Richard Mayhew: Artist Talk

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoDA) in San Francisco hosted an exhibition of paintings by Richard Mayhew. The MoAD exhibit, The Art of Richard Mayhew, ended March 7, 2010. Read more at MoAD.  A catalogue accompanied this exhibition. 



Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective, an exhibition currently on view at the Birmingham Museum of Art, features works by Richard Mayhew. This exhibit ends April 17, 2011. See an earlier post: SPIRAL. 

Curator Discusses Exhibition: "Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective"

Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective is currently on view at the Birmingham Museum of Art through March 6, 2011, and features work by Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Charles Alston, Hale Woodruff, Reginald Gammon, Richard Mayhew, and Emma Amos.

Spiral was a diverse group of African American artists, originally consisting of 12 members, who met in 1963 seeking to find the Black aesthetic and the extent of their commitment in the struggle for Civil Rights. As an African American collective, the group presented an exhibition, First Group Showing: Works in Black and White, on May 14 - June 4 [1965] with an aesthetic limitation of restricting its palette to the colors black and white. With confidence, it can be stated that the use of this color palette carried some symbolic overtures. The exhibit reflected the different identities and views of the artists included in the group, yet it was unified by its common theme. It was during this period, of the Spiral Group, that Romare Bearden, as one of its founding members, developed his technique of collage.

Further readings.

NEWS Announcements, Upcoming Programs and Activities

Alexandria, Virginia

Genealogist Char McCargo Bah will conduct a workshop and illustrated lecture "showing how she successfully traced descendants of people buried at Freedmen's Cemetery (Alexandria, Virginia) and how these techniques can be applied to any family research." Ms. Bah will discuss her methods on Saturday, September 18, 2010 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm at the Alexandria Black History Museum (902 Wythe Street, Alexandria, Virginia). Advance registration is required. For more information or to register, please call 703/ 746-4356 or visit http://www.alexblackhistory.org/.

Atlanta, Georgia

High Museum of Art features Kehinde Wiley, in its Conversations with Contemporary Artists series, on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm in Rich Theater. Kehinde Wiley is known for his vibrant, larger-than-life reinterpretations of classical portraits featuring young African-American men. In his talk, "Wiley will discuss the influence of Old Master painting on his work, including artists such as Titian, David, and Memling."  

Seating is limited; tickets are available through the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office at 404/733-5000 and http://www.high.org/. 

Baltimore, Maryland

THINK TANK--2010 and Beyond: New Directions in African American Art - Transformative Aesthetic Curriculum Design will be hosted by The Center for Race and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). This conference will be held on November 11-14 in Baltimore at the school's Falvey Hall, Brown Center, 1301 W. Mount Royal Avenue. ..."THINK TANK will explore new directions in African American art and aesthetics, especially topics related to curriculum design for K-12 art education programs."  For details, see: http://www.mica.edu/Events_and_Exhibitions/Transformations_-_New_Directions_in_Black_Art.html

Birmingham, Alabama

Sankofa Society: Friends of African-American and African Art (Birmingham Museum of Art) are sponsoring their 2nd Annual Soirée, SPIRAL: Moving Outward and Constantly Upward, celebrating African-American art and culture on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 6:30 - 10:00 pm. Also, Sanfofa will present a lecture by artist Emma Amos on September 12 at 2:30 pm in Steiner Auditorium. Ms. Amos is the group's honored guest at the 2010 Soirée. For more information, visit: http://www.artsbma.org/membership/support-groups/the-sankofa-society 

Chicago, Illinois

The Leadership Advisory Committee (LAC) of the Art Institute of Chicago honors Dr. Margaret Burroughs with the Legends and Legacy Award on October 22, 2010 from 6:30 - 10:00 pm. Reservations are required. For details and to purchase a ticket, SEE: http://www.artic.edu/aic/calendar/event?EventID=7918  

LAC encourages you to send a tribute. Share your story via e-mail with LAC and tell them how Dr. Burroughs has inspired you by writing a tribute, then send it to the following address: legendsandlegacytributes@artic.edu. 

