Press Release: The Last Ten Years: In Focus

The David C. Driskell Center to showcase aquisitions from the last ten years

COLLEGE PARK, MD. — The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland [UMD], College Park is proud to announce its fall exhibition, The Last Ten Years: In Focus; Selections from the David C. Driskell Center Collections. The exhibition will be on display at the Driskell Center from Thursday, September 7th, 2017 through Friday, November 17th, 2017, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 7th, from 5-7PM.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The Last Ten Years will include highlights from the David C. Driskell Center's art and archive acquisitions made during the last decade. While the Driskell Center routinely exhibits select objects from its art collection in special exhibitions, it very rarely has an opportunity to curate an entire exhibition from its collection. The Last Ten Years will include unique and notable items from the permanent collection, all of which have been accessioned or obtained in the last ten years and almost none of which have been shown at the Center previously. The Last Ten Years will also display material from the Driskell Center’s archival collections. This exhibition will be an exciting opportunity for UMD and the broader community to sample the breadth and depth of the Driskell Center's art and archival holdings, both of which have grown substantially in the last decade.

The exhibition, which is organized by the Driskell Center, is curated by the David C. Driskell Center’s Executive Director, Professor Curlee R. Holton, and Kevin McDonald, the Driskell Center’s Graduate Assistant and a UMD Master’s Student in Applied Anthropology and the Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate program. The curators are assisted by the Driskell Center’s Deputy Director, Dorit Yaron. 

The Last Ten Years: In Focus includes works by:

Herman “Kofi” Bailey
Romare Bearden
John Biggers
Robert Blackburn
Edward Brown
Grafton Tyler Brown
Elizabeth Catlett
Michael Clemmons
Kevin Cole
Willie Cole
Floyd Coleman
Tarrence Corbin
Allan R. Crite
Alva Curry
Alonzo Davis
Thornton Dial
Najee Dorsey
Aaron Douglas
David C. Driskell
Cheryl D. Edwards
Melvin Edwards
Annette Fortt
Aaron Fowler

Keith Morrison
Joseph Norman
William Pajaud
Gordon Parks
Jefferson Pinder
Stephanie E. Pogue
P.H. Polk
Theresa Ramey
Faith Ringgold
Clarence Robbs, AKA CUBA
Betye Saar
Preston Sampson
Sylvia Snowden
Terron Sorrells
Therman Statom
Lou Stovall
Bill Taylor
Alma Thomas
Trent Tomengo
Richard Yarde
Unknown Artist(s)

Sam Gilliam
Palmer Hayden
Barkley Hendricks
Leon Hicks
Felrath Hines
Robin Holder
Margo Humphrey
Martha Jackson Jarvis
Rodney O. Jackson
Loïs Mailou Jones
Fred Kersey
Jacob Lawrence
Donald Locke
Alvin Loving
Kerry James Marshall
Ulysses Marshall
Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier
Delita Martin
Percy B. Martin
Richard Mayhew
Valerie J. Maynard
Tom Miller
E.J. Montgomery

The Last Ten Years will also include African and historical objects from the Center’s collection and will show works across a variety of media: works on canvas, prints, drawings, works on paper, mixed media, sculpture, and more. The exhibition provides a rare opportunity for the public to view the range of the Driskell Center’s broad collection of African American, African Disaporic, and African art. The works and objects in this show were acquired through donations to the Driskell Center from numerous donors as well as through purchases with the Driskell Center’s acquisition funds. In lieu of a catalog, the Driskell Center will provide an informal gallery guide with information about the artists and artworks as well as a conversation between curators Professor Curlee R. Holton and Kevin McDonald about selected artworks from the exhibition.

In addition to displaying new acquisitions from the Driskell Center art collection, The Last Ten Years will display material from the Driskell Center Archives collections, including the David C. Driskell Papers. Selected documents such as letters, postcards, and other ephemera will provide an intimate look from within the often overlooked legacy of African American art history. This documentary material will also elucidate some of the relationships David C. Driskell held with historical and contemporary African American artists. The archival displays are curated by Kimberly J. Wade, a fellow with The Mission Continues, guided by the David C. Driskell Center’s Archivist, Stephanie L. Smith.

Finally, this exhibition also serves as an opportunity for the Driskell Center to recognize its many donors, who have given the Driskell Center single works, whole collections, groups of works, and acquisition funding. The Driskell Center’s collection has grown nearly ten-fold in the last decade, largely because of donations to the Driskell Center in the form of both art and acquisition funding.

ABOUT THE DAVID C. DRISKELL CENTER

The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, College Park, celebrates the legacy of David C. Driskell --Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Art, Artist, Art Historian, Collector, and Curator-- by preserving the rich heritage of African American visual art and culture. Established in 2001, the Center provides an intellectual home for artists, museum professionals, art administrators, and scholars of color, broadening the field of African diasporic studies. The Driskell Center is committed to collecting, documenting, and presenting African American art as well as replenishing and expanding the field. For further information about the David C. Driskell Center, please call 301.314.2615 or visit www.driskellcenter.umd.edu.

The Driskell Center Gallery’s hours are Monday through Friday from 11AM to 4PM with extended hours on Wednesday until 6PM. The Driskell Center Gallery will additionally be open on the following Saturdays: September 16th, October 21st, and November 4th from 11AM to 4PM.  The Driskell Center observes all University of Maryland closings due to inclement weather and holidays. The David C. Driskell Center office is open daily during the weekdays from 9AM through 5PM.