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His first commission was in 1993 from the then International Trust Company Bank (ITC), now International Bank (IB) in Monrovia, following his first art exhibition held at the National Museum with the New Breed Painters of Liberia, an artistic organization he helped to bring into existence as a founding member. Three years later, in 1996, he was officially authorized by the American Embassy in Monrovia, during the tenure of William B. Milam, to do life sketches of U.S. Marines that were involved in “Operation Assured Response” at the time of the infamous April 6th madness in the capital city, Monrovia. He is the first artist to be given such a commission by the U.S. mission in Liberia, and the only one so far.

Leslie would later be discovered in 1997 by the journalist Jeff Koinange, then working with REUTERS, who would feature the young artist in a documentary on Africa Journal, Program 41, and the two would remain permanent friends. Little did the artist and the journalist know that the short documentary would change the course of things for the artist and his family under the Taylor-led government. In late 1997, following the airing of the film on a local television station in Monrovia, Mr. Taylor is said to have said, “There’s a certain Leslie Lumeh going around here telling everyone that he’s an artist, and I think he needs to be taught how to talk to international journalists.” Leslie well knew what such a lesson would entail, so he did not wait for it. He crossed into the Ivory Coast with his family in November of 1997.

Though he could apply for refugee status in the Ivory Coast, Leslie did not; instead he continued his art work in the commercial capital, Abidjan. He soon found out that the peace-loving Ivorians and their colonial French masters did not have a taste for paintings depicting war scenes. Leslie was faced with the challenge of broadening his creativity, while at the same time adding reality to his work, not only to meet the steadily growing interest of a newly-found clientele, but also to improve himself artistically. His work evolved to become a representation not only of Liberia and the Ivory Coast, but all of Africa.

Leslie would be discovered again, this time by the famous Ivorian artist, Augustine Kassi, well-known for his “Gross Femme” paintings. Coincidentally, Kassi too had been featured on Africa Journal by the same Jeff Koinange earlier. Kassi personally invited Leslie to his atelier and asked him to work there for as long as he lived in the Ivory Coast and needed a work space. During their first joint art exhibition in Abidjan, in 1998, all ten pieces of Leslie’s paintings were reserved while being framed in a gallery for the exhibition. Kassi told him, “T’est devenue grand et connu main tenant.”

As Augustine Kassi has said of him, indeed Leslie had become known as a “big artist,” not just for the subjects he painted, but also for the technique he applies. He uses a palette knife to paint on canvas, a technique in sharp contrast to the traditional brush painting; the result is a rough interplay of colors that tends to invite a viewer to walk into the painting. There are few artists who have braved this method of artistic expression, for it is not only difficult to blend the colors, but it is equally color consuming.

Leslie began getting commissions in and outside of the Ivory Coast during his exile there. The first was in late 1998, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Abidjan for two watercolor paintings under the theme, “Even War Has Limits,” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. The works show violence against civilians and respect for the symbol of the Red Cross during armed conflicts.

Leslie’s second commission came from Luce Gallery in Libreville, Gabon, where he spent four months in 2002 painting various aspects of Gabonese culture. His next commission came from the journalist who first discovered him, Jeff Koinange, who had moved to work with CNN’s Southern Africa Bureau. Koinange commissioned his old friend to do oil portraits of prominent people and world leaders, starting with his own grandfather, the late Chief Koinange, a founding member of the ‘Mau-Mau’ society of Kenya, to Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the late reggae star Bob Marley, among others. While in the Ivory Coast, Leslie also illustrated the cover art for several novels, including Dognimin Lassina’s Coulibaly, and Boundou Koné's La Houe Magique (The Magic Hoe) for the Mes Racines (My Roots) series (2002).

With the departure of Mr. Taylor from Liberia in 2003, coupled with the prevailing peace in his country, Leslie moved back home to Liberia with his family in 2005. Since his return, the artist has been awarded several commissions, including from Mercy Corp, an international NGO working in Liberia. He created a 12-sheet cohesive poster on the organization’s activities in Liberia. He was also commissioned by the International Republican Institute (IRI), to create three posters on the Code of Conduct for the 2005 general and presidential elections, and a fully illustrated handbook for party poll representatives.

Dyn Corp International, responsible for the restructuring of the new Liberian army, commissioned Leslie to produce two comic books and a poster on how to join and conduct oneself in the new army. World Vision/Liberia commissioned him to do a rendition of their activities in the country. Leslie was also commissioned by the International Resources Group (IRG), an NGO responsible for the re-electrification of Liberia, for a 6'-0'' x 26'-0'' mural (on metal sheet). President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is featured in this work. He's also completed two paintings on an educational theme for the Liberia Teachers Training Program (LTTP), an NGO; and he has trancribed a radio drama (ten episodes on ten CDs) to be developed into three comic books on STD's and HIN/AIDS awareness for Merlin.

Leslie Lumeh currently freelances as an artist in his homeland. He contributes a daily cartoon on various subjects to the Daily Observer newspaper in Monrovia (www. liberianobserver.com). He is the chairman of a newly formed arts organization (2006), the Liberia Artist Association (LAA).

The artist invites those interested to visit his studio in Monrovia and attend one of his exhibitions. He appreciates all art lovers.



A. Leslie Lumeh, Cell: (+231) 6 430 483 e-mail: leslielumeh@yahoo.com www.leslie-lumeh.rlhub.com

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Montgomery residents and civil rights figures held a prayer breakfast Thursday to remember Rosa Parks on the 50th anniversary of the day she made history by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was born on October 29th, 1938.

\"My father is a Gola from Bomi; my mother is a Kru from Sinoe,\" she said, \"and my grand father on my mother\'s side was German.\"

\"I was born in Monrovia, but my heritage is from both Bomi County and Sinoe County. My father was a son of the Gola Chief, Jahmale. His mother was originally from Julejuah, which is somewhere between Suehn and Clay in Bomi County. My mother was born in Greenville, as well as her mother. My mother’s father was a German trader who left the country when all the Germans were expelled by Liberians during World War I\"

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, waited tables to put herself through Harvard, then went on to work as an economist at the World Bank. Now, after a fiercely fought election in her native Liberia, she is set to be sworn in as Africa's first elected female head of state. Johnson-Sirleaf spoke to Claire Soares in Monrovia last week about leadership, healing the country, and childhood dreams.