Jonathan Green

Jonathan Green is a maritime focused painter best known for his vibrant depictions of sea island Gullah culture which is the history of descendants of enslaved Africans who settled between coastal northern Florida and North Carolina in the 19th century. Green utilizes the maritime aesthetics of his surroundings while growing up in Gardens Corner, South Carolina, portraying an almost mythological narrative from his everyday observations growing up amid this coastal agrarian community. Green served honorably in the U.S. Air Force before receiving his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1982. His long and illustrious career has catapulted him to appointments by Governor Jeb Bush as the Ambassador of the Arts for the state of Florida for 8 years and an appointment by the Mayor of the City of Charleston as Ambassador of the Arts for Charleston for the past five years. Charleston is one of the most important port cities in the United States, both historically and currently. He works diligently to preserve the artistic history that points to the
maritime importance of this great city.

As a result of his efforts to preserve the history and culture of the sea island Gullah Geechee people, he has received two Order of the Palmetto Awards by Governors of the state of South Carolina; the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts, among a multitude of other awards and recognitions. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of South Carolina; Coastal Carolina University; Sewanee-The University of the South; and Claflin University. The University of South Carolina is currently in the design stages of The Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center on the Beaufort campus. This museum, honoring Jonathan Green’s life and career, will also become the first in the United States to commemorate the maritime culture and history of Africans and African Americans.

His works have been the subject of numerous research-based writing projects. There is a ballet based on his work entitled: Off the Wall, Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green, performed by the Columbia City Ballet, currently in its 18th year of touring. His work has also appeared on the cover or inside pages of hundreds of books and other publications: most notably, The Annotated African American Folktales by Dr. Henry Louis Gates.Jr. and Maria Tatar; and The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill that was made into a television miniseries. The University of South Carolina Press has published two retrospective art books: Gullah Images: The Art of Jonathan Green and Gullah Spirit: The Art of Jonathan Green. His art works are in the collections of the Naples Museum of Art in Naples, Florida; the Gantt Cultural Arts Center in Charlotte, NC; the Afro-American Museum of Philadelphia, PA; the Morris Museum in Augusta, GA; the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida; the International African American Museum and the Gibbes Museum of Art, both in Charleston, South Carolina, among others. Green currently lives and works in Charleston, South Carolina.