storm, Ellis helped fly home friends stranded outside New Orleans, and he organized colleagues in the art community behind the relief effort. Ellis was allowed to enter the city two weeks after the flood waters subsided in order to survey the damage to his mother's home in the Lower Ninth Ward and salvage her possessions. While travelling among the destroyed houses and deserted city, Ellis witnessed a lone man repairing his home's roof. The contrast resonated with Ellis, and he memorialized the hope he saw in the man's actions through his piece Surviving Katrina. The scene is of rising floodwater that traps a family on their house's roof while the father holds up the Flag of the United States, a flag that to Ellis symbolizes the need for the nation to come together to aid those affected by the storm. In Life Begins Anew, a father holds a baby above floodwaters while another man reaches out to take the child. Ellis describes the scene as symbolizing the promise of a new beginning for those who survived Katrina and its aftermath. As its title indicates, the Katrina: The Hope, Healing and Rebirth of New Orleans collection was for Ellis about showing the power of art to assist the healing process: "The largest piece I did is about how life begins anew and how a person can find hope even after such devastation. I want this work to be uplifting, to be a fresh breath of life for the community." Obama Portrait One of Ted Ellis' more famous works is an abstract depiction of Barack Obama's signature 'hope' pose. Ellis painted the portrait in honor of Obama's 2008 Presidential inauguration. In Obama, the 44th President, Ellis uses red, blue, yellow, and green acrylic paint to portray Obama as someone who unites people across lines of color, ethnicity, and religion. The piece was presented at a January 19, 2009 gala held by the National Black Chamber of Commerce and the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. The proceeds from the autographed prints sold at the event supported NNPA Foundation and the Howard University School of Communications Building Fund (NNPA Media Wing). African-American history In 2009, Ted Ellis produced an exhibit focusing on the theme of African-American history in light of slavery and emancipation. The exhibit, American Slavery: The Reason Why We're Here, tied into the Juneteenth