Artis Maria Shreve was born 14 May 1927 in North Buxton, Ontario, Canada. She attended the Ontario College of Art, the Cranbrook Art Academy (Bloomsfield, MI), and the University of California - Los Angeles. Awards for her work include the Museum of African American Art Award (Los Angeles, CA) and the State of Louisiana Appreciation for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts. She has been commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute (National Portrait Gallery) and the National Council of Negro Women, and her work is in the collections of Howard University, Dillard University (New Orleans), the California African American Museum, and the United Negro College Fund as well as those of numerous individuals, such as Maya Angelou, Bill Cosby, and Henry Kissinger. Artis Shreve married in 1949.
From the guide to the Lithograph, "The Beginning, " n.d., n.d., (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
