Carl "Sonny" Partlow, Jr., 1st generation Partlow Artist
My father was an amazing, talented artist born Black in the late 1930s in the U.S. with no immediate model for being a successful, financially sustained working artist in America. And then he and my mother made me in their teens. So, he did the next best thing: he got a good job with good benefits while pouring all of his artistic aspirations and sensibilities into me. He was an expert on the human anatomy; a master carpenter; a master draftsman; an unlicensed architect who could build anything; a precise sign-maker; and a mathematician. He loved quality work and making things to perfection. He could sing, too. Beautifully. My father taught me how to draw when I was four years old. First, still life objects, then faces, bodies, and later buildings, and graphic lettering. He is still teaching me from the ancestral realm in his patient, loving way. That wonderful man took his leave of this world in 2000. And I know he is laughing with great pride over his artmaking progeny.
Lenett Partlow-Myrick, 2nd gen Partlow Artist
Baltimore native Lenett Nef'fahtiti Partlow-Myrick aka Mama Nef is a visual artist, poet-writer, curator, educator, and owner of Partlow Art. She creates art out of her lived experience as an African-descendant female residing on occupied Native territory in the United States. Her father taught her to draw at age four. She first performed on stage at age six and started writing “on purpose” at age 9. She maintains a full, disciplined artistic practice influenced by spiritual forces, natural environments, travel, mentors, and master teachers around the world. She has a 30+ year curatorial practice of bringing artists and communities together for transformative experiences. She is an ordained minister and dedicated spirARTtual® activist. Read more>
Imani Muleyyar, 3rd gen Partlow Artist
Imani Muleyyar is an Emmy award-winning multimedia storyteller, educator, and black arts advocate. His art career began while growing up in Baltimore's Pan-African movement of the 1980s-90s. He gained notoriety for producing socially conscious music for himself and with many Afrocentric arts collectives in the city. This led Imani to pursue a profession in audio engineering, studying at American University. He then went on to own and operate multiple recording studios, consecutively landing production deals with record labels over the course of five years.; a precise sign-maker; and a mathemetician. Imani returned to his hometown in 2022 to launch his new project, Imani Network, using all his acquired experience to empower the local black arts community. Read more>
Lotus Marie Partlow, 4th gen Partlow Artist
While we wait for Lotus to give us her bio--because teenagers want to speak for themselves--we want you to know that she has her great-grandfather Sonny's gift for drawing, especially faces, coupled with her distinct artistic brilliance. She's an honor roll sophomore in high school with a promising career in the arts and any traditional academic field she chooses. Here are a few of her creations.
