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At first brush, you might be tempted to call Anwar Floyd-Pruitt a “late bloomer.” No one would blame you. It’s not often that someone decides to pursue a BFA and MFA in their 30's, then spends 7 years honing their craft and perfecting their style. But if you look closely, you’ll see that this multi-talented, multi-hyphenate has an impressive creative resume that includes stints as a stand-up comic, creator of comedic hip hop videos and, now, a puppeteer. In other words, Anwar Floyd-Pruitt isn’t a late-bloomer; he’s an artist who has trusted the process. And he’s right on time.
Photo courtesy of the University of Wisconsin
In a way, Anwar’s Bayshore mural is a reflection of the myriad of creative careers he pursued in his 20's.
“I am always interested in capturing and recreating a sense of spontaneity in my work,” he says.
And his Bayshore mural exhibits that spontaneity on his largest stage yet. The mural was the biggest canvas Anwar has ever used, and the most intensive collaboration he has ever been a part of. This project involved pre-planning, all of which was made even more challenging by a debilitating injury.
A week before he started planning and sketching his Bayshore mural, Anwar hurt his right hand. Luckily, he got by with a little help from a friend: fellow artist Dave Watkins, who helped him plan and sketch.
Photo by Samuel Li
“I am extremely grateful to Dave,” Anwar says. “He was literally my right-hand man.”
Bayshore isn’t the only exciting project Anwar has cooked up in 2020.
His first solo museum show will open at Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, and he’s still hard at work on a project called Hip Hop Puppet Party. In Anwar’s words, “it’s a family-friendly sing-a-long, a series of puppetry workshops, and an art intervention for incarcerated youth.”
You know, just typical Anwar stuff.
To follow more of the Bayshore art project, visit www.thebayshorelife.com or follow @thebayshorelife on Instagram.