The Shellof Vitus

  CHILDREN'S COALITION TEAMS UP WITH NORTHEAST LOUISIANA ARTS COUNCIL + CITY OF MONROE + LOCAL ARTIST, VITUS SHELL The Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is bringing more visual art into Downtown Monroe. Supported in part by a grant from the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council with funds from the City of Monroe, this initiative will include a mural within our Family Garden by Vitus Shell. The mission of the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is to “Create communities where children and families thrive.” The project CHILDREN THRIVE, seeks to capture the essence of this mission in our community by creating the first of a series of public art mural panels designed by muralist Vitus Shell and painted with help of children and youth in our community. Monroe native, Vitus Shell, will work with a group of artists and local children and youth to implement the proposed project. Vitus Shell has exhibited at universities, museums, and private galleries across the country;

  Vitus Shell: Something The Folks Down Home Can Connect With For "Black Art in America" Vitus Shell has seen a lot of worlds. Monroe, Louisiana where he grew up, Memphis, Tennessee where he was educated, and life overall. He loves drawing on that dualism for his work. His pieces don’t just capture ordinary black folk, his work places them on a long-deserved pedestal and demonstrates sensitivity in the same breath. Whether it’s confronting colorism (or even skin bleaching if you want to take it there) with a piece like “Lighter,” or during showings that channel Blaxploitation’s cinematic history, like “3 the Hard Way: HMAAC” which tackled toxic masculinity and BAIA promoted. Vitus himself wonders how he’s so fortunate that he’s pushing up murals and not daisies. He grew up in the Deep South and became one of 20 black freshmen entering Memphis College of Art in 1996, at the time the largest number of blacks matriculating. He chuckled at the memory when I spoke with him on the