Juneteenth Champions
The year of 1865 marked a significant turning point in American History. The ending of slavery in Texas issued under General Order no. 3, steps toward absolute equality. It was more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. In this, T. Ellis painstakingly and vividly captures the stories and portraits of individuals past and present who fought for freedom, justice, and equality. In this T. Ellis Fine Art Juneteenth Champions exhibit, Ted Ellis highlights and acknowledges thirty individuals from 1865, the year Gordon Granger traveled to Galveston, TX reading the emancipation proclamation declaring all slaves free, to present day whose hard working efforts brought significant amount of attention to racial inequality and Juneteenth, making it a Texas state-wide paid holiday to now the 11th national federal official holiday celebrated on June 19th. We examine the lives of civil rights activists, educators, authors, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and more. 30 individuals for each day of June. This is the T. Ellis Fine Art Juneteenth Champions art exhibition.
Juneteenth Freedom Project and more…
T. Ellis for the past 20 years has been involved in researching, and preserving the story and history of Juneteenth through art. On the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth on June 19, 2015, Ellis was selected, honored, and recognized by the City of Galveston, TX as the Official Juneteenth Art Ambassador for the 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth. Ellis had the opportunity to showcase his signature Juneteenth painting “Free at Last” along with nine other paintings that comprised of his “Juneteenth Freedom Project” at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and Rayburn building in Washington, DC and was the featured painting on the cover of The Galveston Daily News.
About T. Ellis
For the past 30 years, Ted Timothy Ellis has unapologetically pictorially documented African American history and culture. The self-taught New Orleans native founded T. Ellis Fine Art Inc. in 1991 and has an extensive art career with decades of national accolades and achievements. Ellis products have sold millions of dollars fine art products nationally through direct sales, art galleries, catalog outlets, fine art dealers, and licensing. He’s also had multiple commissioned contracts with major corporations such as Pepsi, Avon, ExxonMobil, Walt Disney, JC Penney, and more. His art is in the permanent collection of the Barry Museum, Charles Wright Museum, DuSable Museum, Free People of Color Museum, and the McKenna Museum. T. Ellis has a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Southern University of New Orleans. T. Ellis is the current Acting Chair of the 400 Years of African American History Commission. www.tellisfineart.com
Houston Museum of African American Culture:
Currently, the Juneteenth Champions portraits can be seen on exhibition at the Houston Museum of African American Culture. A reception will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2022 from 5-7pm with Ted Ellis present. Admission to HMAAC is free. Please visit https://hmaac.org/ for more information.
For more information, please contact the Museum Curator at (409) 763 – 8854 ext. 125 or at museum@rosenberg-library.org.
