Louise Mandumbwa - the Artist

Growing up in the sub-Saharan town of Francistown, Botswana, the artist cites the pieces of unstretched pieces of canvases, saucers repurposed as palettes and her father's paint brushes in her childhood home as her earliest memories of the arts. She was born in 1996 to Zambian educators in visual art and commerce respectively, and that early touch point cultivated an interest that has only grown over the years.

Currently studying painting in University of Central Arkansas' BFA Program, Louise Mandumbwa moved to the United States to pursue a higher education in the visual arts in 2015. In that time Ms. Mandumbwa has developed a visual voice steeped in conversation about the human condition, identity and belonging. Often selecting everyday people as the subjects of her work, her practice has expanded to include works rendered in oil and acrylic on everything from paper, wood panel and sheets of Plexiglas.

Alongside her academic pursuits Ms. Mandumbwa has had her work curated into the group shows “Daughters of the Diaspora” and “Icons.” Three solo exhibitions; “With Feeling,” “You Are Not Your Own (Your Name is Not Your Own)” and “On Being and Becoming.” Additionally, Ms. Mandumbwa has had her work featured in New American Paintings, included twice in the PRIZM art fair during Miami Art week in 2017 and 2019 respectively, and was the Conway Alliance for the Arts 2019 recipient of the Gene Hatfield outstanding individual artist award.

Ms. Mandumbwa was a distinguished participant in the 2019 Chautauqua School of Art residency program.