Young Chicago artist makes history with pieces around the world, and a portrait of Oprah
CHICAGO (CBS) – A young Chicago artist is painting his way into the history books, or better yet, the halls of history.
Many might not have known their calling in life when they were 8 years old, but Shawn Michael Warren did. He mapped out a future that Americans will be admiring for decades, even centuries to come.
Jazz is his music of choice to make the world outside his studio fade away and the story inside his head flow onto the canvas.
"I want to send the viewer down a rabbit hole," Warren said. "Who is this person? Where did this happen?"
He added, "That's the great thing about being an artist. You can do whatever you want."
Warren was born with the patience many lack. He spends months perfecting each strand of hair, curve in the nose, rich pigments in the skin, and it's earned him a rare place in history.
Warren started his journey growing up in Chicago. His earliest memory of being drawn to art was through comic books.
"I was a huge Marvel fan, a huge DC fan," he said.
His parents encouraged him to follow his passion as a young boy. His mother was an architect, and his father was a carpenter. They made sure he explored the city's museums.
"It was really a blessing to have that support," Warren said.
He added, "When I got to the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time as a kid, that was everything for me." He thought, "This is something I would love to do for the rest of my life.' I just gotta figure out how to do it full-time ... I don't want to be a starving artist."
So, he made a plan.
Warren took art classes in high school and entered a citywide contest during his junior year. Out of hundreds of entries, he won. He studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago as a fine arts major specializing in oil painting. At a professor's urging, he applied and was accepted into the Florence Academy of Art in Italy.
For a young Black man who had never ventured outside of the U.S., Warren said, "It truly ended up being one of the most pivotal moments of my life." He added, "To see some of the most iconic figures in art history."
Warren soon found his own unique voice in his art like with a painting depicting the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, when a white mob killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed their homes.
"I want to tell stories," Warren said. "Stories that might make us uncomfortable sometimes, or spark conversations that need to be had."
Those include stories about Black workers who helped create the Venice canals in Los Angeles in the early 1900s but were banned from living there because of racist housing laws.
"Troubled Waters" portrays people affected by contaminated water in Flint, Michigan.
Reporter: "It seems like it's less about just an observation, but an experience when people look at your work. Is that true?"
Warren: "Yes, and that's what I want it to be. I want the person to be immersed ... I want them to become curious."
A mural of Oprah he created with local businesses in the West Loop in 2020 caught the billionaire media mogul's attention. She complimented him on social media, setting off a chain of events he never saw coming. Oprah had turned down hundreds of other artists over the years and declined numerous invitations from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery to be featured there.
That was, until Warren caught her attention. She picked him to paint her for the gallery's permanent collection.
"At first, I didn't think it was legit to be honest with you," Warren said.
It became real for him as he talked with Oprah about their lives and met in her prayer garden.
"It's where she does all of her crying and all of her wailing, all of her praying," he added. "So to be invited to that intimate space where she is fully herself, fully transparent, her in all of her rawness ... that was really something."
The portrait took 10 months to complete with rough sketches, hundreds of photos, color studies, larger drawings, and then, onto the canvas.
"When we dropped the veil off the portrait, I didn't realize there were screams," Warren said. "A lot of people like cheering and screaming. I sort of blacked out in that moment."
Warren, 36, is one of only five black male artists in the world commissioned by the gallery.
"The response was all I could hope for," he said. "To be in an institution amongst some of the greats that I have studied, that's an other-worldly feeling."
Reporter: "How has your life changed?"
Warren: "One of the weirdest things for me was realizing that my name was everywhere."
The demand for Warren's art is skyrocketing. He's working on his first solo exhibit.
Warren said he's thankful for his family who encouraged him.
"For them to witness that moment, they were just beside themselves," he said.
He also credited the city that shaped him.
"Chicago is a place that breeds talent," he said. "It will definitely mold you in a way where you are able to take on the world."
Now, Warren hopes to inspire the next generation of Black artists.
"We need to see that there are so many opportunities and paths that we can take," he said, adding, "Never lose sight of what you really want to do."
Warren's work has also gone international. His portrait of a mythical African queen was displayed in the U.S. embassy in Spain as part of a federal art program.