Thomas E. Dade
Thomas E. Dade was born in the Nation’s Capital, Washington, DC in 1970, a few blocks away from the home of Slave Abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. Dade’s grandmother, Mildred Ford Alexander, is noted as the catalyst that jump started his passion to create art. She purchased Thomas his first set of oil paints at the tender age of 4. Another gift that enabled Thomas to escape and explore his creativity, was a set of encyclopedias, also gifted by Grandmother Mildred.
In 1987, Dade was accepted in one of D.C.’s prominent School of the Arts, Duke Ellington. Upon completion of his first year at Ellington, Dade was awarded “Most Outstanding First Year Visual Artist.” While still attending Duke Ellington, he mentored under renowned sculptor, John L. Dreyfuss. One day while assisting John with a sculptor, Thomas began noticing his strong stylistic approach to abstract art. Thomas began to develop his own style, which furthered Dreyfuss into introducing Thomas to various successful artist within the Washington Art Community, such as William Christenberry. However, it was not until the summer of ’90 when John set up a day for Thomas to meet International Abstract Artist, Sam Gilliam. As a result of this, Thomas was inspired to embrace abstract art fully. Thomas continued an internship with Dreyfuss whilst still attending Duke Ellington. In addition, Dade also accepted a summer apprenticeship with Washington Sculptors Group. After attending Duke Ellington, Dade decided to further his education in Art by attending Kansas City Art Institute. The summer after Dade’s foundation year at KCAI he pursued an internship with Sam Gilliam.
More recently, 2019, Thomas had his first solo show, “Ancient, Future, NOW” in Hagerstown fine art gallery space, Engine Room. Prior to his solo show he was also interviewed to do an artist segment on Washington news channel, NBC 5, for Black History Month. Dade’s work is presently being shown at Well Springs Manor and Spa located in Upper Marlboro, MD, as well as Harlem Fine Art Show (HFAS). Dade’s art has been able to achieve a growing success and he accredits his three children and granddaughter: Thelonious, Alexandria, Paloma, and Ava (Paloma’s daughter ) as a tremendous contribution to his success and inspiration.
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