Original Realism-styled works of art by artist, Sophia Lacroix
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Born and raised in Haiti, artist, Sophia Lacroix migrated to the U.S. at the age of 15 in the mid-1980s. She earned a full academic scholarship to University of Florida and graduated in 1992 with a bachelor's degree. Because art has been her passion since she was four years old, Sophia taught herself to paint in oils and began selling her art in 1995 while working in social services helping the underserved. "My art is a reflection of my love for Haiti, the land of my birth and my appreciation for the beauty and diversity of South Florida where I have lived since 1984. I paint about the Haiti of my childhood, that version of my land and its beautifully unique people that truly exists just in my memory. I know that the Haiti of the 70's and early 80's no longer exists, especially after the devastating earthquake of 2010. I know I could never go home. However, when I escape into one of my paintings, it is as if I am transported back to the beautiful mountains and beaches, the noisy, colorful and fragrant marketplace of Petion-Ville, the children I used to play with in backyards or at the public Place Saint Pierre and Bicentenaire. Every coup de crayon (stoke of pencil), every brush stroke, every completed oeuvre (work of art) is my way of paying homage to the land of my birth, my Haiti Chérie" In an effort to further develop her artistic skills, she enrolled as a part-time art student at FIU in 2020 and is currently pursuing her BFA in the hopes of eventually earning her MFA. Her art reflects her love of hyper-realism, inspired by artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and her favorite Haitian contemporary realist, Franck Louissaint. She creates bright, hyper-realistic oil paintings and charcoal drawings of scenes-of-everyday-life inspired by her nostalgia and memories of Haiti and by the people around her in South Florida where she has lived most of her life. She has developed a loyal following of local and national collectors, mostly members of the Haitian Diaspora who miss their homeland as she does and find comfort in Sophia’s realistic scenes of a Haiti that only exists in her memories. Sophia’s most famous collectors include British champion boxer, Lennox Lewis, and American actors, Theresa Randle and Westley Snipes. She has earned numerous art awards and has been published in various books and magazines, including an article in the New York Times in 2007. Some of her most notable works include: a 6-foot by 9-foot mural commissioned in 2008 by the City of Miami and on permanent display on the southeast wall of the Little Haiti Cultural Center in Miami; a six-foot long charcoal and oil panel about NeighborhoodHELP on permanent exhibit at FIU’s College of Medicine building on the Modesto Maidique Campus, and three utility boxes wrapped with her art through her selection in 2021 as one of five artists for the City of North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency’s U-Wrap NoMi Art in Public Places Initiative. Most recently, she was selected from 400 applicants and 24 finalists by the Art and Culture Center/Hollywood at their 2022 FLORIDA BIENNIAL: Installations, Portraiture, Materiality, and Magic Realism for a solo exhibition in 2023, and honor that also came with a prized honorarium. In February 2024, during their NoMi Evening of Honors, the
City of North Miami’s Mayor Alix Desulme and City Council celebrated Sophia as
one of ten South Florida modern history makers and community builders who make
an impact beyond their specific industry. Sophia considers her greatest accomplishment to be her daughter, her greatest masterpiece, the pride and joy for her and her beloved spouse, Willy. One cannot help but be captivated by Sophia’s realistic imagery on canvas.
