Alumni Relations, Featured, Newsroom, Visual Arts

Chrystian Butler of Brandon, Mississippi, better known as Kwasi, was recently featured with artwork in the official art collection of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi. Kwasi is a class of 2018 visual arts alum of Mississippi School of the Arts in Brookhaven. The National Park Service made reference to the work on February 16th, 2024, on the monument Facebook page as a highlight during Black History Month 2024.

Kwasi is no stranger to the art world in and around Jackson, Mississippi. In the summer of 2023, the Mississippi Museum of Art released an invitation exhibition schedule of featured artists. Butler’s work was introduced to the gallery and exposed to hundreds of visitors during the exhibition dates. Butler uses a unique set of vibrant colors to convey his feelings, which led him to create some spectacular artwork for the exhibition.

Additionally, Kwasi is credited for his work on the public mural art at Mississippi School of the Arts, assisting MSA visual arts alum Michael Roy with the project in 2022.

 Medgar and Myrle Evers Home National Monument Mississippi 

Kwasi Butler’s beautiful portrait of Medgar and Myrlie on their wedding day is part of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument’s art collection. The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument is excited to feature this as part of the park collection and to honor African Americans in the Arts as part of Black History Month 2024.

– Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument

 2023 Mississippi Museum of Art Invitational Artist Exhibition 

My paintings are reflections of myself. I focus on capturing the presence of the moment I’m in, leaving no stone unturned…Color is my way of communicating the intensity of the emotional state I’m in.

– Butler, 2023 – Mississippi Museum of Art

Artwork: Kwasi Butler (b. 2000), “This is how we earn respect,” 2023, acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist to Mississippi Museum of Art.

Follow kwasi.art on Instagram to see some of his latest work.