Since These Walls Can Talk: Curtis Wallace of Be Creative Studios
“I wished I had someone like me that would have helped me when I was a kid growing up in Flint, Michigan. I am trying to be that person I didn’t have,” Curtis Wallace shared on air with the host of PBS’s Under The Radar Michigan.
His childhood was less than idyllic to say the least. “I get up for this work even when I don’t want to,” he said, choking up, “‘Cause I know this need. That is what keeps me going. It gives me hope.” Host Tom Daldin was on the verge of tears as well when he responded, “I wish I had a you when I was little, too. I didn’t have a mentor. Someone like you that takes that extra step to really care about the community and really care about the children.”
Tom Daldin is a fan. Daldin introduces Wallace as “A renaissance man, an artist, a teacher, a philosopher, a yoga master, and dare I say, a downright cosmic soul.” They are standing next to one of Wallace’s murals, created to engage with the children of Ypsilanti’s Educate Youth in the creative process of designing and installing a mural.
“We talked about things we didn’t see. And what we didn’t see was representation,” Wallace explained. A 20’x40’ foot art piece at the corner of South Washington and West Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti now celebrates their likeness. “We can stand here now to see these happy kids, these girls.” The mural shines with joy and color: a blue sky, a rainbow, a butterfly, and two young black girls, in a pattern of hexagons. “Hexagons are the most resilient shapes in nature—so intricate and efficient.” The message is subtle, but it isn’t lost. “We built this hive of these happy girls and the kids that participated to represent just a small piece of the rainbow.”
Curtis Wallace introduced his Be Creative Studio LLC in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 2019 after a lifetime of sharing his art professionally and prolifically. Be Creative Studios honors the honeybee and hexagons in their logo. Wallace explained, “Younger bees are indiscriminate, collecting the sweet stuff from all the flowers, to bring pollen to the hive.” It correlates to his philosophy. “I manifested this studio to pollinate other creative minds. Not just painting, but any creative mind.” Spreading inspiration is the life force that compels Wallace forward.
The leadership team of Educate Youth appreciates this. “It has been an invaluable experience for each student who has the opportunity to work with Curtis and The Be Creative Studio,” shares Gail Wolkoff along with her team, Kendall Johnstone and Bonita Fultz, “His kindness, patience, expertise, and encouragement have given our students a safe environment to learn and grow as artists.” And they praise, “His optimistic perspective and good energy are a breath of fresh air!”
You will recognize his big bright artworks throughout Ypsilanti and Detroit where his murals grace walls in 12 locations. His Black Rose Memorial piece at the Corner Health Center at North Huron Street, a series of murals at the downtown Ann Arbor District Library, as well as a billboard in the Embracing our Differences show are nearby. Standing at the intersection of Geddes and Huron Parkway, a series of 60 billboards are displayed for their social commentary that exemplifies what the organization stands for.
Be Creative Studios collaborates with a number of local organizations including Educate Youth, My Brother’s Keeper, Community Leadership Revolution Academy, Community Violence Intervention Team, Upward Bound through EMU, Big Brothers Big Sisters, AAART Fair, uniteSTEM, Our Community Reads, Black Men Read, and projects in Denver and Canada to name his current collaborators. His level of professionalism is valued, to which he stated, “Which allows me to do this all my life. It is my job as an artist to help find people where they are and amplify their passion in life.” When art is the inquiry, the answer is yes. “‘Because,” he affirmed, “art is everything to me.”
Wallace is compelled to bring out creativity in us all, but not just for fun. He recognized that “Creativity can be lifesaving and life making.” And Wallace has made it his life. He sold his first painting when he was ten years old. He has spent over 25 years working in the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor public school districts teaching art, media, and yoga. Now Wallace can have a broader impact beyond the classroom. Be Creative Studios is multidimensional, with a mobile studio, a home venue, in-person and online instruction for all ages with virtual paint classes, wine and paint experiences, formal art lessons or a free-flowing experience custom curated for any client. As Wallace leads students from preschool all the way up to senior citizens, he is conscientious to teach not simply technique, but rather to encourage creativity.
