TEXT and LAYOUT by LIAM GREENAMYRE
Girl Young’un--Keith Bankston. Acrylic on canvas. (1983). From the Tubman Museum Georgia Artists Exhibition.
Moon Man--Mose Tolliver. House paint on plywood. (1997). From the Tubman Museum Folk Art Exhibition.
Georgia’s
TUBMAN AFRICAN AMERICAN
MUSEUM In 1981, Father Richard Keil made a down payment on a ramshackle former warehouse in Macon, Georgia, about eighty-five miles southeast of Atlanta. He had the vision, but Keil could hardly have predicted that this institution would go on to become one of the South’s most important cultural institutions. The largest museum of its type in the state, the Tubman African American Museum is a key educational and cultural resource for the entire Southeast. The museum’s stated goals are “to
document the history of African American art and artists, to confront and explode cultural assumptions, and to provide opportunities for intellectual, social and civic engagement between the Museum and the diverse community it serves.” Permanent exhibitions include “From Africa to America,” by Wilfred Stroud; Exhibitions of Fine Art and Folk Art; works by Georgia Artists; an exhibit on Ellen Craft, and an inventors gallery, displaying a small sample of objects created by African Americans.
from
AFRICA to AMERICA One of the first works to greet visitors to the Tubman Museum is Wilfred Stroud’s “From Africa to America,” completed between 1988 and 1996. The 68-inch tall, 55-foot long work uses oil and acrylic on eight panels to illustrate the history and contributions of African Americans. According to Stroud, “The purpose of this mural is to present a visual history of the black man and woman from the earliest times in Africa to the present times in America. The panel focus attention upon the impact of outstanding person, and events that made a change in the lives and conditions of black people in particular, and the world in general.”
Revolutionary--Wadsworth Jarrell. Acrylic on canvas. (1972).
Wadsworth Jarrell was born in Albany, Georgia, but soon moved to a 28-acre farm near Athens, where his family grew vegetables and cotton. As a child, he worked in his family’s furniture store caning chairs, and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse until seventh grade. After briefly serving in the Korean War, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago. While in Chicago, Jarrell was able to visit the museums that he had been barred from in Georgia. He studied advertising art and graphic design, but later lost interest in the commercial realm. He went on to be co-founder of COBRA, the Coalition of Black Revolutionary Artists, a group leading the black power art movement in the wake of the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Jarrell’s work has been inspired by African culture and the African American experience, as well as horse racing and jazz music, and frequently uses bright colors, mixed media, and politically charged imagery.
WADSWORTH JARRELL “Every year you are reminded of George Washington’s birthday…my kids learn about this at school but nothing is said about black heroes. If white Americans can engage in what I call repetitious advertising, then I feel justified in advertising for black Americans.” Jazz Giants--Wadsworth Jarrell. Lithograph. (1987). From the Tubman Museum Georgia Artists Exhibition
Ellen Craft
an
INTERVIEW with the CURATOR What was the inspiration behind the creation of this museum? This institution was founded by a guy named Richard Keil, who lived here in Macon. He was a Catholic Priest, and he worked in the town during the Civil Rights Movement. He was really inspired by his experiences there to found an institution that would showcase the culture of African people. That didn’t actually take place until the Tubman was founded in 1981. So it was really our founders’ experience in the Civil Rights Movement that provided the inspiration for the museum. Why is it that Ellen Craft is such a focal point of the museum? Well, one reason of the things we talk about is slavery, the institution of slavery, and the effects of slavery—that story. And in addition to that, one of the other things that we try to talk about in every aspect of what we’re doing are we try to tell stories about people who overcome obstacles, who through their own perseverance are able to overcome obstacles. So the Ellen Craft story is a story about slavery, it’s a story about overcoming and escaping slavery, and it’s a local history, so it’s perfect for us. What role has Macon played in influencing the culture of the South? I think what Macon is basically known for is its musical heritage. So many musicians, black and white, came out of it, people like Little Richard, Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers, etc. etc., so Macon and middle GA has very rich heritage as far as American music is concerned, and I think that’s one of the things we’re best known for. Anything else you’d like to add? We are in the process of building a much larger facility down on Cherry Street a couple blocks down, and that’s a 49,000 square foot facility (this is 8,500 square feet). We really are limited here in terms of what we can show in the galleries, and what we can do for programming, so we hope to overcome those obstacles and offer a lot more to see and a lot more to do.
I’d Rather Two-Step Than Waltz, Step Three Amalia Amaki. Mixed Media. (1990). From the Tubman Museum Georgia Artists Exhibition
Love Will Make You--Amalia Amaki. Mixed Media Cyanotype. (1990).
AMALIA AMAKI
Amalia Amaki is an African American artist, art historian, educator, film critic, and curator. She graduated from Georgia State University with a degree in journalism and psychology, earning a Master of Arts degree from Emory University in 1994. She has taught art history at Spelman College, Morehouse College, the Atlanta College of Art, Kennesaw State University, and North Georgia College and State. Amaki is best known for her mixed media quilts that celebrate the lives of black female blues singers, and her button-encrusted cyanotypes. Her work has been featured in museums throughout the United States, including the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Who Got The Corn?--Thornton Dial. Mixed Media. (2002).
Thornton Dial was born in Emelle, Alabama, in 1928. One of twelve children, he grew up fatherless and poor, forced with his brothers and sisters to create toys from the objects they found around him. Although he is essentially illiterate, he has been called ‘preternaturally gifted,’ creating large pieces from scrap metal, old rugs, tree roots, and discarded plastic. A former steelworker who has worked in and around Bessemer, Alabama his entire life, his large-scale works can now sell for over $200,000.
THORNTON DIAL
Let Freedom Ring: The Tiger Has Been Held Down Long Enough--Thornton Dial. Mixed Media. (2002).
“Art ain’t about paint. It ain’t about canvas. It’s about ideas. Too many people died without ever getting their mind out to the world. I have found how to get my ideas out and I won’t stop. I got ten thousand left.”
Little Rock--Sam Gilliam. Acrylic on canvas. (1993).
SAM GILLIAM
Lullaby--Sam Gilliam. Oil on canvases.
“I am a better artist today in that I am obviously a better teacher. Whether I am teaching or making art, the process is fundamentally the same: I am creating.”
Sam Gilliam is one of America’s foremost painters in the fields of Color Field and Lyrical Abstractionism. Gilliam was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and began painting in elementary school, where he received encouragement from his teachers and instructors. Many of his works are characterized primarily by large fields of flat, solid color, but he began to gather influence from other sources later in his career. Inspired by the sight of laundry hanging outside the window of his Washington studio, Gilliam is credited as the first artist to display canvas paintings without the use of easels or stretchers, allowing his works to hang in more naturalistic arrangements. Gilliam later became influenced by the patchwork quilts of his childhood, and also gained inspiration from the jazz music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Gilliam’s ability to redefine his style and adopt new influences has kept his viewers engaged for decades. He is also dedicated to the practice of teaching art—he has taught at the University of Maryland and Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, and frequently gives lectures and holds workshops.