DIGITAL RESIDENT

All digital residencies are posted on our instagram account and archived in the highlights.

Shaunté Gates

september 2020

Shaunté Gates was born in Washington, D.C. An imaginative child, he was constantly exploring, absorbing and recreating the world around him. He thrived in his studies at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, graduating as a Visual Arts major in 1997. With the guidance of the school’s co-founder, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Shaunté’s art career began. Gates then pursued a degree in Graphic Design from Bowie State University, during which he became a professional tattoo artist. Gates served as the Assistant Art Director at the Perry School Community Service Center in Washington, D.C. for six years. Three of those years were spent encouraging numerous young artists through art courses at Terrell Junior High School. Teaching invigorated Gates; the students were a constant reminder of his own development. Today, he works in his studio full time creating mixed media paintings and video art that are allegorical and futuristic in style, while continuing to work with students in the DC area (via residencies and workshops). 

Gates currently has work in a Smithsonian traveling exhibit (“Men Of Change”), that will travel to ten museums across the country, from 2019. A two time nominee for the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, including The Katzen Museum at American University, California African American Museum, Cincinnati Underground Railroad Museum, Washington State Historical Society, Curtiss Jacobs Gallery (Harlem, NY), Parrish Gallery (DC). Major commissions include a piece for the Howard University School of Law marking its140th anniversary, unveiled by UN Ambassador Susan Rice.