July 8, 2022 – July 31, 2022
Reception July 8, 4-8 p.m. with Artist Talk at 5:30 p.m.

While DeMyers has artistic themes that are ever changing, he makes sure that each piece reflects current events that are relevant as seen by the natural eye. He is able to captivate his audiences by communicating the black culture using different art forms that reach the heart through sensory methods and the beauty which surrounds us.

This exhibit will feature 10 pieces that depict artistry through the lens of a black man.

Artist Biography

George DeMyers, II a 1989 graduate of Charleston High School in Charleston, Missouri started his art journey when he received an Art Award while in high school. Upon graduation, DeMyers received a scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University from the Sikeston Art League. After completing two years of study in the art program at Southeast, DeMyers transferred to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. There, he studied under the stewardship of Dr. James Tatum, earning a Bachelor of Science in Art. His passion led him to Nashville, Tennessee where he attended the International Academy of Art and Design, receiving a degree in Fashion Design. Well versed in the art field, George was unsure what he wanted to do with his degrees. He did know that art was an outlet.

In the midst of deciding his next move he was faced with returning home to Charleston to care for his parents. His father, George Sr., who was also an artist, encouraged George to continue using his gift. Following in his father’s footsteps, he began working with the youth in his community as an Art Educator for his Alma Mater, Lincoln University. Using art to improve student cognitive skills through creativity and active art making, he later found that it also promoted insight and enhanced social skills. So, he encourages the students to use art as a way to express themselves just as he has most of his life, alongside his father.

George’s elevation in the art world came when he was afforded the opportunity to paint a portrait of Prominent St. Louis attorney Homer Gilliam Phillips. Phillips became an active attorney and political figure in St. Louis. In 1922, he was given the prominent role of securing approximately $1 million to construct a new hospital for African Americans on the city’s North Side. Although Phillips did not live to see the hospital named in his honor, the Homer G. Phillips Hospital was opened in 1937 to serve the city’s black population and to enable African American physicians to gain staff privileges.

Today, DeMyers’ portrait adorns the walls of the legendary hospital and has given him honor as an artist to make such a contribution to society. To his repertoire one will find that his art is versatile, thought-provoking, and heartfelt. “The Art of the Soul” is art that is seen by the eye but touches the soul.