Carolyn Mims Lawrence

Carolyn Mims Lawrence (1940- ) is an American visual artist, teacher, and original member of AfriCOBRA, an artist collective founded in 1968 in Chicago. The group sought to develop a unique aesthetic to empower and uplift Black communities. Her work uses bright greens, yellows, and blues showing positive values such as family unity and social cohesion. Lawrence was one of the artists commissioned for the Wall of Respect in Chicago. She was an art teacher at Kenwood Academy for most of her career. Lawrence felt it was important to inspire the incoming generation of artists.  She received a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in 1968 from the Illinois Institute of Technology.