Artist Bio
Anthony High, a Kansas City native, is a local artist and educator. High received a Bachelor of
Art degree in Art Education from Lincoln University and a master’s degree in Studio Art at th
University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). High has been an art educator for the Kansas City
Missouri School District for 29 years, Nelson Atkins for 12 years, and an adjunct professor at
UMKC and Penn Valley Community College. High’s art has been displayed and exhibited
throughout Missouri, Kansas, North Carolina, Illinois, & Canada.
High has also recently exhibited at local galleries which include: Leedy-Voulkos, Kansas City
Artist Coalition, 2010 Gallery, Portfolio Gallery, Jazz Museum Gallery, Leawood Fine Art,
Brookside Gallery, Buttonwood Art Space, Quincy Art Center, Culver Stockton University, &
Ethnic Art Gallery. High is one of the Artist in the Negro League Baseball Museum’s Shades of
Greatness National Art Exhibit. Also, High received an award for teaching excellence in 1999.
Artist Statement
My career began at about the age of five when my father tore open a brown paper bag and told
me to write on it. At that age, I could not really discern the difference between writing and
drawing. So, my reaction was to draw. It was through this artistic awakening that I realized tha
not only must I draw but it was part of my DNA.
Much of my inspiration and subject matter comes from my African American heritage. Although
I primarily paint people of color, I don’t necessarily consider it “black art”. I just call it ART. I am
at my best when I am incorporating my love of drawing, painting, and printmaking through an
innovative printmaking process called collagraph, which is uniquely mine. I believe that
printmaking is one of the most underestimated and underutilized media in art. It can be as
drawing oriented as etching, as sculptural as a collagraph or as painterly as a monotype.
As an artist, I pride myself in thinking out of the box. Creating pieces that are a different twist
from traditional or conventional techniques. I feel my best artwork is yet to come.