DUSABLE MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY received a Terra Foundation Award ($37,000) to support educational programming and the 2011 exhibition Buried Treasures: Art in African American Museums, "drawn from the collections of 30 African American institutions around the country. The exhibition will display approximately 90 works of art by 19th- and 20th-century African American artists." Through its grant program, the Terra Foundation for American Art actively supports and initiates historical American art exhibitions, scholarship, and programs in Chicago, the United States, and throughout the world. See more on the Terra Foundation.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Duncanson Artist-in-Residence was established in 1986 by the Robert S. Duncanson Society of the Taft Museum of Art to honor the "relationship that was established between African-American painter Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872), who painted the murals in the Museum's foyer, and Cincinnati art patron Nicholas Longworth (1782-1863)." The Society annually recognizes the achievements of contemporary African American artists through the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence program. The recipient of the 2010 award is Nokuthula Nywenyama.

For two weeks, the artist is active "through public performances, workshops, and outreach to area schools, working with students in the classroom to broaden their horizons in the area of fine arts." Artist-in-Residence events will begin on Thursday, November 4, 2010 and extend through Sunday, November 14, 2010. To see a list of programs, see events.  

For more information about the Duncanson Artist-In-Residence program, email: education@taftmuseum.org.

Detroit, Michigan

The grand opening of the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 9 and 10, 2010 at 52 East Forest, Detroit, Michigan 48201. The 24 hours of programming will include artist panel discussions, artist book signings, live music and theatrical performances, activities for children, and more. For further information call or visit: 313/ 831-8700; http://grnnamdi.com/. 

New York, New York

Swann Auction Galleries next African-American Fine Art exhibition (Sale #2224) will be held on Thursday, October 7, 2010 at  2:30 pm. As in the past, there will be an illustrated catalogue.  As the date approaches, check the website for updates. Also, as auction schedules are occasionally subject to change, call 212/ 254-4710 for the most current information. Some of the highlights include mid-20th Century paintings by Beauford Delaney, Al Loving, David Hammons, and Norman Lewis. Sculpture pieces are represented by Sargent Johnson and William Edmondson. Look for the release of the print and online catalogue in the next few weeks. 


The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation has announced 30 recipients of the Foundation's 2009 Biennial Awards in painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, video and craft media. The Foundation recognizes "emerging American artists and craftspeople every two years by a series of monetary grants. "The awards go to the artists whose work shows promise, but who have not yet received widespread critical or commercial recognition." Among the awardees were: Derrick Adams and Dawolu Jabari Anderson.  Read more about the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.

Sacramento, California

Call for Artists: Evolve the Gallery will present an exhibition, EMERGE: The Next Generation of Masters, November 11 - 28, 2010. EMERGE benefits Sacramento CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). This call is open to local artists only who are attending "UC Davis, Sacramento State University, Sacramento City College, American River College, Consumnes River College, Los Rios College, Sierra College, Art Institute of Design and Technology, or Art Institute." The following mediums will be included: painting, mixed media, photography and sculptures only. "All submissions include: (3) three JPEG with a minimum of 300 dpi resolution, title, medium, and year of creation, student's name and school. For 2D or 3D works - need at least two angles." The deadline for submissions is October 20, 2010; there is no entry fee. For more information visit: http://evolvethegallery.squarespace.com/call-for-artists/ or contact Brady at 916/ 572-5123. Email submissions:  mailto:info@evolvethegallery.com 

Call for Artists: Evolve the Gallery will host its 1st Annual A.I.D.S.: Artists Intent on Destroying Stereotypes, December 4, 2010 - January 2, 2011, to bring awareness to the damage stereotypes create in the fight against AIDS. This exhibition will benefit the Black AIDS Institute. This call is open to regional artists only and their creative works should be an expression of outcast, discrimination, survival, healing, loss, and etc. The following mediums will be included: painting, mixed media, photography and sculptures only. "All submissions include: (3) three JPEG with a minimum of 300 dpi resolution, title, medium, and year of creation, student's name and school. For 2D or 3D works - need at least two angles." The deadline for submissions is October 29, 2010; there is no entry fee. For more information visit: http://evolvethegallery.squarespace.com/call-for-artists/ or contact Brady at 916/ 572-5123. Email submissions: info@evolvethegallery.com. 

Washington, DC

The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund welcomes grant applications from visual artists aged 40 years or older, who live within 150 miles of Washington, D.C., and can demonstrate that they have the potential to benefit as artists from a grant. The Fund does not accept applications from filmmakers, video artists, and performance artists. Applications should be postmarked no later than September 15, 2010.

