After nearly 10 years on the road, a collection of African-American artwork will finally come full circle tonight and make its way back home to the university.
“Successions: Prints by African American Artists from the Jean and Robert Steele Collection,” an exhibition made up of 62 pieces by 45 artists, will open tonight in the David C. Driskell Center with a reception open to the public. The collection first appeared on the campus in April 2002, when it was housed at the Art Gallery in the Art and Sociology Building because the center did not yet have a gallery space.
It’s been traveling across the country since, this time returning to the university in a blaze of glory.
“It was the first exhibition the Driskell Center really supported. It was such a success — it was accepted in such a positive way in every community that it was presented,” said Dorit Yaron, the center’s deputy director. “It’s now making a comeback home.”
The center’s Executive Director Robert Steele — who owns an art collection with more than 1,000 works with his wife, Jean — contributed all 62 pieces of the exhibit.
In addition to famous artists such as Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden, the collection includes works by local artists and artists who have a connection to the university, such as David Driskell and Margo Humphrey. Steele said the exhibition is titled “Successions” because it not only showcases different types of art, from realistic to abstract, but also because it includes works by “established masters,” mid-career artists and newcomers to the field.
“This exhibition represents three generations of teachers, their students and in turn, their students,” Steele said.
When the collection first debuted at the university, it was only on display for about a month. Steele said once other art directors and curators saw the exhibition, it quickly “took on a life of its own” and started touring nationally. However, this meant few members of the university and local community got a chance to view the works while on the campus.
Now that the exhibition is back at the university, Yaron said she hopes the exhibition will bring attention to art by blacks. Yaron herself — who got her master’s degree in art history at this university — said she was never exposed to African-American art until she took a specific course on it.
“I was just amazed at how interesting the art is, how beautiful it is, and so many people are not aware of this art,” Yaron said.
Dennis Doster, a graduate student who teaches AASP 202: Black Culture in the United States, said although blacks are widely represented in the music world, this is not always the case in the visual arts.
“African-American visual artists are unfortunately still underrepresented and underappreciated,” Doster said. “It will allow people in general — black, white, whatever racial group being represented — to be more aware of the work being done.”
Despite this, Steele said he has seen a dramatic increase in the representation of African-American art in the more than 40 years he has been collecting.
“There has been an increase, an exponential increase, in numbers of exhibitions,” Steele said. “The major art galleries now are collecting African-American art. People have realized this was an area that was underappreciated, under-collected.”
Steele said he and his wife agreed to display part of their collection nearly 10 years ago because they believe in the mission of the center — “preserving the rich heritage of African-American visual art and culture.”
“At the end of the day, when you talk about African-American art, it really is American art,” Steele said.
The exhibition will be on display until June 22. The opening reception is tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at the David C. Driskell Center.
news@umdbk.com