His generosity of spirit is the first thing I noticed about Wallace when we met. He buzzes with positive energy and the flare of an artist, wearing coveralls and apron, a Honeybee trucker hat, a yellow Keffiyeh, and Mala Beads. There was work to do, so we talked between his turns with a sander and table saw. Wallace is grounded and driven with purpose. His kindness and compassion make him easy to know, but it is his conviction and devotion to his contribution that leave the strongest impression.
“One of my biggest roles as an artist is to be an activist. I use art to move and change my community. I put it out there ‘cause it is not mine to keep. I think it is a talent I was given to do this work.” He doesn’t question his calling. “It is my absolute obligation to take what I am learning about passion and show people how to do it.” He beamed,“Or at least give them that feeling of doing this thing that you love.”
Wallace does have a reputation of spreading positivity to uplift others, but there is also a call to action in his work that is not to be denied. Centering black causes is a revolutionary act that can come at a cost.
“A lot of my friends have been accusing me lately of not having fun.” This is seen as a departure for Wallace. “Truth is, for artists, especially like me, that act as a portal to express whatever the community is feeling, it is serious work.” He said, shaking his head. “There is a lot of destruction in this world right now.” Wallace wears the woes of the world on his shoulders. “Hate is in abundance. It is everywhere. Even in places where it doesn’t seem like it. Racism still exists in Ann Arbor.”
In his mural along Library Lane, Wallace applied thirteen layers of gold flake paint to the image of his son, thickly adorning the stars on his jersey, followed by 13 layers of glow-in-the-dark paint for a double image. There is an enticing texture and a potency in the rich application, meant as a talisman for a protective force around his son’s image. It was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh and Kehinde Whiley, a combination of some of his favorite influences. “Van Gogh, known for his small, orchestrated strokes of color to create movement and flow while Wiley portrays everyday people of color in the light of excellence.”
The piece is designed to be decorative and so much more. “I wanted viewers to see a child of mixed culture on this large scale. I wanted to capture him before he turned 13, the year when the world starts to see him no longer as this cute little boy with hopes and dreams and light and love.” Wallace knows how impactful public art can be to shine such a light, yet he continued. “When the world begins to see him as not a man, but black, a monster, a criminal, 3/5 human, a threat, or as an opportunity to keep systematic racism alive and well.” Clearly his artful contribution is layered with more than paint. “I wanted to give him clues and reminders of where his ancestors came from. Royalty to the light and kings of our own destiny.” Wallace doesn’t take the role of artist for granted. The artist reflects and influences our society, and a mural amplifies that opportunity countless times by bringing the work into the public sphere to share these layers of meaning with anyone passing by; still, murals can also become a target.
Not even four days after the mural wall was installed, someone defaced all the black and brown faces with spray paint on the outdoor display along Library Lane. There were no cameras at the time. Now what we see is a print from a hi-res image of the work, while the original remains on the other side. “Hate is so embedded in this culture,” he concluded.
“In a world of destruction, I feel like it is my mission to create balance,” Wallace said. “You have to be serious in those moments. I need a serious persona to make it happen,” he said. “While I use my class times to be lighthearted, to laugh, and uplift, and bring people in. I can be the energy that I want to be around because it starts with that. It starts with that energy.”
The weight and the light of this art are important for us all to encounter during these complex times. Curtis Wallace does the work to be prepared professionally, passionately, and emotionally, so that he can bear all these layers with grace. Like a ninja with a paint brush, his many skills are honed, “So that I can go in and be received as Curtis of Hope.”
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Curtis Wallace introduced his Be Creative Studio LLC in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 2019 after a lifetime of sharing his art professionally and prolifically. Be Creative Studios honors the honeybee and hexagons in their logo.