Artist Bio

Curtis Wayne Riley Jr. (Bro. Boze) is a visual artist, illustrator, and arts educator originally from Oakland, California, currently based in Sumter County, Alabama. His work explores how memory, land, and family histories shape the African American experience, using visual storytelling to honor the resilience, care, and cultural knowledge passed through generations. With formal education from institutions such as The Arts School (Oakland), Laney College and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Curtis infuses each piece with depth, narrative, and cultural critique.
He presently serves as the Curator of Arts Education at the Coleman Center for the Arts. Additionally, he is a member of the Coleman Art Collective, where he directs community-oriented exhibitions and programs aimed at expanding access to creative expression within Alabama’s Black Belt. Through acrylic paintings and visual storytelling, Bro. Boze challenges viewers to engage with themes of race, resilience, and liberation.

Artist Statement

My work explores the intersection of memory, ancestry, and cultural resilience within the African American experience. Through painting, illustration, and mixed media, I create visual narratives that examine how history, family, and community shape identity across generations.

Many of my works are rooted in the symbolism of soil, cultivation, and care. These elements represent the labor, knowledge, and survival strategies passed down through Black communities—often quietly, yet powerfully. I am interested in how acts of tending, whether to land, family, or culture, become forms of resistance and renewal.
Personal memory also plays a central role in my practice. I often draw from moments in my own life to reflect broader themes of fatherhood, migration, childhood, and belonging. By translating these experiences into imagery, I aim to create spaces where personal history connects with collective memory.

In addition to my studio practice, I work as a curator and arts educator, collaborating with organizations and communities to create opportunities for cultural expression and creative dialogue. I see art not only as an object, but as a tool for storytelling, preservation, and community engagement. Ultimately, my work seeks to honor the past while nurturing possibilities for the future—acknowledging that the stories rooted in our history continue to shape the paths we walk forward.

Art Title

My submitted artwork, The Blue Print 1: Creating A Brand New World, explores the idea of youth as architects of a reconstructed future. The piece centers young people as master builders of change who are designing systems rooted in liberation, collective growth, and community empowerment. Through this work, I imagine a world where everyone has access to justice, healthcare, education, housing, wealth creation, STEM opportunities, freedom of speech, and the arts. The work also asks viewers to reflect on what values we are teaching the next generation and whether those teachings are creating sustainable systems that will uplift future communities. My artistic practice is deeply connected to telling my story through my lived experience and visual language. I intentionally utilize a palette inspired by the skin tones of Black people to explore themes of memory, land, identity, and legacy while challenging historical narratives rooted in colonialism and Eurocentric dominance.