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Studied at: - Florida International University (BFA in Art Candidate, 2020 to Present)
- University of Florida (Bachelor of Science, 1992)
Worked for: - Independent Artist/Painter (1995-present)
- Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (Assistant Program Director-Outreach, 2009-present)
- Haitian Neighborhood Center, Sant La (Director of Community Services, 2002-2009)
- Department of Children & Families (Public Assistance Specialist, 1992-2002)
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SELECTED LOCAL EXHIBITIONS
2025 Figure/Ground-SOBRA Collective Inaugural Group Exhibition, Studio 18 Art Complex, Pembroke Pines, FL │ Roots and Realism: A Haitian Artist's Reminiscence Solo Art Exhibition, Ali Cultural Center, Pompano Beach, FL │ Haitian Heritage Exhibit- Group Exhibition, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL │ FLAG ArtBeat St. Pete 2025 75th Anniversary Annual Exhibit & Symposium Group Show, Helmar and Enole Nielsen Center for Visual Arts at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL │ Heritage en Couleur, Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, Plantation, FL │ Future Visions Art Exhibit, Island Space Caribbean Museum, Plantation, FL │ Transitions by SOBRA Collective Juried Group Exhibition, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL
FLAG ArtBeat St. Pete 2025 75th Anniversary Annual Exhibit & Symposium
Group Show
Helmar and Enole Nielsen Center for Visual Arts at Eckerd College
4200 54th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL
2024 Ayiti Nan Kem | Haiti in My Heart, Little Haiti Cultural Center, Miami, FL │ Celebrating Haitian Heritage on Canvas through Food with Granma Daille's Cooking - Solo Exhibit sponsored by Broward Arts, Hollywood Branch Public Library, Hollywood, FL │ L'Union Fait La Force-Haitian Heritage Month Exhibition, Island Space Caribbean Museum, Plantation, FL │ Food Story 2024, Gallerium.Art online group exhibition, Virtual Exhibition │ Contemporary Realism Exhibition by Art Evolution Gallery, Chapel 4 Gallery, Delray Beach, FL │ Kovens Cultural Art Series presents “Honoring Hispanic Heritage Month” Group Exhibition, FIU Kovens Conference Center, North Miami, Florida │Contemporary Realism Exhibition by Art Evolution Gallery, Chapel 4 Gallery, Delray Beach, FL │THE REVEAL: Prelude To A New Season by Akwaaba Gallery, Newark, New Jersey THE REVEAL
2023 Woman's Voices: New Perspectives in the Archives, Miami Beach Public Library, Miami Beach, FL │ Sophia Lacroix: Vivid Caribbean Nostalgia, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood, FL│18th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL │ Woman's Voices: New Perspective in the Archives, Miami Beach Public Library, Miami Beach, FL
2022 50th Annual Melvin Gallery Virtual Art Exhibition, Lakeland Art Guild Online, Lakeland, FL │17th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2023 Sophia Lacroix: Vivid Caribbean Nostalgia, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood,
FL│18th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2022 50th Annual Melvin Gallery Virtual Art Exhibition, Lakeland Art Guild Online, Lakeland, FL │17th
Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2021 Introspective: A Reckoning of the Soul, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood, FL │The Art of Breast-
Feeding Miami, Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Miami, FL
2020 Local Global Group Exhibit, Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Miami, FL
2019 Haitian American Artist-Sophia Lacroix Solo Exhibit, North Miami Beach Public Library, NMB, FL
2017 Route 1804 Group Exhibit, Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Miami, FL│FIU Faculty, Staff, and Retiree Art
2016 Haitian Heritage Month Art Exhibit, Miami-Dade County Office of the Mayor and the Board of County, Miami-Dade
County Stephen P. Clark Center, Miami, FL
2015 Linked With Basel at The Lyric Fundraising Group Exhibit, Historic Lyric Theater, Overtown, FL
2014 North Miami Celebrates Haitian Heritage-The Art of Resilience Solo Exhibit, North Miami City Hall, North Miami, FL
│Salute to Black History Art Exhibit, Plymouth Congregational Church, Coral Gables, FL
