Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis was born in 1966, in Detroit, Michigan. He is a graduate of Cass Technical High School. Lewis earned his B.F.A. from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan and his M.F.A. from Yale School of Art. 

Lewis was an artist in residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Richard started drawing when he was four or five, to entertain himself and his family. When he was ten his Godmother, who is an artist, told him to look at his family and go into the next room and draw. Richard says, "She gave me the inspiration to be an artist." Richard Lewis is a realist painter. His images are about life. He said, "When I paint people, I see it as a collaborative effort. For me it takes a collective intelligence to make art, especially art that represents people, which is the underlying aim of my work. James Baldwin called this kind of representation "witnessing": Art should be used to "corroborate" our reality, in a world that often overlooks or distorts our reality." Richard Lewis has taught at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, College of Creative Studies and Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT.  He stellar artistic creations are represented in numerous public and private collections through America.