Grants may be used for any purposes relating to the recipients’ work as artists. For details, please see apply.

Winston-Salem

The Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University (North Carolina) celebrates its 20th Anniversary. Save the date, Friday, October 15, 2010 and join in the celebration. Cocktails begin at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $50.00 per person and include art, dinner, and jazz by Joe Robinson and James Funches. For more information call 336/ 750-2458 or email: diggsinfo@wsss.edu.

The current exhibit, Pride and Dignity from the Hill: A Celebration of the Historic Happy Hill Community at the Diggs Gallery is on view through February 26, 2011. For generations, residents have preserved the oral history of the Happy Hill neighborhood and its families. Pride and Dignity from the Hill documents "this important legacy through the art and testimony of community leaders...and includes architectural models of area homes embellished by local participants, paintings, photographs, video documentation of the community and a multi-media installation of a juke joint. The show also features works by celebrated artists Chandra Cox, Juan Logan, Larry Sass, Leon Woods and Willie Little."

Upcoming Programs/Activities: Mark Your Calendar

Birmingham, Alabama

There will be a lecture by Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 12:00 noon in Steiner Auditorium of the Birmingham Museum of Art. Dr. Cole, Director, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and former President of Spelman College will lecture on “The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Welcomes You Home!” This lecture will be followed by a private lunch with Sankofa Society members and Birmingham Museum of Art Director Gail Andrews. Sankofa Society are Friends of African-American and African Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. For more information and contact: http://www.artsbma.org/membership/support-groups/the-sankofa-society

  

College Park, Maryland 

Performing Race in African American Visual Culture Symposium is organized by The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora, and the Yale University Art Gallery. The dates for this conference are September 15 -16, 2010. "Based on the understanding that race is an ideology performed on a daily basis, this conference will investigate how and why performances of race, mainly African Americans, are manifested or subverted in American visual culture." Call 301/314-2615 or email: driskellcenter@umd.edu  to register.

Read more about the conference:  http://www.driskellcenter.umd.edu/conferences/YaleSymposium/index.php

 

 
Harlem (New York)

ArtCrawl Harlem™ is a guided trolley tour of local galleries. Participants will visit seven Harlem art galleries and receive a 20- 30 minute “tour within a tour” at each site. Each ArtCrawl Harlem™ tour culminates in a reception with food, wine, and music. The dates for the ArtCrawl Harlem™ are August 7 and 8, 2010 (Saturday and Sunday). The Saturday trolley tour in from 12 - 4 pm, reception following the tour and lasting until 6:00 pm. The Sunday trolley tour in from 1- 5 pm, reception following the tour and lasting until 7:00 pm.  

For further information, including cost and to book in advance see:
http://www.artcrawlharlem.com/ or call 1/ 800 838-3006. 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

New Narratives and Reinterpretation is the theme of an informal panel discussion that will explore the trend among African American artists to use historic text and images in their narratives, which examines new perspectives and utilizes new creative formats. The discussion will be led by professor Keith Morrison, Tyler School of Fine Art, and will include Tanya Murphy Dodd (Philadelphia), Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum (Baltimore), Letitia Huckaby (Ft. Worth) and Nsenga Knight (Brooklyn). Save the date August 7, 2010 (Saturday) at 7:00 pm in the The Glass Lobby Gallery at Brandywine Workshop Print Shop and Archive at 728 South Broad Street (between Bainbridge and Fitzwater Streets), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more details visit: http://www.brandywineworkshop.com/. If interested in attending, R.S.V.P. by email to prints@brandywineworkshop.com or call 215/546-3675.

Panel discussion: Click. Print. Collect: Creating and Collecting Contemporary Photography in the Digital Age at Sande Webster Gallery on August 12, 2010, 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the main gallery (2006 Walnut Street). For further details and contact information see: http://www.sandewebstergallery.com/.

Washington, DC

International Visions Gallery will have an Open House and INVENTORY SALE  on Saturday, August 7 from 12-7 pm and Sunday, August 8 from 1-4 pm. The Gallery will be offering rare reductions (20-60%) on work by their top artists. 

The inventory includes originals, prints, photography, sculpture and textiles. The sale will continue through August. The International Visions Gallery is located at 2629 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. For further details see: http://www.inter-visions.com/ or call 202/ 234-5112.