Lawrence H Buford was born in Arkansas and moved with his family to Northern California at an early age. He worked as a lithographer and master printer throughout the East Bay for over thirty years. After retirement he moved to the Napa Valley and began his career as a fine artist. Buford immersed himself in the study of the human form, drawing, painting and sculpting. He consumed texts on art history and every art course that local colleges Solano, Napa and Contra Costa Fine Arts Department had to offer. Buford studied with highly respected artists in the ceramics profession including Mark Lancet, Lisa Reinerson and Jiajun Lu.
In recent years Lawrence has sculpted busts and created drawings depicting everyone from well-known figures such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and John Lewis as well as forgotten heroes and victims of slavery and Jim Crow. Lawrence’s works are an attempt to respond visually to the disturbing state of our nation. Although the present can be viewed politically the work is expressive of more than gloom.
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how we heal”
Toni Morrison
From February to April 2016, Lawrence Buford’s work was part of an exhibition featuring paintings and sculptures of historical African American individuals displayed at the Ronald M. George State Office Complex in San Francisco, Ca. Bufor ... view more »
Lawrence H Buford was born in Arkansas and moved with his family to Northern California at an early age. He worked as a lithographer and master printer throughout the East Bay for over thirty years. After retirement he moved to the Napa Valley and began his career as a fine artist. Buford immersed himself in the study of the human form, drawing, painting and sculpting. He consumed texts on art history and every art course that local colleges Solano, Napa and Contra Costa Fine Arts Department had to offer. Buford studied with highly respected artists in the ceramics profession including Mark Lancet, Lisa Reinerson and Jiajun Lu.
In recent years Lawrence has sculpted busts and created drawings depicting everyone from well-known figures such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and John Lewis as well as forgotten heroes and victims of slavery and Jim Crow. Lawrence’s works are an attempt to respond visually to the disturbing state of our nation. Although the present can be viewed politically the work is expressive of more than gloom.
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how we heal”
Toni Morrison
From February to April 2016, Lawrence Buford’s work was part of an exhibition featuring paintings and sculptures of historical African American individuals displayed at the Ronald M. George State Office Complex in San Francisco, Ca. Buford’s solo show “Men of Valor” was held at the African American Museum and Library in Oakland from January to September 2019. In August 2019, he was invited to display his work as part of the Equal Justice Society “Remembering 1619” staged at SF Jazz Center. In 2022, his work was featured in the latest edition of “Hands of Clay” by Charlotte F. Speight and John Toki.
In the past year, Lawrence Buford was selected to exhibit in Arts Benecia’s “35×35” – an exhibition celebrating its 35-year history. In September 2023, Lawrence Buford received a grant from Arts Benicia California Creative Corps Project. In late 2023, at the Fairfield -Suisun City Visual Arts Association 60th Annual NorCal Regional Juried Art Show, Lawrence was awarded 1st place in Sculpture and 2nd place in Drawing.
Source: Artist.
*Artist featured in 2025 Art Passages exhibition at the County Administration Building in Martinez, California.
View less
English
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Filipino
Hindi
Persian
Portuguese
Punjabi
Russian
Spanish
Urdu
Vietnamese