2013 Local Artist Series IV: Too Much Is Not Enough, Little Haiti Cultural Center, Miami, FL
2010 Haiti: Faces of Hope, Florida International University College of Law, Sweetwater, FL
2009 The work of 16 Haitian Artists of Florida Group Exhibit, Miami Dade Community College, Homestead, FL
2007 La Mangeaille Solo Exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
2006 Sweet Memories (Mwen Sonje Lakay) Solo Exhibit, Gallerie D’Art Nader, Coral Gables, FL
2002 1st Annual Wellington Art Festival, Wellington, FL
2001 The Art of Sophia Lacroix Solo Exhibit, Home of Mrs. De Rougemont, Hollywood, FL
2000 Collector’s Choice-Haitian Art in South Florida, Broward County Library, Fort-Lauderdale, FL Voix de Femmes: 4
Haitian Women in Miami, Alliance Francaise, Coral Gables, FL
1999 Sophia Lacroix Solo Exhibit, Coyaba Gallery, Pembroke Pines, FL │Island Stories, Old School Square Cultural
Center/Cornell Museum, Delray Beach, FL
1998 An Exhibit of Paintings by Sophia Lacroix Solo Exhibit, Miami-Dade Cultural Resource Center, Miami, FL │Miami Beach Festival of the Arts, City of Miami Beach Parks & Recreation, Miami Beach, FL
1996 Crossings-Evocation of the Middle Passage… and Beyond, Gallery Antigua, Miami, FL
1995 Showcase of Artists, Young, Bowers and Brown Cultural Center, Opa Locka, FL National Urban League
Conference Art Expo, Miami, FL │Tribute to Women of African Descent, Museum of Southern Florida, Miami, FL
1994 Coral Gables International Arts and Craft Festival, Coral Gables, FL │Afrika Fete, City of Miami Beach, FL
SELECTED REGIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2001 Memories of Haiti Solo Exhibit, Old Capitol Complex, Tallahassee, FL
2000 Black Heritage Celebration, Disney’s Epcot Center, Orlando, FL
1999 Zora Neal Hurston Festival, Town of Eatonville, Eatonville, FL
1997 Annual Downtown Festival and Art Show, Town of Gainesville, Gainesville, FL
SELECTED NATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2000 Color, The Chicago Black Fine Art Exposition Hosted by Oprah Winfrey, Chicago, IL │ Black Fine Art Show,
Puck Building, Manhattan, NY
1999 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA
1998 National Black Arts Festival, Greenbriar Mall, Atlanta, GA
1997 1st Annual Signature 16 Artists Society, Southwest Designs Gallery, New Orleans, LA │ 17th Annual Faber Birren
National Color Award Show, Stamford Museum & Nature Center, Stamford, CT │ The Salmagundi Club 20th
Annual Non-Member Art Exhibit, Salmagundi Club, 5th Avenue, NY │ Women Artists of the West (WOAW)
International Exhibition, Biloxy, MS │ PIAA Regional Fine Art Juried Exhibition, Gulf Shores, AL
1996 Paintings by Sophia Lacroix Solo Exhibit, Zack’s Art Galleria, Baton Rouge, LA
1995 Memories of Haiti Solo Exhibit, Home of Dr. & Mrs. Lubin, Dix Hills, NY │ Lacroix-Gracia Two Man Show, Home of
Mrs. Lissa Cadet, Queens, NY │ The Business of Art Expo, Gallier Hall, New Orleans, LA
2023 Sophia Lacroix: Vivid Caribbean Nostalgia, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood,
FL│18th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2022 50th Annual Melvin Gallery Virtual Art Exhibition, Lakeland Art Guild Online, Lakeland, FL │17th
Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2023 Sophia Lacroix: Vivid Caribbean Nostalgia, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood,
FL│18th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2022 50th Annual Melvin Gallery Virtual Art Exhibition, Lakeland Art Guild Online, Lakeland, FL │17th
Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2023 Sophia Lacroix:
2023 Sophia Lacroix: Vivid Caribbean Nostalgia, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood,
FL│18th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2022 50th Annual Melvin Gallery Virtual Art Exhibition, Lakeland Art Guild Online, Lakeland, FL │17th
Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2023 Sophia Lacroix: Vivid Caribbean Nostalgia, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood,
FL│18th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2022 50th Annual Melvin Gallery Virtual Art Exhibition, Lakeland Art Guild Online, Lakeland, FL │17th
Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 In The Pines, Pembroke Pines, FL
2023 Sophia Lacroix:
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