Edward L. Watkins (b. 1950, Flint, Michigan) is an American artist, illustrator, photographer, educator, and fine artist whose work explores identity, spirituality, history, and the African American experience. Working primarily in drawing, mixed media, and printmaking, he creates expressive figurative works that reflect faith, resilience, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

A lifelong Flint resident, Watkins earned a Bachelor of Science in Art Education and a Master of Education from Bowling Green State University before pursuing graduate studies in Studio Art at Eastern Michigan University, where he specialized in drawing and printmaking. In 2009, he received both the Graduate Award for Artistic Excellence and the University Fellowship Award from EMU.

Watkins has enjoyed a distinguished career as a fine art and visual communication educator. Before retiring in 2012, Watkins taught drawing, illustration, photography, graphic design, visual thinking, and creative problem-solving at the GASC Technology Center in Flint Community Schools. From 2006 to 2021, he also served as Adjunct Faculty in the Visual Arts and Design Center at Mott Community College, where he taught drawing, two-dimensional design, design theory, and computer-based art. He has also worked as an illustrator and visual journalist for The Flint Journal newspaper, producing editorial illustrations and information graphics.

Watkins’ work has been presented in solo, juried, and invitational exhibitions across the United States. Recent highlights include the Black Creativity National Juried Art Exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago 2025; Made in Michigan at the Flint Institute of Arts 2025; the 95th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Muskegon Museum of Art 2025;  Eastern MichiganUniversity, University Gallery, Ypsilanti, MI (2025) Michigan Multiples - A Printmaking Exhibition; the Michigan Fine Arts Competition at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center 2024; solo exhibitions at the Saginaw Art Museum and Drawing from Life at the Flint Institute of Arts 2022. His work has also been shown internationally in Breathing While Black at the Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2020.

His artwork has been featured in Director's Choice, 2022 FIA Magazine, MYCITY Magazine, the Review of the 2025 Black Creativity Exhibition at the Griffin Museum in Chicago, and the March 2022 Detroit Art Review.

He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Flint Institute of Arts in Flint, Michigan. Watkins continues to create work that preserves cultural memory while inspiring reflection through powerful visual storytelling.

AWARDS:

2022 Second place award
“BIPOC is the Theme”, a juried National Exhibition & Competition

2022 BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame - 1972 National Indoor Track Runner-up team

2016 Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame - Track & Field (BGSU)

2009 Graduate Award for Artistic Excellence
Eastern Michigan University

2009 University Fellowship Award
Eastern Michigan University

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