Newspaper Page Text
M
En tertain me nt
Clark Atlanta University Art Gallery continues legacy
from Western, Eastern and
Central Africa, Crenshaw added.
The gallery has undergone
major renovations in the past
year. These renovations, which
moved the gallery from the
basement to the second floor of
Trevor Arnett, included several
improvements such as a climate
controlled environment for both
the gallery and the lobby areas,
hardwood floors and a gift
counter.
The renovations, done in part
because of the 1996 Olympic
Games, also helped to make the
gallery more accessible and
“aesthetically attractive,”
commented Crenshaw.
However, according to Tina
Dunkley, Director of University
Art Collections, these
renovations are only the
beginning.
“This I consider to be 40
percent of what we refer to as the
Clark Atlanta* University Art
Gallery Initiative,” said Dunkley,
“ The other sixty percent is a
Visual Arts Resource Center.”
The resource center, which
will be annexed off the east side
of Trevor Arnett Hall, will be
comprised of the remaining
works of art not featured in the
gallery and fashioned forpeople
wanting to do research or study
work.
The gallery hosted two
exhibitions during the 1996
Olympic Games, “Lifting the
Veil: Robert Duncanson and the
Emergence of the African
American Artist” and “From
Rearguard and Vanguard:
Selections from the CAU
Collection of African-American
Art."
“I was very excited about
being able to present a story of
African- American history in
the fine art idiom to an
international audience,”
Dunkley said. “It’s a story that
isn’t heard enough. The only
way they can hear it is for the
work to be held in a certain light.
That is what Clark Atlanta
University Art Gallery was able
to achieve. It has left a wonderful
legacy for us to celebrate for
centuries to come.”
The gallery also serves as an
educational resource to the
community. Dunkley stressed
that art be seen in a much broader
context than it is relegated to.
“We want to see it embroidered
into the curriculum at this
institution and public schools.
That's a goal. It has great
applicability, just like math.” she
said. Both Humanities and Art
classes at CAU take advantage
of the gallery’s services.
The gallery is free of charge to
the public and open Tuesday
through Friday 11-4 p.m. and
Saturdays 12-4 p.m. Donations
are welcome. For more
information on the Clark Atlanta
University Art Gallery, call (404)
880-6644.
Py Tahirah Mahan
Contributing Writer
If you would like a touch of
culture or a taste of African-
American history, you need look
no further than your own
backyard.
For more than 50 years, the
Clark Atlanta University Art
Gallery has been serving the
community in a multitude of
ways. According to the booklet
“From Rearguard to Vanguard:
Selections from the Clark
Atlanta University Collection of
African American Art,” it owns
a collection of more than 300
works by African, African-
American and European artists,
providing a unique and rich
history.
The African-American Art
Collection, comprised of 291
paintings, prints and sculptures,
is a result of annual art
competitions initiated by Hale
Woodruff in 1942.
The booklet added that
Woodruff, a famed artist, began
teaching at the Atlanta
University in 1931 and
inaugurated an art program for
the university and surrounding
colleges.
The “Exhibitions of Paintings,
Prints and Sculptures by Negro
Artists of America” was held in
the Spring of each year and
provided African-Americans a
rare opportunity to showcase
their work.
The competitions-were judged
by notables in the art world in
four categories: oils, watercolor,
sculpture and print. The winning
works were given purchase
awards by the university.
The “Atlanta Annuals,” as the
competitions were dubbed,
received recognition from artists
and art lovers from all over the
United States. An article on the
competitions was featured in the
April 9, 1945 issue of Time
magazine. In the same year,
author Langston Hughes visited
the event. The exhibition
attracted over 900 artists
including, Jacob Lawrence, Lois
Mailou Jones, John Biggers,
Elizabeth Catlett, Romare
Bearden and Henry O. Tanner.
According to Brett Crenshaw,
student assistant to the gallery’s
director, the final Atlanta Art
Annual was held in 1970, but the
university’s collection continues
to grow through gifts and
donationsbyprivateowners. The
gallery was bequeathed a small
collection by James Baldwin.
Along with The African-
American Art Collection, the
gallery owns aContemporary Art
Collection, which was donated
in the late fifties by Chauncy
Waddell, a former Atlanta board
of trustee, and an African Art
Collection which features artists
CAU alumnae serves as
coordinator of Morris Brown
i't gallery
By Kimberly Y. Gray
Contributing Writer
Colleges within the Atlanta
University Center have
incorporated art galleries, among
the few, Morris Brown College’s
art gallery features contemporary
artwork in an inviting setting.
Pictures of all sizes align the
walls, floor exhibits scattered
about attract curious faces, as
visitors glide from display to
display. The sound of light jazz
echoes through the loft-like
room, accompanied by the
clunking sound of feet across the
hardwood floors. “I finally had a
chance to visit the art gallery, 1
enjoyed it because it had a classy
feel to it, and to know actual
Morris Brown graduates made
this possible made me feel
proud,” said Terence Estell, a
junior at Morris Brown.
Morris Brown’s art gallery,
located in the basement of Jordan
Hall at 569 M.L.K. Dr., displays
art work by faculty and graduate
art majors. “This gives them the
opportunity to give back,” said
Dr. Lee Ransaw, Dean of Fine
Arts.
The grand opening of the art
gallery occurred on Sept. 20,
and the turn out was excellent,
explained Karcheik Sims, the
gallery’s coordinator and CAU
alumnae. And in October, the
art gallery welcomed the Prime
Minister of the Ivory Coast and
held a reception in his honor.
In November, the art gallery
displayed exhibits featuring
women, entitled “A Special
Tribute to Black Women.” The
painting in this series that attracts
the most attention according to
Sims, is a portrait entitled
“Contemplation” by Lee A.
Ransaw, the Dean of Fine Arts.
The portrait is adetailed painting
of a woman in deep thought.
The other attention grabber is a
portrait worth $20 thousand,
entitled “Forces of Rapture” by
Louis Dellsarte, an artist known
throughout the United States.
Additionally, the art gallery
in December will feature Bob
Carter, an artist from New York.
For Black History month in
February, the gallery plans to
feature artwork entitled “The
Slave Era.” The art gallery is
also used for receptions for
different organizations.
Morris Brown’s Art
Department began planning for
the gallery three years ago, with
hopes of having the renovations
done by the time the Olympics
took place. Originally, the
gallery was located in Fountain
Hall, but that building was too
small. The basement of Jordan
Hall was purchased, which
happened to be an old elementary
school.
“We had one former
elementary school teacher come
in and point to a comer and say,
This is where my class used to
be!" Sims recalled.