, relationships, hope, and faith. Holmes created the artwork for The Huntington’s 2022 production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Holmes’s sensitive, and often deeply personal approach to illustration results in vibrant visual narratives, unique to each literary project, that engage readers of all ages. In this time of significant diversification of children’s literature, her personal artistic vision and commitment to black imagery make her one of the most important contributors to change.
Holmes’ children’s book illustrations have received numerous awards including a Caldecott Honor, the Robert Sibert Award, a Horn Book Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King Book Awards and the books she has illustrated sit on New York Times, Horn Book, and NPR Bestseller lists.
Holmes pursues a wide range of independent artistic projects such as The Roxbury Sunflower Project and was featured in a solo exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in 2021-22, “Paper Stories, Layered Dreams: The Art of Ekua Holmes.”
Currently Holmes serves as Associate Director of MassArt’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships and directs sparc! The ArtMobile. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Boston Art Commission, which oversees the commissioning, selection, and care of public art in the City of Boston.
Photo credit: Xavia Hill-Prater
(as of September 2022)