ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOTIONS STILL PHOTOGRAPHER JALEN MARLOWE

Born and raised in Clover, South Carolina, Jamea Naje’ Marlowe is a multidisciplinary artist, arts educator, and art studio owner. Jamea studied visual arts with an emphasis in graphic design at Lander University in Greenwood S.C. It was there that Jamea not only received a BS in visual arts but where she found her voice as an artist. From there she went on to receive her teaching certification from East Carolina University in Greenville N.C. Jamea taught as an elementary art educator for several years and at the end of the 2021-2022 school year Jamea quit teaching to open her own kid’s art studio, The Broken Crayon in Charlotte N.C. Since graduating from Lander University Jamea has participated in numerous art exhibitions, curating her first solo exhibition in 2021: (Lost, Found, & Free). Her most recent exhibitions include Local Street | Mint Museum (2021, 2022, and 2023), From the Underground |Cabarrus Arts Council (2022), My Presence is Present |Harvey B. Gantt Museum Biennial (2023), and Educations Not Equal | The Art Center of Greenwood (2024).  

Today, Jamea’s current body of work titled “Educations Not Equal" (2023), focuses on her experience as a public school art educator and the treatment of black and brown children (specifically boys of color) in public education. The brightly colored portraits in this body of work touch on the many struggles that black and brown children in underserved areas face throughout their adolescence.  The subject matter of these pieces touches on everything from absent parents to absent dreams. As she drifts further from her days as an elementary arts educator and this body of work comes to an end Jamea is already looking ahead and planning for her next body of work as she attempts to champion the experiences of being both an entrepreneur and mother.