After graduating from the School of Art Institute of Chicago, Andrews moved to New York City in 1958, where he settled on the Lower East Side. He began working in the Christmas card division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to generate income for his young family. His work also steadily gained critical attention and was exhibited in several cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Paul Kessler gave Andrews his first solo show in 1960. In 1962 the "New York Times" praised his first New York City solo exhibit at the Forum Gallery. He received the John Hay Whitney Fellowship for 1965. This fellowship was renewed in 1966, and Andrews used the money to return to Georgia. While in Georgia, Andrews created his "Autobiographical Series" of paintings. He then received a CAPS award from the New York State Council on the Arts in 1971. In the same year, he painted one of his most notable works, "No More Games", which highlighted the plight of black artists and became an icon of his emerging social justice activism in the art world.