Talala Mshuja

Talala Mshuja Biography Talala Mshuja was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, July 31, 1941, and grew up during the era of segregation, until the 8th. Grade. After the Brown Vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 (Integrating all Public Schools in the United States) he integrated the previously all white West Jr. High School, and Central high School of Muskogee, Okla. Talala has been a life long artist beginning before the 1st. grade. He was a dedicated student of the arts all of his life (while most kids were out playing during summer vacation, he was developing his drawing skills). All of his classes depended on him to draw things for school holidays & special events. While at Central High he studied Mechanical Drawing and won the Grand Championship in his senior year. He graduated from Central High May 1959, and two weeks later moved to San Francisco, Ca. He attended the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He was accepted to attend private classes at Graziotti’s Studio of Fine Arts, and studied privately with Professor Ugo Graziotti (an Italian Master with the style of Leonardo Da Vinci & Michangelo) with only (12) students from the Bay Area from 1960 to 1967 (specializing in the study of the human form, artistic anatomy, skeletal and anatomical systems). This provided him with immense knowledge of the human body, whereas he wanted to become a medical & scientific illustrator. Talala also studied at the College of San Mateo for (2) years, and then transferred to San Jose State University attaining a BA degree in Art (Commercial Art, Graphic Design, Editorial Design/Magazine Illustration, Jewelry Design, Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, and Life Drawing). Upon graduation February 1967, he became a Staff Illustrator for Philco Ford Aerospace, drawing space vehicles for outer space. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Talala was a leader in the development of the (Black Cultural Arts Movement). In 1968 while working for Signetics Inc. as a Graphic/Technical Illustrator he was granted a leave of absence (with a full salary grant for 1 year) to setup Nairobi Cultural Arts Center Inc. in E. Palo Alto, CA., while a member of the Black Community Relations Association. In June of 1969 the Nairobi Cultural Center Inc., had its grand opening, attended by more than a thousand people. He continued developing programs for the Nairobi Cultural Center until the present time. In 1978 he again started working in the (High Tech Indust