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Biography - Synthia Saint James

Synthia SAINT JAMES Celebrates Internationally renowned artist Synthia SAINT JAMES will celebrate her 60th birthday and 40th anniversary as a professional artist in 2009. According to SAINT JAMES her first birthday present was her fantastic licensing agreement with Barnes and Noble, the nation’s largest chain of bookstores. Look for merchandise featuring her artwork in their 800 stores and on their website in February in celebration of Black History Month. New to her palette is her Tuscany Series, inspired by a recent visit to this beautiful region in Italy. To date the suite includes “A Taste of Tuscany”, “Tuscan Sunflowers”, “Cypress Grove”, and “Autumn Leaves”. She has created a very special painting celebrating the hope that our new president elect, Barack Obama, has already instilled in the people of the entire world entitled “Fire Rainbow Obama”. She will then travel to the Turks and Caicos Islands, to celebrate her birthday and for inspiration for a new series of seascapes, which will be added to her ever expanding Seascapes Revisited Series, inspired by her many trips to the Caribbean, Hawaiian, Tahitian and Fijian islands. SAINT JAMES is currently booking speaking engagements, appearances and exhibitions for 2009 a special year for us all. For further information and to book an engagement please call 323.993.5722 or email kikusaintjames@aol.com. Internationally renowned artist Synthia SAINT JAMES will celebrate her 60th birthday and 40th anniversary as a professional artist in 2009. According to SAINT JAMES her first birthday present was her licensing agreement with Barnes and Noble. Look for merchandise featuring her artwork in their stores and on their website in February. New to her palette is her Tuscany Series, inspired by a recent visit to this beautiful region in Italy. To date the suite includes “A Taste of Tuscany”, “Tuscan Sunflowers”, “Cypress Grove”, and “Autumn Leaves”. Her next destination will be the Turks and Caicos Islands, her new inspiration for a series of seascapes. Which be added to her ever expanding Seascapes Revisited Series, inspired by her many trips to the Caribbean, Hawaiian, Tahitian and Fijian islands. Synthia SAINT JAMES, international award winning artist and designer of the first United States Postal Stamp for the Kwanzaa holiday, has to date written and or illustrated 13 children’s picture books, 3 poetry and prose books, 4 children’s activity books, a cookbook, and a postcard book. She is the receipient of The Woman of the Year Award for the 26th Senate District, and she has garnered numerous other awards including a Parent’s Choice Silver Honor for her book Sunday, a Coretta Scott King Honor Award for illustrating Neeny Coming…Neeny Going, and an Oppenheim Gold Award for the book To Dinner For Dinner, which she illustrated. Her architectural designs include a 150 foot ceramic tile mural for Ontario, California’s international airport, 6 - 9x4 foot elevator doors for a building in California’s State Capitol’s East End Complex, Sacramento, California, stained glass windows for the West Tampa Library in Tampa, Florida, and a 4x7 foot ceramic tile mural (inspired by Dr. Maya Angelou’s poem “On the Pulse of Morning”), commissioned by Gibson, Dunn, Crutcher LLP for Cowan Elementary School in Westchester, California. She was also commissioned to create the 3x6 foot painting that hangs in the Women's Center of Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California. SAINT JAMES has completed numerous commissioned signature images for non-profit organizations including the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (which hangs at the Vulcan Station in Brooklyn, New York), Children’s Institute International, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, the Harlem Book Fair, the United Way, and the National Education Association. She unveiled the poster that she created for the Center for Disease Control at the United Nations on World AIDS Day 2005, unveiled the original painting that she created for the Metropolitan AME Church (Harlem, NY) at the Schomburg in February 2006, and unveiled the 20th anniversary painting for the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. in June 2006.. Her paintings grace the covers of over 60 books, including Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale, Disappearing Acts, Mama, and the Japanese translation of How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and Iyanla Vanzant’s Acts of Faith, Faith in the Valley and The Big Book of Faith. In reviews her artwork has been described as “ebullient”, “bold”, “creates paintings that remind one of Matisse cutouts in their clear line and intense