lonnie powell

LP26

Lonnie is a graduate of Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri where studied with the late James Dallas Parks. His occupations over the years have ranged from dishwasher at the Villa Capri Restaurant to Xerox sales representative, but the vast majority of his career has been as an art teacher in the Kansas City, Missouri School District.

Though he is not presently a member, he is a charter board member and past board president of The Black Archives of Mid-America and a cofounder of Euphrates Gallery. He is a past member and past president of the Friends of Bruce R. Watkins Culture Heritage Center. Lonnie is also president and founder of The Light In The Other Room, a collaboration of 19 African-American Kansas City based artists.

“As an African-American artist (raised in Kansas City, Missouri), it did not take long to see that I did not have the luxury of being just an artist. On the contrary, I had to be all things related to art and African-American art. I had to be an art educator, an art critic, an art agent, a gallery operator, an art booster, a pickup and delivery man and anything else that might pop up.”

He humbly refers to himself as an art activist.

“I have always sought to keep my art separate from my occupation so that it is free of financial influences. This separation of art and money has allowed me to steer clear of the trends, traps and compromises begrudgingly faced by many of my contemporaries. Although, this course proved to be less lucrative, the art remains true to my heart and shall remain so. Rewards and awards have come to me a little later in his life, but they have come without compromises, and to me that is what makes them special. I never refer to my art as my work. My art is not work. My art is my very self and therefore cannot be separated from the rest of my life.”

Lonnie has shown in and around his beloved city of Kansas City, Missouri in many venues including solo and group exhibits at: The Ethnic Art Gallery, The Central Exchange, The Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and The American Jazz Museum.

He has exhibited at a number of area universities including: Park University, Parkville, Missouri, Western Missouri University, St. Joseph, Missouri, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri and Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri where he spent a year (1969-1970), as an artist in residence.

His work is included in numerous private collections as well as the corporate collections of Sprint Nextel Corporation, The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, H & R Block Corporation, The American Jazz Museum, The Fishnet Corporation, Sports Association Management Inc. The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, The Truman Medical Center and The Federal Reserve Bank Of Kansas City.

Lonnie was named one of the "Ones To Watch" by Watercolor Magic Magazine in 2006.


In December of 2007, Lonnie traveled with other members of Change The Truth Team 1 to the orphanage in Uganda to give a series of art workshops to the children. He was truly touched by the experience – in ways he is still processing three years later.

Lonnie and his wife, Brenda, have been married for forty-three years. They worked on this doll together.