Feature Articles

October Issue 2002

Mint Museum of Art & McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC, Offer Exhibits as Homage to Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden's significance as a leading American artist of the 20th century and his unique visual storytelling of the African American and Southern experience is the catalyst for a juried exhibition co-sponsored by the Mint Museum of Art and the McColl Center for Visual Art. Carolina artists were invited to creatively express the impact of Bearden on their own artwork through the two-part exhibition Celebrating the Legacy of Romare Bearden, on view through Feb. 23, 2003, in the Dickson Gallery of the Mint Museum, and through Jan. 5, 2003 at the McColl Center's Knight Gallery at Spirit Square both in Charlotte, NC.

David C. Driskell, whose collection is featured in the exhibition Narratives of African American Art and Identity at the Mint Museum of Art through Oct. 27, 2002, is the juror. Driskell, named art professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, is also an artist, author and is regarded as one of the foremost authorities on African American art.

"Each time I am called upon to jury an exhibition, I always try to enter into the undertaking with an open mind so I am able to learn from what I see and identify, as much as possible, with the creative sensibilities of the artists whose work I am viewing," stated David Driskell. "My own experience as an artist, teacher of art and collector for nearly a half century informs my search for what I believe to be the soul of the artist in his or her work. It is from this vantage point that I attempt to make the very best selection from all of the works before me. It is never an easy task."

Of the nearly 400 works entered by 135 artists throughout the North and South Carolina, Driskell selected 57 for the exhibition.

The juried exhibition is the first hosted by the Mint Museum since 1991 and is also the first project of the museum's Artists' Advisory Committee composed of artists, educators and gallery owners B.E. Noel, Dean Johns, Hasaan Kirkland, Duy Haynh, Ce Scott, Charlotte Foust, Tom Stanley and Roy Strassberg. The exhibition is one of a score of performances, exhibits and lectures that is part of a seven month community tie-in called Celebrating the Legacy, supported by a Foundation for the Carolinas Seed Grant.

Several artists selected for the juried exhibition will speak about their works and the legacy of Romare Bearden on Oct. 20, 2002 at 3pm at the Mint Museum of Art.

For more information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the museum at 704/337-2000 or on the web at (www.mintmuseum.org).

Exhibition Artists and Hometowns

Nellie Ashford, Grandma said, Mixed media, Charlotte, NC; G. Lee Baumgarten, Broom room, oil collage and construction, Pineville, NC; Natalie Beckert, First Morning: Mother and Child, Collage, Charlotte, NC; Dusty Benedict, Thoughts of thelonius monk, Mixed media, Swannanoa, NC; Amylynn M. Bills-Levi, Big Jake, Polaroid Emulsion transfer with bees wax & color pencil, Sumter, SC; Tarleton Blackwell, hog series - CCXXVIII: Precious 11, Oil on canvas, Manning, SC; Stanley Burford, The blues, Neon - artist made paper, Cornelius, NC; Elsie Boyce, Closeup RB, Torn paper collage, Wilmington, NC; Gregory Bradford, progress promise, Mixed media/Charlotte, NC, Charlotte, NC; Betty J. Bramlet, Saturday Morning, Mixed water media, Spartanburg, SC; Chandra Cox, up a creek, Acrylic and oil on canvas, Raleigh, NC; James Dudley DeMaine, Understanding of the Will, Colored pencil and ink, Charlotte, NC; Marilyn Charat Dix, Where there is no path, Mixed media, Cornelius, NC; Tom Feelings, Enslaved African, Black and white paper collage, Columbia, SC; Pamela D. Ferguson, Life in the neighborhood, Mixed media, Charlotte, NC, Charlotte Foust, The Arrangement, Collage on masonite board, Charlotte, NC; Tyrone Geter, Feel the Spirit, Mixed Media, Columbia, SC; Francisco Gonzales, Heraldic, Mixed media, Charlotte, NC; Sallie Thompson Griffin, Crosses we all Bore - An Artist's Legacy - the (Heart, soul and blood of an Artist, only recognized after death), Mixed media, Marshville, NC; Laura Grosch, jazz of the sea breeze boogy, Colored print material with glue, Davidson, NC; April Harrison, A resting place, Mixed media / collage, Mauldin, SC; Ivey Hayes, Field of prayers, Acrylic on canvas, Rocky Point, NC; Anne Henderson, down by the riverside, Collage, Charlotte, NC; Peggy Hinson, Romie at the Met, Collage, Fayetteville, NC; Alex Horstman, The Warrior Books, Computer, blind emboss, collage, Charlotte, NC; Judy Humphrey, The Obsessive Garden, Found, appropriated, recycled materials, debris, acrylic paint, Boone, NC; Dean Johns, Intersection, Paper/ Charlotte, NC; Charles Joyner, Sankofa, Mixed media, Gary, NC; Jerry Lee Kirk, these blues can make angels weep, Acrylic on canvas, Charlotte, NC; Hasaan Kirkland, brick house .1, Acrylic mixed media, Charlotte, NC; Linda Lacroix, Sunday Afternoon, Monotype with collage, Charlotte, NC; Susan Lenz, the over land route: a creative travel journal, Fibers, Columbia, SC; Arnie Little, crossing over freedom, Mixed media, Charlotte, NC; Shug Lockett, Earnest Words, Mixed media collage, Charlotte, NC; Juan Logan, Whose shall I sing, Installation - Polyurethane resin with iron coating, Chapel Hill, NC; Dina Lowery, tree scape, Mixed media, Charlotte, NC; Paula S. MacLeod, Billie's Vibe, Mosaic, Durham, NC; Sim Maiden, I have scene it all, Photo silk screen, Charlotte, NC; Richard Marshall, Expulsion, Paper collage, Raleigh, NC; Kathy Metts, Monday Blues, Watercolor with pastel, Georgetown, SC; Sheri Moore, Sojourner, Collage, Summerton, SC; Roy Nydof, Blues Player, Oil on canvas, Oak Ridge, NC; Vee Plunkett, just to market, mixed media collage Charlotte, NC; Martha Radilof, taking care of business, Collage, Winston-Salem, NC; Phyllis Reynolds, Uptown, Collage & acrylic, Wilmington, NC; David Miguel Ritland, pumpkin patch, pigment and acrylic on paper, Charlotte, NC; Mikel Robinson, Josephine's last letter, mixed media, Charlotte, NC; Marianne Royle, St. George, Grenada, Collage / Acrylic, Kernersville, NC; Janet Schafer, Dr. Feel Good, Mixed media, Reidsville, NC; Karen Simpson, Lines, Mixed Media, Charlotte, NC; Michael Slattery, Homage to Bearden: Baptism, Gouache, Taylors, SC; Beverly Smith, Grandma 's Porch, Quilt, Charlotte, NC; Constance Spencer, Charleston Steps, Watercolor, Tega Cay, SC; Mary Lou Sussman, Ripe, Monotype, Charlotte, NC; Brad Thomas, Journals (1990-present), Mixed media, Charlotte, NC; Debra Toth, Musicians, Incised gourd, dyes, Midland, NC; and Charles Williams, Blackberry Moon, Acrylic,

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