Van Taylor Monroe III
Van Taylor Monroe III is an African-American artist best known for his custom, hand-painted sneakers. His most notable work, the Obama '08 sneakers, were requested by the Smithsonian Institution for inclusion in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He has a long list of celebrity clients and frequently creates works to market major Hollywood films.
Biography
Monroe was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and attended Miami University in Ohio where he studied graphic design before changing his major to psychology. Monroe began painting sneakers in 2003 while at college, both for himself and his fellow football teammates. After graduating, Monroe worked as a market manager for Sherwin Williams, then worked as a broker for a logistics firm before leaving that job in 2007 to pursue an art career.In 2018, Monroe spent a summer residency as featured artist for the Cleveland Museum of Art's mobile art studio, Studio Go. He has also traveled to Africa to teach painting at Academie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa, DRC.
Career
His work "Obama ’08", a hand-painted pair of Nike sneakers featuring former President Barack Obama's portrait alongside quotes from the former president, went viral on MySpace in 2008. He later gifted these sneakers to the Smithsonian, where they currently are featured in the National [Museum of African American History and Culture] in Washington, DC. He has since been commissioned by other notable figures, including Valérie Trierweiler, Spike Lee, Afeni Shakur, Will.i.am, Hill Harper, Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj, Ray Romano, Tiësto, Jennifer Lopez, Carmelo and LaLa Anthony, and Josh Hutcherson.Monroe has been hired by major film companies to create custom sneakers to help market Hollywood films including, Ice Age: Continental Drift and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
He is currently based out of his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio where he runs VTM Creative, an advertising and branding company.