Meet the Artist

Simone Lawrence is a black, queer womyn and artist hailing from the Bay Area, California. Since residing in Madison, WI, Simone has worked at cultivating her lifelong passion and self-taught talents in acrylic painting, drawing, and performance art in the form of drag. Her work most commonly centers the lens of art activism and revolution in an effort to educate and create conversation around the history of various art and social justice movements. Lately, this is most easily done by way of surrealist art. She does, however, also highly enjoy commissioning pet portraits.

As a practicing youth counselor, mentor, and advocate, Simone uses her platform in hopes of inspiring young folks to grow in their activism by giving them the space to find their voice and instill pride in their artistry. Most recently, Simone has taken these efforts to youth by teaching art with the People Program, Black Girl Magic Conference, Lussier Center Community Education Center, and Briarpatch Youth Services. She has worked closely with Dane Arts Mural Arts recruiting youth to coach them through the process of mural design and execution.

With growing knowledge in mural making, Simone’s biggest accomplishment was a mural of MLK Jr, Malcolm X, and Colin Kaepernick during the heat of the George Floyd protests - all three of which sparked rich conversation about their contributions to justice, as well as the importance of exploring different forms of activism. Simone took this passion to Underbelly in Madison to provide art centerfolds for creation of A Systemic Racism Educational Zine series - with all proceeds going to Urban Triage. In 2017, Simone published a children’s book entitled Squirmy the Worm—a book originally designed and written at the age of twelve. She hopes to use her developed artistry to publish a second addition in the near future.