Life Pieces To Masterpieces is a community-based arts organization serving Black and Brown boys from DC’s Wards 7 and 8, the most under-served neighborhoods in the American capital. All of the artwork featured here is created by the boys we work with, using a style and collaborative process developed and facilitated by Black male artists who grew up in Ward 7.
To learn more about LPTM and our programs, please visit our main website.
LPTM’s signature art process involves its program participants channeling their life experiences through acrylic-painted scraps of canvas sewn into colorful collages. Older youth serve as mentors to younger peers, guiding them through discussions and preliminary sketches based on their shared experiences. They then work together to paint, cut, and sew scraps of canvas into a cohesive piece, while writing an accompanying story or poem. Each artwork serves as a metaphor for sewing their "life pieces" into "masterpieces."
The artwork created by LPTM’s participants portrays a wide range of representation of Black American males from their own unique, diverse perspectives. They have created over 1,500 masterpieces, which have been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the DC Mayor’s office, the Kennedy Center, and many other locations.
CURRICULUM VITAE
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Stitch by Stitch, Park View Gallery, Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, Washington, DC
2024
Courage on Canvas, Hogan Lovells, Washington, DC
2023, 2024
Reunite, Refocus, Refresh, The World Bank, Washington, DC
2023
My Brother’s Journey, Great Hall Gallery, National United Methodist Church, Washington, DC
2022
My Brother’s Journey, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
2022
Greater Washington Community Foundation Celebration Art Exhibition, Warner Theatre, Washington, DC
2022
Creating Art, Changing Lives, YMCA Anthony Bowen, Washington, DC
2022
Resilience in Color, ArtReach GW Community Gallery at THEARC, Washington, DC
2022
Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Goodwin House, Alexandria, VA
2022
Resilience in Color, Creative Suitland Arts Center, Suitland, MD
2021
Summer Exhibition, George Washington University Virtual Art Therapy Gallery, Online
2020
Courage on Canvas (annual), Pepco Edison Place Gallery, Washington, DC
2008 – 2019
Horizon, Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC
2000 - 2018
Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Sixth and I, Washington, DC
2016
Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2014
SELECTED JURIED EXHIBITIONS
DC Art Now!, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC
2023
DC Art Now!, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC
2022
Courage in Color, Gallery Underground, Arlington, VA
2022
I See the Future, theTwelve Gallery, Washington, DC
2021
Friendship Heights and Tenleytown: Past, Present and Future, Pepco Harrison Substation Window Gallery, Washington, DC
2021
Art for Justice, INVI Virtual Museum, Online
2020
Black Male Mentorship (performance) for Mikva Challenge National Youth Soapbox, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
2019
Black Creativity, Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL
2018
Essential Elements: Process and Perception, Howard University Interdisciplinary Research Building, Washington, DC
2018
MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
“‘We’re Speaking Out’: Amid D.C.’s deadly violence, kids create art, ” The Washington Post
2024
“A Most Hopeful Brotherhood, Masterpieces in the Making,” BitterSweet Monthly
2021
“‘Art For Justice’ Virtual Gallery Created To Help Kids Process Racial Strife In Wake Of George Floyd’s Death,” CBS Los Angeles
2020
“'Life Pieces to Masterpieces' Is Engaging Young Black Men in Art,” NowThis
2018
“Trauma And Resilience: How Kids Cope After Experiencing Gun Violence,” The Kojo Nnamdi Show
2018
“Life Pieces To Masterpieces,” Daily Do Good
2016
“Afterschool Art Program Helps D.C. Youth Exorcise Fears Of Gun Violence,” American University Radio
2016
“Art soothes kids in gun-plagued Washington neighborhood,” Art Daily
2016
“These Dreams Are Shaped and Stitched Together,” BitterSweet Monthly
2015
“’Life Pieces to Masterpieces’ exhibit,” The Harvard Gazette
2014
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
American University
Benning/Dorothy I. Height Library
Butler Family Fund
Catalogue for Philanthropy
DC Child and Family Services Agency
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School
Georgetown University
George Washington University
Greater Washington Community Foundation
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
The Meyer Foundation
Urban Alliance
World Bank