🎨 The Story Behind El seed Art
From the Slums of Kampala to Art for Endangered Wildlife & Children
I didn’t choose art. Art chose me in the hardest place I knew.
In 2008, I was a young man in Kampala, Uganda, with no formal training, no gallery connections, no safety net. I started creating art as a hobby at an NGO called Bavubuka All Starz — a space that empowered youth from the ghetto through creative expression. I didn’t know it then, but that small room full of paint and raw hope would change everything.
There, I met local and international artists who became friends, mentors, and mirrors. I learned dozens of artistic styles, experimented with mediums, and slowly discovered that art could do something I’d never seen before: it could speak when words failed.
By 2010, a group of us from the slums realized something powerful. Art wasn’t just beautiful — it was a lifeline. It could communicate urgent truths to our communities, spark positive change, and yes, put food on the table. That year, I became a commercial artist. Not because I wanted fame, but because I wanted purpose.
🐘 My mission today
I paint endangered wild animals — lions, elephants, leopards — because they are dying silently, and humans aren’t listening. I paint African culture because it deserves to be seen with dignity. Every stroke of acrylic or oil on canvas carries a warning and a prayer: we need each other.
👧🏿 The El seed Art Foundation
I also run a mobile art project that travels across East Africa, reaching disadvantaged children and youth — many from the same kind of streets I grew up on. We give them brushes, canvases, and a voice. Their talents become their power.
Why “El seed”?
- El = The
- S = Skills
- E = Expressive
- E = Entrepreneurial
- D = Designs
- Art
Because that’s who I am. A self-taught, multi-media, versatile visual artist. A workshop conductor. An activist for the voiceless, both wild animals and forgotten children.
I don’t paint for applause. I paint because someone has to.
If my art moves you, share this story. Or better yet — look at what we’re doing for a child or a creature who can’t thank you themselves. That’s the real masterpiece.
🐾 Art for change. Always.
— El seed Art, Uganda, East Africa