Briann (Bree) Gilliam’s work primarily focuses on social issues and experiences people face daily, especially those in the black community. She uses bold colors and expressive brushwork to provoke emotion from her audience. Gilliam primarily paints portraits of celebrities, friends, and family. Her goal is always to relate, inform, and spark conversation. She believes that conversations are the first step to creating solutions to the problems in this world.
Gilliam is a native of Williamsville, NY. She owns and founded Paintphoria LLC, Buffalo’s first paint-throwing studio. Her vision for Paintphoria is to provide customers with a space to relieve stress and make a mess while experiencing the cathartic power of painting. She is a graduate of SUNY Buffalo State College (c/o 2022). She graduated with a BFA degree in painting and a minor in art therapy. She was a member of the Dean’s Honors Program. During the pandemic, she was also selected to be a Dean’s Student Council Representative (2020-2021), where she expressed the concerns of students in the Art and Design Department at Buffalo State. In 2021, she received an Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship, where she painted eight portrait paintings of influential individuals in the African American Community. She presented her project at the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference in 2022. During her first year, she was selected to do an interactive mural in Upton Hall entitled Seeds of Creativity. Gilliam has received over ten awards and scholarships during her time at Buffalo State. Some of these include Dean’s Award For Excellence, Dean’s Creative Associates Award, Robert C. and Marilyn Wilson Painting Scholarship, Barbara L. Czurles-Nelson and Donald J. Nelson Scholarship in Fine Arts, James and Doris Aikman Fine Arts Scholarship, Dr. Harry and Lorraine Ausprich Endowed Scholarship, and Hyatt’s Award for Excellence. Her work has been featured in Burchfield Penney Art Center’s exhibition, Sharing Our View: 25th Anniversary, BOX Gallery’s On the Rise, and Art Dialogue Gallery’s Soul of Western New York: Nine African American Artists.
Photocredit: Blanc Photographie Studios