In anticipation of our May Opening, take a moment to learn about Artist and Atlanta Community Activist, Gregory Christie.

Gregory Christie was born on July 26, 1971 in Plainfield, New Jersey. Christie grew up in the community of Plainfield, New Jersey with his mother and father—who have both Creole and Jamaican roots. Having shown a gift for drawing and illustrating early on, Christie had his first published illustration in Star Ledger the summer of 1990. Christie graduated from SVA (School of Visual Arts, NY) with his B.F.A. degree in 1993.

Gregory recently finished a project for the NYC Transit Authority who asked him to create a piece for their Subway Soiree Series. If you’re in New York, look for Gregory’s work on subway trains all over the island of Manhattan, or you can purchase it here. Locally, you can see him at the High Museum this month on May 13 for a book signing and gallery talk.
He has also won an armload of accolades for his children’s book illustrations, including the Coretta Scott King award for Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, and Deputy U.S. Marshal. Christie has illustrated the biographies of many other significant historical and cultural figures, including Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Sojourner Truth. Two of his books were on ‘The New York Times’ 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books list: Only Passing Through and Stars in Darkness.

Gregory’s most recent undertaking is a real dream come true. After illustrating children’s books for over fifteen years, Gregory made the decision to redirect his passion for teaching history and culture through art to more of a community-based level. How did he make this transition? He recently acquired a nice space to operate a store in. Gas-Art Gifts is soon to open at the North Dekalb Mall in Decatur.
The bookstore/gift shop will feature Gregory’s children’s books, handmade products and the space will also serve as a live painting studio with weekend workshops covering everything from quilt making to dj-ing. Check out Gregory’s Kickstarter site to learn more. Take the time to watch the video to gain a real sense of Christie’s passion about bringing literacy and tangibility to art within the Atlanta community. Even though the opportunity to donate via kickstart is closed at this time, it looks like it will be open to backers on the Kickstarter website any day now, so bookmark the site if you want Gas-Arts to be a staple in our community.

And don’t forget to come to the gallery show opening to see his beautiful work in person- Saturday, May 5th 7-10 pm.

til then,
Hannah G.

Biographical information obtained from http://www.thehistorymakers.com