Artist Bio

Eugene “Edaw” Wade
b. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Class of 1964

Eugene “Edaw” Wade was born November 27, 1939 in Scottlandville, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He graduated from Southern University in 1964 with a B.S. in Art Education.

Wade then moved to Leesburg, Florida and taught art for one year. Following Leesburg, Edaw moved to Chicago and taught at McKinley Upper Grade Center for four years. In 1969, Wade enrolled at Howard University, in Washington D.C. where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Painting.

Relocating back to Chicago in 1971, Wade became one of the Chicago Artist-in-Residence for Mural Painting. He began teaching at Kennedy King College in 1979, until his retirement in 2005.

Returning to Louisiana, where he settled in Zachary and bought a home. After three years of retirement, Edaw started back teaching Art Appreciation part-time at Southern University and Baton Rouge Community College.

A respected professional artist and teaching in the art community, Edaw has been painting for over 60 years. He is among the artists who painted the eclectic murals in Chicago of historical black figures. He work can also be found in the halls of Kennedy King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, and the DuSable Museum.

“Art has been defined as a means of conceiving the world visually and the artists as the person who has the ability and desire to transform his visual perception into expression in material form. It students know something about the art process, they can understand some of the new expressions that continue to be made by artists and some of those that were in the past. The structure of knowledge of art has two distinct streams – one leading to the production of works of art, and the other concerning the appreciation of these products. In students’ transition from the perception of their work to the visual statement of their experience, the concepts and processes are discussed. These include perception, abstraction, and creativity, design aesthetic, art appreciate, and art judgement. It is hoped that an understanding of creative-artistic behavior will open the door to an appreciate of the products of art.”