Brian by Michael McCaffrey, 2020
Brian Hawkins (b. 1987 in Kansas City, Missouri) is a visual artist and filmmaker whose work is concerned with the intentional act of remembering. How do we identify the intangible things that are important to us, and what spurs us to take responsibility for their preservation?
He has produced a series of intricate, cut-paper animations which draw inspiration from the music, folklore, and history of his native state.
Since 2016, Brian has been collaborating with the people of Old Mines, Missouri, folklorists, and linguists to produce a body of work about Missouri French culture called Toujours Icitte (Still Here). His award-winning animations have screened at numerous film festivals including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
In 2026, Brian received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Film-Video. His work has also been supported by partnerships with The Center for Independent Documentary and NOUS, the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures, and by grants from ArtsKC (2017, 2022), The Charlotte Street Foundation and Spencer Museum of Art (2017, 2024), French Colonial America (2024), GLAS Animation (2023), and L’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (2023), The Puffin Foundation (2022), and the Terra Foundation for American Art (2020).
Brian teaches in the Department of Media, Art, and Design at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and has taught in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Kansas, and the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Missouri - Columbia.
He has produced a series of intricate, cut-paper animations which draw inspiration from the music, folklore, and history of his native state.
Since 2016, Brian has been collaborating with the people of Old Mines, Missouri, folklorists, and linguists to produce a body of work about Missouri French culture called Toujours Icitte (Still Here). His award-winning animations have screened at numerous film festivals including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
In 2026, Brian received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Film-Video. His work has also been supported by partnerships with The Center for Independent Documentary and NOUS, the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures, and by grants from ArtsKC (2017, 2022), The Charlotte Street Foundation and Spencer Museum of Art (2017, 2024), French Colonial America (2024), GLAS Animation (2023), and L’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (2023), The Puffin Foundation (2022), and the Terra Foundation for American Art (2020).
Brian teaches in the Department of Media, Art, and Design at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and has taught in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Kansas, and the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Missouri - Columbia.