MARGARET SLADE KELLEY is recognized as a major artist of our times in the popular book, Gumbo YaYa:
An anthology of Contemporary African American Female Artists.

Featured Artist:

2010
Algiers RiverFest
"Jazz for the Ages"

 2008
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Congo Square
"As  Time Goes By"

2007
Playing for Tips Publications
Renew, Rebuild, Rebirth
"Amazing Grace"

2006
General Motors,Chevrolet,
Essence Magazine Women Shaping the World Leadership Summit
"Rise Again New Orleans

2005
One World Music Festival, Durban South Africa
"Zulu Orleans"

2005
New Orleans French Quarter Festival, Inc.,
Satchmo Festival
"Black & Blue"

2004
General Motors Chevrolet
Essence Music Festival's 10th Anniversary
"Creole Lady"

2001
Rhythm and Blue Foundation
"Take Me To Harlem"

2000
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
"Girls in the Band"

1999
MCA Records
"Summer Heat"

1998
Greater St. Stephens, Ministries
"Helping Hands"


1998
American Embassy in South Africa
"Zydeco Music"

1997
Essence Music Festival
"Proud Mary"


1995
Essence Magazine's 25th Anniversary Awards Telecast
"Playing for Tip"

  
Margaret discovered her love for art at a very early age. She is one of nine children and the encouragement given to her by her mother established the base upon which she began structuring her life as an artist. She was in the second grade when a teacher sent her to the office with one of her drawings. The principle hung it in the front office where it adorned the wall until she graduated. However, Margaret’s single most inspirational experience occurred when she was in the 9th grade. Her Spanish teacher bought her first set of oils and asked her to paint a copy of Picasso’s Milk Can.  She then encouraged her to attend Arts High School, in Newark, New Jersey, which is the first high school in the country to offer fine and performing arts as a major course of study. As an adult, Margaret is classically trained. She studied at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts under the tutelage of: French Impressionist, Samuel Breacher, German Realist, Hans Wingertner, and African American Expressionist, Donald Brown. She continued her studies in color with John Gundlefinger at the New York School of Visual Arts.

At the age of 21 Kelley was juried into her first major exhibit at the Newark Museum, “Black Artist: Two Generations with the titled painting The Imam, a seated abstract figure of Malcolm X. It was that exhibit that positioned her with history’s master artists: Charles White, Jacob Lawrence, Romere Bearden and Lois Mailou Jones, to name a few. At age of 29, she was invited to exhibit at Douglas College Art Gallery, with artists: Camille Billops, Howardena Pindell and Faith Ringgold in “Fragments of Myself the Woman," at Douglas College Art Gallery, Rutgers University.
Kelley’s work has been critiqued by the New York Times critic, Vivian Raynor who called her a noteworthy artist for her figurative rendition of A Girl in Paisley Print, exhibited at the Newark Museum’s Artist: Emerging and Established, with contemporary artist: Bisa Washington, Gladys Grauer, and Eleta J. Caldwell. Other exhibits include: The Jersey City Museum, The Jane Vorhees Zimmorli Museum, Montclair State College, Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Prudential, Mutual Benefit, Bell Laboratories, Essex County College, The Carter G. Woodson Foundation and the list goes on. The Boston Public Library, Mount Holyoke College, Spelman College, Perdue University, and LA Revue Modern Arts Paris sought her work.

At the age of 32, Margaret Slade Kelley became the first African American artist commissioned by the State of New Jersey to create artwork for public buildings in Essex and Hudson Counties United We Stand two murals created for blind children to have tactile experiences. The city of Newark commissioned her to paint a portrait of superstar, Whitney Houston and her painting of an African Slave Woman, One Hundred Years, was auctioned at Sotheby’s for the Harlem – Dowling Foundation.

In 1992 Margaret relocated to the city of New Orleans. "Her paintings capture the soul of the New Orleans,” says Essence Magazine.” and Bernadette Pinel, owner of LaBelle Galerie says. "Her intellectually stimulating use of palette and sensitive treatment of subject have seduced the art community. Usually, when an artist is introduced the collectors market enjoys a couple of years of limited competition in the acquisition of the artist’s work. In Kelley’s instance, however, that period of unbridled collecting for investment or aesthetic pleasures has shrunk substantially. Collectors, who were confident of their edge on the market, have found themselves added to the waiting list as the artist strives to satisfy her ever growing clientele.


In additional to being the quintessential painter, Margaret Slade Kelley teaches with the same vigor and enthusiasm. She heads the art department at Charter Middle School where their unique program of fine and performing arts, along with their excellent core curriculum, places them in the top 5% of charter schools in the nation.  “ I am convinced that when children are exposed to the arts, they develop an inner peace and sensitivity towards the world.” In addition, she lends her talents to the University of New Orleans Outreach Program, Ashe Cultural Center and serves on the Advisory Board of Kid smAart, a program that gives inner city children opportunities to engage in art activities that will enrich their lives.

Margaret’s work is indeed powerful, beautiful, and appealing to many.  In 1995, her images graced the stage as backdrops on the Essence Magazine’s 25th Anniversary Awards Telecast.  In 1996, she was selected one of six artists in the nation to exhibit in the world’s newest democracy at the American Embassy in South Africa.  MCA records chose her work Summer Heat to commemorate black music month in 1999. In 1998, Greater St. Stephens Ministries commissioned her to paint Helping Hands. In 1997, The Essence Music Festival marked that year’s event with Proud Mary. In 2000, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation sought her to paint Girls in the Band and in 2001, Take Me to Harlem.

In 2003, the mayor recognized Margaret for her contributions in art to the city of New Orleans. In 2004, Chevrolet commissioned her to paint Creole Lady—an image that brings together the Essence Music Festival and the African American experience. The image is a mosaic of oranges, reds, blues and greens and is placed in the Historic French Quarter of New Orleans. The woman represents all that is Essence—she has beauty, strength, and ability. She is surrounded by men who are adorned with masks in honor of their ancestors and heritage. The steps empower the rising up of a people who are inspired to reach new heights. The background combines a traditional New Orleans balcony while the pattern in the stage drapery flows to the rhythm of music. The image was digitally reproduced and on the hood of Chevrolet’s newest vehicle, the sporty SSR convertible, to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Essence Music Festival. The original painting was a gift to the Essence Corporation and the vehicle auctioned to benefit the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

(Statement from the Artist)

"When I was a little girl, I saw an article on Pablo Picasso in Life Magazine. I remember thinking that I wanted to be an artist just like him. His peculiar images of abstract figures intrigued me. It did not occur to me at the time that I was a little black girl from Newark, New Jersey and he was an old white man from Spain. I remember when I was a young woman seeing Essence Magazine for the first time and, in Essence, I saw myself."

“I am so grateful for the opportunities given to me. I have a son and two wonderful grandsons and, in them, I see my best work. I have asked God, what is it that you would have me do. What image am I to paint? I have come to realize that there is no one image.  My ability is his gift to me and he has given equally to each of us. My charge in life is to touch someone in what I do—my love is all that is required.”