‘This is my operating base.’ This world-renowned artist is painting Middle Georgia.

After traveling the world with his wife, Kevin “Scene” Lewis decided to call Middle Georgia his permanent home.

“Now that we’re settled here in Middle Georgia, I’m ecstatic because we’ve never lived more than two years in the same space, especially in the states. I’m really ready to become a fixture, and hopefully a positive fixture, in the city, and I want to do some great things setting up my roots for my family. We’re gonna be here forever now,” Lewis said.

Lewis, an artist who has pieces all over the world, said his wife, Reatrina, retired from the U.S. Air Force, and they have decided to settle down in Warner Robins where Reatrina’s family lives. Lewis recently learned that his grandfather is from the area as well.

“Georgia has been welcoming me home so I’m glad to set some roots up here,” he said. “When we would come home, it was just super refreshing. You’d be in a grocery store and somebody would start talking to you.”

Middle Georgia was a stark contrast to other places Lewis lived, such was Washington D.C., because people were so friendly, and Lewis said it is time for his art to become more well-known to the people here.

“This is my operating base, and there’s no point in me being able to do work in DC and Philly, but not be recognized here, so that’s kind of where I’m at here. I really want to introduce myself and introduce my artwork to this area,” Lewis said.

Introducing his work

Lewis participated in the #BlocktheHate mural around the Confederate statue in downtown Macon by painting the portrait of George Stinney Jr., the youngest person to be sentenced to the electric chair. He also has two murals at Triangle Arts Macon: a portrait of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a portrait of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician.

“I think art is great when it evokes a feeling. I think that’s what all art is. It invokes a type of feeling,” Lewis said. “I just want you to learn as well as be visually entertained, visually pleased. I would like for you to learn something.”

When a person views Lewis’ art, he said he wants his art to spark people’s curiosity to find out more about the people he is painting and the history of their lives.

“We’re in these crazy times right now. … I just want to kind of do some education and juxtapose what else is going on,” he said. “There’s so much history that we didn’t get a chance to learn.”

Ric Geyer, president of Triangle Arts Macon, said Lewis is Triangle Arts Macon’s first artist in residence, and he met Lewis because Lewis reached out to him on Instagram.

“A lot of people call me up, or a lot of people Instagram me and say, ‘Hey, I’m an artist. Can I come?’ and Kevin said, ‘Hey, I’m kind of an artist, but I would really like to come hang out with you,’ and so Kevin came and worked for like two weeks,” Geyer said.

After a few weeks, Lewis asked if he could paint a Fela Kuti mural on one of the structures, Geyer said.

“I was just shocked. It’s very rare that you get a situation where an artist comes in that, A, I enjoy hanging around so much, and, B, we work together well, which is rare to find, and, C, such a phenomenal painter, and it’s been just a pure joy,” Geyer said.

Triangle Arts Macon has an art show every second Friday of every month. The next show will be held 6-9 p.m. Friday. People can view Lewis’ two murals at that show, but Lewis will be the featured artist of the November show on Nov. 13. Tickets are $10 in advance and $20 at the gate, and if someone purchases a piece of art, their ticket price will go towards the artwork.

“It’s been such a treat to see him, and to find somebody who’s already so accomplished and so amazing,” Geyer said. “At the same time, he’s new because he’s new here, so it’s just been a tremendous thrill to find somebody new to the area that’s such an accomplished painter.”

About Kevin Lewis

When Lewis was a child, he said he spent a lot of time in trouble, which meant he spent a lot of time in his room.

Drawing was a way to entertain himself, he said. Plus, his uncle was an artist as well, and he watched him draw comic books, which inspired him to draw more.

He started painting in graffiti, but when he grew up, he received a scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University and learned how to paint professionally.

He started working in graphic design to pay the bills, but he continued to paint and has had work displayed all over the world, including in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

He, his wife and their two children are settled in Warner Robins, and Lewis plans to expand his work in Middle Georgia.

“What inspires me is just really my experiences with people, and that led me to paint people. My main focus has always been people, and I’ve been fortunate and blessed to be able to live all over the world, and I’ve met some great people, and I love just getting their stories,” he said. “I like to hope that I’m kind of telling the story, and I like when people kind of look into the eyes and kind of get a story in an illustrative type of way, and that’s really what I like to do.”