ABOUT TIM ROLLINS AND K.O.S.
TIM ROLLINS (born in 1955) studied fine art at the University of Maine, and earned his BFA degree at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. After graduate studies in art education and philosophy at New York University, Rollins began teaching art for special education middle school students in a South Bronx public school. In 1984, with a team of his most dedicated students, Rollins founded the Art and Knowledge Workshop, an after school fine arts studio program in a local community center.
The young artists in the collective named themselves K.O.S. for “Kids of Survival.” Soon their
collaborative paintings inspired by classics of world literature and music won the attention and
admiration of the immediate community and the art world at large.
In over twenty five years of work, Tim Rollins and K.O.S. have had over one hundred solo exhibitions worldwide. Their artwork is in the permanent collections of over eighty-five museums including The Museum of Modern Art in NY, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern in London. In 1990, Rollins was awarded the prestigious Joseph Beuys Prize. In 1997, the film Kids of Survival won the Emmy Award for Best Cultural Documentary. Rollins was honored with a Distinguished Service Award from the National Art Educators’ Association in 2004 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Maine College of Art in 2006.
Many members of K.O.S. have gone on to advanced studies in fine art and education at major learning institutions including Stanford University in Stanford, CA; School of Visual Arts in New York City; University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA; Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; Columbia University in New York City; Teachers’ College in New York City; New York University in New York City; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco College of Art and Design in San Francisco, CA; and SUNY Purchase in Purchase, NY.
Current K.O.S. members include Angel Abreu, born Philadelphia, 1974; Nelson Savinon, born New York City, 1971; Jorge Abreu, born New York City, 1979; Robert Branch, born New York City, 1977; Emanuel Carvajal, born New York City, 1981; Daniel Castillo, born New York City, 1982; Ala Ebtekar, born Berkeley, CA, 1978; Adam DeCroix, born Chicago, 1970; Benjamin Volta, born Abington, PA, 1979; Joshua Drayzen, born Huntington, NY, 1984; and Wesley Martin Berg, born Minneapolis, MN, 1984.