Artists
John Lennon once said, “Every child is an artist until he’s told he’s not an artist.” Versions of that idea have been stated an re-stated by many artists throughout the last century. Luckily, there are children from all walks of life who were never told they are not artists—instead, they were given the tools and resources to develop their astonishing talents.
Going beyond the child prodigy, many organizations and schools offer children the chance to participate in projects to create art for any number of reasons with outstanding results, such as public art, exhibitions, and contests. Click on the images below to see some amazing work by kids.
From Noah's website: "Born in Milan in 2016, Noah showed a propensity for painting at the age of 18 months. His abstract works become tales and translations on canvas of his feelings, emotions and experiences. Noah was noticed at the age of 2 and his works were exhibited at the New York Art gallery. Other exhibitions in Italy followed, including the exhibitions curated by Loredana Trestin at Palazzo Ducale and Palazzo Saluzzo in Genoa; participation in ArtePadova with the artist and gallerist Manuel Carrion; The Wisdom of Trees at the Galleria Il Redentore in Venice; ArteGenova 2020 with the Galleria Il Cerchio Cromatico for which he is followed by the art critic and journalist Christian Humouda."
Andres Valencia, 10, is an abstract painter who had a solo showcase at Art Miami, a one-person show at New York gallery Chase Contemporary, and has A-list stars as collectors, including Diane Keaton, Channing Tatum, and Sofia Vergara. HIs most recent work, Invasion of Ukraine (2022), is a work that the artist wants to be known as today’s Guernica.
Ben Nelson is a Native American artist who was born in 1982. He began painting at the age of 5, and the painting shown here was completed when he was 10. He has since won many prestigious awards and is also now a clothing designer, activist, and philanthropist. The Children's Collection is proud to have this painting thanks to a generous donor!
Albuquerque native Ernesto Salazar has the distinction of being the first artist to donate his own art work to The Children's Collection. He draws all day every day, and is inspired by the Five Nights at Freddy's horror universe. His drawings are experiments for his own future graphic novels. Pictured here is Ernesto with a character called The Blackador.
Tillie Walden was discovered by Avery Hill Publishing when she was still in high school. Her debut graphic novel, The End of Summer, was published in 2015 when Tillie was 19, and she has gone on to publish 7 more graphic novels and win 7 prestigious awards for her work. The End of Summer is part of The Children's Collection!
Myles Minishotta learned to use a digital camera at the age of 2. At 5 he was invited to New York Fashion week and Kids Fashion week where he shot a total of 9 fashion shows. Now 8, he conducts individual photo shoots and has covered events at colleges, radio shows, birthday parties and baby showers, and is often requested to shoot local celebrities in the Washington DC area. The Children's Collection is excited to have a print of one of Mile's photos!
"Through Children's Eyes: 100 young photographers capture their community" was published by Art in the School, Inc., a project that brought art to Albuquerque Public Schools. The author was extremely generous and donated five copies of the catalog to The Children's Collection!
12-year-old Canadian artist Oakland Galbraith became the youngest ever artist to be part of the Vancouver Mural Festival in 2020.
FEWOCiOUS first started creating art at 13, sold his first painting at 17, and within a year--by embracing the new technology of non-fungible tokens (NFT)--grossed over $17 million in just under a year.
In March of 2020, when Welsh schools closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 14-year-old Makenzy Beard taught herself to paint. A little over a year later it was on display at the Royal Academy of Arts Young Artists' Summer Show .
Foster Romano is the youngest artist to exhibit in the competitive, juried Art on the Street exhibit. He also collaborated with his mentor, Virgil Ortiz, on weapon fabrications for Ortiz's “Venutian Soldiers” and “Aeronauts” exhibits. The Children's Collection has a print of one of those Murals, "Sol," and looks forward to adding the sister mural print, "Loona," to the Artists collection!
Oyeniyan Oluwanifemi, 16, is an award-winning hyper-realistic painter from Nigeria.
Wang Yani is a Chinese artist who began painting at the age of two-and-a-half. Her work was exhibited in China when she was four, appeared on a postage stamp when she was eight, and she had a solo exhibition at a museum in London when she was fourteen. By the time she was sixteen, six books had been written about her.
Tenzing, 18, has been working as a muralist since he was a kid and gained widespread attention during 2019’s BLINK Art Festival in Cincinnati, OH.
Victoria L. Yin, born in 1997, began exhibiting in the New England Area at age 8 and was showing internationally by age 10.
Tyler Gordon, 14, has been painting for four years, won the awarded the “Global Child Prodigy Award” in 2020, and as a Gabb Ambassador he inspires and empowers young artists to achieve their goals.
Kieron Williamson (born 4 August 2002) is a water color, oil and pastel artist from England. He started drawing at age 6, and a year later he had his first public showing.
By age 12, Hamzah Marbella is already represented Filipino art on the global stage and had produced over 300 works of art.
Artolution has organized an ongoing program in which youth who live in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh participate in community-based public art projects and shape their own narratives through public murals, sculptures, performance, and games.
Kareem Waris Olamilekan (born 2006) is a Nigerian hyperrealism artist and art prodigy. He started drawing at the age of 6. his hyperrealistic portrait of French President Emmanuel Macron so impressed the president that he tweeted a short video. As a result, Olamilekan's work has received international recognition.
Photograph by Dewi Baggerman, Netherlands. for the National Geographic Photography Contest for Kids
Albuquerque High School students - Marissa Abeyta, Mariah Abeyta, Zoë Becker, Emily Bolton, Felice Foster, BreOnna Lucero, Olivia Sim, and MaryJane Ybarra - explored the history of the Martineztown neighborhood for their mural on one of the school's portable buildings with grant funding from the APS Education Foundation.
Edmund Thomas Clint was an Indian child prodigy known for having drawn over 25,000 paintings during his life of less than seven years. His work has been displayed in exhibitions in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 1995 and 2007. At the age of 5, he secured first place in a competition held for painters below the age 18.
Aelita Andre, at 9 years old, is the youngest artist to ever have her work featured in a solo museum exhibition. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 2007, she began painting at 9 months old Solo Exhibition Highlights: 4 New York solo shows 1 Museum solo show Russia. 4 Hong Kong solo shows 1 solo show, China 4 solo shows, Australia