Malaika Favorite (born 1949) is an American

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

whose art work can be found in major collections in the U.S. She works mainly in

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

, and

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

and has carried out experiments with folded canvas and the written word as another dimension of a painting's text. Her provocative paintings and sculpture pieces emanate as much from her personal history as it does from the wider world.

Early life

She is the second of nine children, to Amos Favorite, Sr. and Rosemary Favorite. In the 1960s she integrated the

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (french: Paroisse de l'Ascension, es, Parroquia de Ascensión) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created ...

high school in

Geismar, Louisiana Geismar is an unincorporated community in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States and is at the heart of Louisiana's chemical corridor. The community is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. Geismar is south of Prairieville ...

, when she became the first African-American to attend the all-white school.

Career

Favorite received her B.A and MFA degrees in fine art from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

where her first works appeared. Her art work is featured in ''Art: African American'' by Samella Lewis, ''Black Art in Louisiana'' by Bernardine B. Proctor and the ''St. James Guide to Black Artists'', edited by Thomas Riggs and can be found in the following collections: Absolut Vodka collection,

Morris Museum of Art The Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia was established in 1985 as a non-profit foundation by William S. Morris III, publisher of The Augusta Chronicle, in memory of his parents, as the first museum dedicated to the collection and exhibition ...

, Augusta GA, Louisiana State University Print Collection, Baton Rouge, LA, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria LA, The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta GA, Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta GA, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati Ohio, Rosel Fann Recreation Center, Atlanta GA. She also has outdoor murals on Auburn Ave in Atlanta and on White St. in Atlanta. Favorite works in a variety of forms and media. Her experiments with literature as part of the painting's text and those with folded canvas are prime examples, and she's equally at home working in oils, acrylics, water-colors, and lithographs. She notes in one of her artists statements that:

it is very difficult to explain a work or art, mostly because the work is its own explanation. Art is not for the immediate audience only, if it was it would be a prop or backdrop for a play, designed to be viewed for a limited time. Visual art should be timeless. It should speak to each generation, and to each viewer as an endless dialogue that continues to inspire, fascinate and delight.

She has published three collections of poetry: ''Illuminated Manuscript'', New Orleans Poetry Journal Press (1991), ''Dreaming at the Manor'' (2014), and ''Ascension'' (2016) winner of the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award. Her poetry, fiction, and articles appear in numerous anthologies and journals, including: ''you say. say'' and ''Hell strung and crooked ''(Uphook Press) 2009 & 2010, ''Pen International'', ''Hurricane Blues'', ''Drumvoices Review'','' Uncommon Place'', ''Xavier Review'', ''The Maple Leaf Rag'','' Visions International'', ''Louisiana Literature'', ''Louisiana English Journal'', ''Big Muddy'', and'' Art Papers''. She is the winner of the 2005 Louisiana Literature Prize for Poetry.

Awards and grants

*Puffin Foundation Grant, 2008 *Porter Fleming Foundation Grant, 2007 *Georgia Council For The Arts, 1992 *Special Grant for Excellence in the Arts,

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

sorority, 1987 *Fulbright-Hays study tour, Art of India, 1978. *African American Institute, 1975.

One person shows

*Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur GA. March - April 2000 *Camille Love Gallery, Atlanta GA January 1996 *Stephens College, Davis Art Gallery, Columbia Missouri, November 1993 *Augusta College, Augusta GA, February 1993 *Paine College, Augusta GA, January 1993 *Galerie Melancon, Lake Charles LA, February 1990 *Posselt Baker Gallery, New Orleans LA, November 1989, 1986, 1985, 1984 *South Shore Bank, Chicago Illinois, February 1989 *Zigler Museum, Jennings LA, August 1988 *Baton Rouge Gallery LA, June 1988.

Major collectors

*St. Margaret's Catholic Church (Lake Charles, Louisiana) *

(Augusta, Georgia) *Louisiana State University Print Collection (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) *Alexandria Museum of Art (Alexandria, Louisiana) *The National Ecumenical Museum of Art (St. Louis, Missouri) *Lucey Laney Walker Museum (Augusta, Georgia) *

River Road African American Museum River Road African American Museum is a museum of culture and history in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, United States. Founded in 1994, it was among the first Louisiana museums to tell the story of Africans and African Americans, both slave and free. ...

(Burnside, Louisiana) *

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

(Atlanta, Georgia) *

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is Am ...

law firm (Atlanta, Georgia) *

Absolut Vodka Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 from the Swedish state. Absolut is one of the largest brand ...

(New York, New York) *

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , also known as Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield, Hartsfield–Jackson and, formerly, as the Atlanta Municipal Airport, is the primary internatio ...

(Atlanta, Georgia) *Harriett G. Damell Senior Multipurpose Facility (Atlanta, Georgia) *

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Opened in 2004, the Center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure fre ...

(Cincinnati, Ohio) *West End Mall (Atlanta, Georgia) *150 Franklin Street Gallery (Harrisonburg, Virginia)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Favorite, Malaika People from Ascension Parish, Louisiana 1949 births Living people Artists from Louisiana African-American writers Louisiana State University alumni 20th-century American painters 20th-century American writers 21st-century American painters 21st-century American writers 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American women painters 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American painters 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American artists African-American women writers