color” and “joyful”. She was honored with the 2004 Woman of the Year Award in Education by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women and she is a proud receipient of The HistoryMakers Award. Fall of 2006 she received both the MOSTE Inspirational Women Award and the Samella Award for her artistry, and designed the "We See You Award". SAINT JAMES is also one of the women included in Dr. Cynthia Jacobs Carter’s National Geographic book, Africana Woman: Her Story Through Time. She most recently completed signature paintings for the 10th anniversary of the African American Business Summit and the inaugurable painting for the Leimert Park Village Book Festival. On June 21, 2007 she was honored by the Home Depot Charitable Foundation with a tribute held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She travels nationally for speaking engagements, exhibitions and unveilings. SAINT JAMES, a self-taught artist, credits the creator and her ancestry (which includes African American, Native American, Haitian and German Jew) for her artistic gifts. Synthia SAINT JAMES AWARDS (Partial List): 2008 "Woman of the Year" California State 26th District 2007 "A Tribute to Synthia SAINT JAMES" The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation & AEG Worldwide 2006 "MOSTE Inspirational Woman" Motivating Our Students Through Education "The Samella Award" Center for the Arts of the African Diaspora 2004 “Woman of the Year” (Education) Los Angeles County Commission for Women “The HistoryMakers Award” 2002 “Ebony Excellence:Women of Vision” Mu Beta Omega Chapter AKAs “Sisters Award” National Alumni Association Spelman 2001 “Greensboro, NC Key to the City” African American Atelier Gallery “The Arts Council Award” California Afro-American Museum “Oppenheim Gold Award” (for the book To Dinner For Dinner) 2000 “Literary & Visual Arts Award” 115 Anniversary Second Baptist Church “Talent Award” Los Angeles Chapter of the Links 1999 “NAPPA Gold Award” 1998 “Women of Vision Award” Black Women Lawyers 1997 “Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award” (for the book Neeny Coming Neeny Going) “UNICEF Greeting Card Award” “AT&T Entrepreneur of the Year” Black Women of Achievement & NAACP Legal Defense Fund “Treasure of Los Angeles” “YWCA Silver Achievement Award” 1996 “Parents Choice Silver Honor” Synthia SAINT JAMES COLLECTORS (Partial Listing): Coca Cola USA Essence Communications The House of Seagram Glendale Memorial Hospital Johnnie L. COCHRAN, Jr. Alice WALKER Gibson, Dunn, &Crutcher Tavis SMILEY The Riordan Foundation Yolanda KING Lloyd COTSEN Glynn TURMAN Monterey Blues Festival Richard PRYOR Earl GALES, Jr. Carl GORDON Jenifer LEWIS Charles FULLER Paula KELLY Randy CRAWFORD Brenda RUSSELL Dawnn LEWIS EXHIBITIONS (Partial Listing): International Small Graphic Art Stockholm, SWEDEN Musee des Duncans Paris, FRANCE Cosmopolitan Artists Seoul, KOREA Salon Internationale, Quebec, CANADA Natural History Museum Los Angeles, CA National Museum Women in the Arts Washington, DC The Society of Illustrators Museum New York, NY The Museum of Tolerance Los Angeles, CA Museum African American Art Los Angeles, CA Afro-American Cultural Center Charlotte, NC Disney Studios Burbank, CA University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Hilton Corporate Headquarters Beverly Hills, CA Inner City Cultural Center Los Angeles, CA PERIODICAL INTERVIEWS (Partial Listing): Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Magazine Essence Magazine Excel Upscale About Time Celebrity Magazine Black Issues Book Review United Parenting Publications Synthia SAINT JAMES COMMISSIONS (Partial Listing): Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Ceramic Tile Design West Tampa Public Library Stained Glass Designs California’s State Capitol East End Complex Elevator Door Designs Ontario (CA) International Airport Ceramic Tile Designs Glendale Memorial Hospital Original Painting Coca Cola USA Original Painting United States Postal Service Kwanzaa Stamp Design 100 Black Men of America, Inc. Original Painting 100 Black Men of Orange County Original Painting Children’s Institute International Original Paintings The Girl Scouts USA Original Painting Dance Africa America Original Paintings American Library Association Original Painting Essence Communications Original Painting Maybelline, Kayser-Roth Original Painting The National Bar Association Original Painting The House of Seagram Original Painting The Mark Taper Forum Original Painting Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Original Painting TELEVISION SHOWS WITH ARTWORK (Partial Listing): ARMY WIVES, Just Jordan, THE STEVE HARVEY SHOW, In The House, MOESHA, Martin, HANGING WITH MR. COOPER, A Different World, (Mention of artwork in) FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION - COLLEGE TOURNAMENT. TELEVISION INTERVIEWS (Partial Listing): LIVING WITH SOUL, Making It, THE KWANZAA STORY, FOX TV News, ABC TV News, KTLA News, PAX-TV, BET Shop, SCREEN SCENE, Life & Times. ART IN EMBASSIES: Caracas, VENEZUELA, Gagnoa, GHANA, Abidjan, COTE D'IVOIRE Synthia SAINT JAMES SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS (Partial Listing): MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, Baltimore, MD University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA BARNARD COLLEGE, New York, NY University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY, Blacksburg, VA Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, Cleveland, OH Tennessee Association of School Librarians, Nashville, TN FIRST PEOPLES FUND, Santa Fe, NM Toyota USA, Torrance, CA GREENSBORO PUBLIC LIBRARY, Greensboro, NC Bennett College, Greensboro, NC CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE, San Pablo, CA Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, CA BLACK HERITAGE ART EXHIBIT, Baltimore, MD Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, CA THE BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL, Baltimore, MD The Buckley School, Sherman Oaks, CA NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, Washington, DC Orange County Reading Association, Fountain Valley, CA NEUTROGENA CORPORATE OFFICES, Los Angeles, CA Black Women’s Network, Los Angeles, CA PHENOMINAL PHEMALES, Phoenix, AZ Winston-Salem State University, Diggs Gallery, W.S., NC INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION, S.D., CA University of Redlands, Redlands, CA TENNESEE MIDDLE STATE UNIVERSITY, Nashville, TN California School Library Association, Pasadena, CA CALIFORNIA ARTS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, Palm Springs, CA Japanese American Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM, Los Angeles, CA Rancho Santiago College, Orange, CA UNIVERSITY OF OHIO, ATHENS, OH The Wesley School, N. Hollywood, CA Synthia SAINT JAMES BIBLIOGRAPHY CHILDRENS BOOKS: Gershator/Saint James. Tukama Tootles the Flute, New York, NY: Orchard Books, 1994. Chapman/Saint James. Snow on Snow on Snow, New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994. Saint James, Synthia. The Gifts of Kwanzaa, Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company, 1994. Saint James, Synthia. Sunday, Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company, 1996. Myers/Saint James. How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World, New York, NY: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1996. English/Saint James. Neeny Coming…Neeny Going, Mahwah, NJ: Bridgewater Books, 1996. Gershator/Saint James. Greetings, Sun, New York, NY: DK INK, 1998. Barnwell/Saint James. No Mirrors in My Nana’s House, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Children’s Books, 1998. Williams/Saint James. Girls Together, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Children’s Books, 1999. Hull/Saint James. “Happy Happy Kwanzaa”, Los Angeles, CA: BrassHeart Music, Synthia Saint James Music, 1999. Nikola-Lisa/Saint James. Hallelujah! : A Christmas Story, New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000. Mollel/Saint James. To Dinner, For Dinner, New York, NY: Holiday House, 2000. Hull/Saint James. Alphabet Affirmations, Los Angeles, CA: Kids Creative Classics, 2000. Saint James, Synthia. It’s Kwanzaa Time, New York, NY: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster, 2001. Hull/Saint James. Peace In Our Land, Los Angeles, CA: Kids Creative Classics, 2002. Sneve/Saint James. Enduring Wisdom, New York, NY: Holiday House, 2003. Hull/Saint James. Dream A World, Los Angeles, CA: Kids Creative Classics, 2004. Saint James, Synthia. A story in The Milestones Project by Dr. Richard & Michele Steckel, Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press, 2004. ADULT BOOKS: Johnson/Saint James. Mother’s Love, White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper Press, 1996. Saint James, Synthia. Girlfriends, White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper Press, 1997. Saint James, Synthia. Can I Touch You: Love Poems & Affirmations, Newark, NJ: Music Quest, 1997. Saint James, Synthia. Creative Fixings From The Kitchen: Favorite Multicultural Recipes, Port Chester, NY: Persnickety Press, 1998. Saint James, Synthia. Forward to Who’s Who Among Afri- Can Americans-13th Edition, Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2000. Saint James, Synthia. Essay in How to Make Black America Better by Tavis Smiley, New York, NY: Doubleday Books, 2001. Saint James, Synthia. Synthia Saint James: A Book of Postcards, San Francisco, CA: Pomegranate, 2004.