Tony Davenport hails from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Davenport earned his BFA in fine arts from Jackson State University in 2002 and received a MAT in Teaching degree from Memphis College of Art in 2019. Tony is a certified K-12 Visual arts teacher who taught visual art in Mississippi and Tennessee for 15 years. As an art educator, he believes that arts integration is vital in teaching children to use creativity to navigate social interaction among people, cultures, and communities.
Davenport’s program integrates visual art lessons for students of all ages and engages them through the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math ) approach.
His lessons aim to engage students through art making, which allows students to create conceptually. The artist also offers consultations and professional development for educators of all grades and levels. In addition, he offers art training that encourages active student engagement and makes connections across academic subject areas.
As an artist, he is tasked to use creativity as a driving force for change. His work is purposed to spark dialogue and awareness concerning issues related to social and cultural relevance. In addition, visual representations are expressed in concert with historical and musical references to tell stories that transcend place and time. His painting style is influenced by artists Ernie Barnes, Norman Rockwell, and Jack Vettriano.
His creative process is Neo-mannerism, consisting of painted elongated figures expressing movement and emotion coupled with historic southern landmarks, symbols, icons, and themes. He also incorporate both under paintings and collages in his compositions, creating the illusion of depth and dimension.
His art is intended to engage the viewer, inviting them into the conceptual thought of the work as an active participant. Moreover, the painted interpretations of locations and figures are not just limited to going beyond an aesthetic appeal but challenge the viewer to make connections between what they see based on diverse social and cultural experiences. His work aims to empower people and communities to have pride through creativity and stimulate change.
Workshop & programs offered: Art lectures, gallery talks, Live painting, virtual on-line art lessons,
Mural design, creating with pastels, acrylics & oils, paper sculpture, mask making 3-D pop-art
real & abstract portrait painting, abstract painting designing with warm & cool colors.