Milton 510 Bowens
Milton Bowens is from Oakland
I grew up at 622 E.10th street
He is one of my favorite artists
So when we talk lovingly about the “Oakland Stroke” in front of you… It’s not personal
It was Oakland
It was the 70s
You were either there or you weren’t
AFRICAN LIBERATION ARTIST UNITED — Harley White Jr.
Born and raised in Oakland, Milton Bowens is the fifth boy of ten children and also the youngest of the ten, which is the origin of his unique sig- nature “Milton 510”. He is a nationally-recognized artist and activist working between mixed-media painting and poetry. With his work, the viewer becomes a witness, participant and long-lost relative, implicated in his open reflections on the oppressive forces of our past and present. He has lectured at California State University Sacramento and Los Rios Community College and teaches art at Twin Rivers Unified School District, Sacramento Unified School District,St. Hope Academy,For Art Sake and Sacramento Boys and Girls Clubs. In 2010 Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson appointed Milton as the Arts and Education Spokesperson for Sacramento’s “Any Given Child” partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts Washington D.C. “Afro Classical”,an anthology of paintings depicting the importance of Jazz, Art and Words during the heyday of The Harlem Renaissance Era, was used as part of course study on The Harlem Renaissance taught by Dr. R. Richardson in the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University.
Autumn in New York, Mixed media on canvas, rope, alphabet blocks, 50 x 51 inches, 2009
Baldwin Vol. II, Mixed media on rag paper, 22 x 30 inches, 2008
The Count, Mixed media on canvas,, 50 x 50 inches 2011
God Bless the Child, Mixed media on canvas, rope, alphabet blocks, 50 x 51 inches, 2009