Word Biography Document

Eunice LaFate – Biography Information Page 1

About the Artist

Eunice LaFate was born on the island of Jamaica. Her creative vision finds its origin in the colors and tones of the island’s people, landscapes, and culture.

While her homeland has had a major effect on her art, so too have her many experiences here in the United States, where she has transitioned from her early career in education to human services administration. LaFate has immersed herself in teaching and helping people of all ages and races, which is why her creative spirit shows itself in art that emphasizes the beauty of human diversity and the importance of cultural heritage. She also brings to her art her appreciation of natural splendors —all in a universe that welcomes differences and celebrates rites of passage.

Influenced by the work of Grandma Moses and Bill Taylor, LaFate is an accomplished self-taught artist who has been painting for more than 20 years. Her varied use of abstract imagery, line, pattern, and color reflect this.

The winter season stimulates her creativity. In colder weather, her paints and brushes beckon her to spend more time at work indoors. And in the quiet warmth of these days and nights, as LaFate envisions her evolving worlds, she gives herself over to the process of rendering on paper and canvas what she sees, intuits, and imagines.

Eunice LaFate served on the Delaware Department of Education’s Curriculum Framework Commission for the Visual and Performing Arts. She is a member of the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, and her works have been exhibited in Juried, One Person, and Group Shows. In 1993 she opened LaFate Gallery as an additional resource that provides greater access to her paintings.

About Her Work

Eunice LaFate likes to work in contemporary, traditional, and folk art styles.

Her more traditional pieces present expansive Caribbean and American landscapes as well as bursts of tropical foliage, resplendent sunrises, radiant sunsets. The uniqueness of her approach is in her ability to portray the grace of the land, the power of a blossom, or the boldness of the sun through the combination of naked color and pure form. Her descriptive brushstrokes add a compelling immediacy to the work.

Her folk art pieces showcase her ability to imbue essential line and form with vibrant color to depict the universal meaning that resides at the heart of everyday experience, the spirit that lives at the core of our temporal existence.

LaFate’s contemporary and folk art paintings are arranged in two series:

Caribbean Folk Culture

These works capture the dignity, talents, and traditions of the Caribbean people. Also in this series you will find Caribbean landscapes and tropical foliage.

Visions in Diversity

The pieces in this series reflect a world where diversity reigns.. .a peaceful place in which women and children often carry the banner and reach for the dream of racial harmony. Two paintings in this series, “Diversity” and “The Melting Pot vs. The Salad Bowl” are available as limited edition prints.

Exhibition and Publication Profile

Juried Shows

Delaware Division of Arts Slide Registry – 2007

— Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware Division of Arts Slide Registry – 2004

— Wilmington, Delaware

Fine Arts at the Riverfront (RAL Production) – 2002

— Wilmington, Delaware

Ronald McDonald House Benefit Artfest 1998 and 2002

— Wilmington, Delaware

Pacem in Terris, Delaware Artists for Racial Unity - 2003

— Wilmington, Delaware

MidAtlantic Art/Crafts Show, Riverfront Arts Center – 2000

— Wilmington, Delaware

YWCA Gertrude White Gallery - 1998

— Greenwich, Connecticut

Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Members Juried Exhibition - 1995

—Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware Women’s Conference Art Exhibition - 2003

—Newark, Delaware

One-Person Shows

Delaware Center For Horticulture "Diverse Foliage",2007

Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware City Arts Center "Visions in Diversity", 2007

Delaware City, Delaware

10 - Year Retrospective Art Show

11th & Orange Gallery

Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware State University, Wilmington Campus - 2002

— Wilmington, Delaware

Christina Cultural Arts Center - 2000

— Wilmington, Delaware

Springfield College, School of Human Services - 1998

— Springfield, Massachusetts

October Gallery - 1997

— Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Group Shows

Caribbean & Latin American Fine Art by the Sea

— South Street Seaport, New York & East Hampton, New York

Art Philadelphia Trade Show 2003

— Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Grace United Methodist Church – 2002

— Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware Artists for Racial Unity, Wilmington Public Library – 2001

—Wilmington, Delaware

Christina Cultural Arts Center - 2001

— Wilmington, Delaware

YWCA Gertrude White Gallery, Tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Exhibition - 1998

—Greenwich, Connecticut

Work included in the Permanent Collections of:

William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library

— Little Rock, Arkansas

Dover Folk Life Collection

— Division of Parks and Recreation, Dover, Delaware

Awards

Christi Award for Outstanding Community Services/Volunteerism in the Arts, 2007

Individual Artist Fellowship Folk Arts and Crafts, Established Artist Category 2004

— Delaware Division of the Arts, Wilmington, Delaware

Honorable Mention – 2002

— “Christi Awards”, Christina Cultural Arts Center

Outstanding Artist Award – 1999

— Delaware Afro-American Historical Society

Merit Award - 1998

— Delaware Secretary of Education

Proclamation - 1996

— Mayor of the City of Wilmington, Delaware

Black Achiever in Business and Industry Award - 1990

— Chase USA, Wilmington, Delaware

Honoree— African American Women’s Conference

Publications

Exhibition Catalogue, Ten Year Retrospective,

“Knowing Nothing Better Than What She Lived”

—November 2003 Wilmington, Delaware

Cover Page, YMCA Delaware, 15th Annual Black Achievers in Business and Industry Awards —2004 - Wilmington, Delaware

Cover Page, Race Relations Manual published by the YWCA Study Circles Resource Center

—Pomfret, Connecticut

Documentary – YWCA’s “Coming Full Circle”

— Produced by TeleDuctions, Wilmington, Delaware

Cover Page, “Out and About Magazine,” May 1993 & November, 1997 editions

— Wilmington, Delaware

Accomplishments/Affiliations

Nominee – Hall of Fame of Delaware Women - 2003

Public Speaker – “Folk Art and Culture” – 2001-2003

— Delaware Humanities Speakers Forum

Nominee — Delaware Governor’s Awards for the Arts

Member, Board of Overseers, Delaware College of Art and Design – 1997 - Present

— Wilmington, Delaware

Member, The National Museum of Women in the Arts - 1996 – Present

— Washington, D.C.

Member, International Artists Support Group - 1996 – Present

— Washington, D.C.

Member, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts - 1995 – Present

— Wilmington, Delaware

Panelist, Delaware State Arts Council, Division of Arts, Arts in Education - 1995

— Wilmington, Delaware

Member, State of Delaware Department of Education – 1994 – 1997

Commission for the Visual and Performing Arts

— Wilmington, Delaware

Education

M.S. Human Services Administration (Magna Cum Laude), 1997

— Springfield College School of Human Services, Springfield, MA

B.A. General Studies, Major - History (Honors)

— University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica

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LaFate Gallery Wilmington, DE 19801 www.lafategallery.com