Photo provided courtesy of Carla Eckels/KMUW
Bio
Ellamonique Baccus is an art therapist and the Executive Director of Arts Partners in Wichita. She earned her Master’s degree in Art Therapy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has been an Illinois Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor since 2006. She has extensive experience providing behavioral health therapy and diagnostic assessment for youth in grades K-12 in school-based settings, residential treatment, community-based settings, and counseling centers.
Ellamonique is also a professional artist, designing and implementing over 30 Public Art Projects that transform urban landscapes and promote community health through cross sector partnerships. She was trained in Renaissance Oil Painting at the Atelier Neo Medici in Monflanquin, France and received her BFA in Painting from Bowling Green State University.
As a service provider to the Chicago Public School District for 9 years, she developed curriculum based in creativity, innovation, problem solving and cultural exchange and trained teaching artists to provide trauma informed arts education and art therapy programs. Ella has worked as an adjunct faculty member at Arkansas Baptist College and Elizabeth City State University teaching Art History and Art Therapy and lectured at Wichita State University. She is a fellow of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Chicago Urban League IMPACT program. In 2017, she developed the Wesley Children’s Hospital Medical Art Therapy Program in Wichita. She also serves as an appointed member of the City of Wichita Design Council and Arts Council.
Artist Statement
Swing for the fences means to put your best effort into achieving high goals. April 15 is Jackie Robinson Day and the 75th anniversary of Mr. Robinson’s historic debut as the first African American baseball player in the major leagues. I am inspired by the life and work of Jackie Robinson and put my best effort into incorporating the values he lived by into my own life. This exhibits features the original artwork that informed public art at the Jackie Robinson Pavilion at McAdams Park in Wichita, KS.
Carla Eckels / KMUW
Carla Eckels / KMUW
Carla Eckels / KMUW
Carla Eckels / KMUW