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April Banks
Local Artist In Residence
18th Street Campus

April Banks, Future Ancient, 2022. 42” x 20”. Fused Glass, painted aluminum, LED panel. Photo by Judson Studios. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, Future Ancient, 2022. 42” x 20”. Fused Glass, painted aluminum, LED panel. Photo by Judson Studios. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, Elevate (Freedom is a place), 2022. Painted Steel. Temporary sculpture at The Nicholson Project, Washington, DC. Curated by Dashboard, supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Photo by Anne Kim Photography. Courtesy of Nicholson Project.
April Banks, Elevate (Freedom is a place), 2022. Painted Steel. Temporary sculpture at The Nicholson Project, Washington, DC. Curated by Dashboard, supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Photo by Anne Kim Photography. Courtesy of Nicholson Project.
April Banks, Elevate (Freedom is a place), 2022. Painted Steel. Temporary sculpture at The Nicholson Project, Washington, DC. Curated by Dashboard, supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Photo by Anne Kim Photography. Courtesy of Nicholson Project.
April Banks, Elevate (Freedom is a place), 2022. Painted Steel. Temporary sculpture at The Nicholson Project, Washington, DC. Curated by Dashboard, supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Photo by Anne Kim Photography. Courtesy of Nicholson Project.
April Banks, A Resurrection in Four Stanzas, 2021. 12’ W x 12’-6” H x 28’ D, Painted Steel and Aluminum Permanent art sculpture at Historic Belmar Park, Santa Monica, CA. Commissioned through the City of Santa Monica’s Percent for Art Program and made possible by Cultural Affairs and Public Works Department. Photo by Leroy Hamilton. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, A Resurrection in Four Stanzas, 2021. 12’ W x 12’-6” H x 28’ D, Painted Steel and Aluminum Permanent art sculpture at Historic Belmar Park, Santa Monica, CA. Commissioned through the City of Santa Monica’s Percent for Art Program and made possible by Cultural Affairs and Public Works Department. Photo by Leroy Hamilton. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, A Resurrection in Four Stanzas, 2021. 12’ W x 12’-6” H x 28’ D, Painted Steel and Aluminum Permanent art sculpture at Historic Belmar Park, Santa Monica, CA. Commissioned through the City of Santa Monica’s Percent for Art Program and made possible by Cultural Affairs and Public Works Department. Photo by Leroy Hamilton. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, A Resurrection in Four Stanzas, 2021. 12’ W x 12’-6” H x 28’ D, Painted Steel and Aluminum Permanent art sculpture at Historic Belmar Park, Santa Monica, CA. Commissioned through the City of Santa Monica’s Percent for Art Program and made possible by Cultural Affairs and Public Works Department. Photo by Leroy Hamilton. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, Project Black Space, 2021. Dimensions Variable. Image projections at sites of Black history in Santa Monica, CA. Photo by April Banks. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, Project Black Space, 2021. Dimensions Variable. Image projections at sites of Black history in Santa Monica, CA. Photo by April Banks. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, Sunrise Mourning Meditation. 2020, Community action after the death of George Floyd at Bay Street Beach aka “The Inkwell” a historic Black Beach in Santa Monica. Photo by Haline Overby. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, Sunrise Mourning Meditation. 2020, Community action after the death of George Floyd at Bay Street Beach aka “The Inkwell” a historic Black Beach in Santa Monica. Photo by Haline Overby. Courtesy of April Banks.
April Banks, 2022. Photo by Glen Wilson. Courtesy of April Banks
April Banks, 2022. Photo by Glen Wilson. Courtesy of April Banks

April Banks is a Los Angeles based multimedia artist and creative strategist. Her hybrid practice sits intentionally between image, space, and experience. Recent works from encaustic to public art time travel through historical archives and memories, questioning what we think we know of the past and how it informs our cultural systems and future identities. Her first artist residency was 18th Street Art Center in 2009. She now has an artist studio at the Airport Campus.

Banks’ work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Daytona Beach, New Hampshire, Maryland, New York, Switzerland, Colombia, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Senegal and Ethiopia. Her work is in the collection of the Getty Museum, the City of Santa Monica and private collections. Banks received a 2022 Fellowship for Visual Artist Award from the California Community Foundation and a 2023 California Humanities Grant for her collaborative project “Braiding Water” in San Luis Obispo, CA. Recent public art works include commissions in Santa Monica, CA, Sun Village, CA and San Bernardino County, CA and Washington, DC.

Banks is also the producer of Tea Afar, a nomadic storytelling experience, launched in 2016. Tea Afar was conceived as a salve—bringing us together across borders. She has produced events in Los Angeles, Montreal, Sri Lanka and San Francisco.

Banks graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Hampton University in Virginia in 1996 and a Master of Science in Environmental Design from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1999.

Artist Website
Instagram

Press Contact
SUE BELL YANK
Director of Communications & Outreach
(310) 453-3711 x104
Email

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