Scholarship: The Colloquium
2006 | 17th Annual James A. Porter Colloquium
Forged out of a sense of connectedness to revolutionary struggles in Africa and elsewhere, the 1960's witnessed the exponential growth of radical thought among Black Americans, an unbridled quest for creative and intellectual freedom. This quest became known as the Black Arts Movement.
Through this era, The Black Arts Movement brought together artists, activists, scholars, and cultural workers to produce works and engage in political actions that influenced others throughout the Black Atlantic and around the world. The power of expression, the innovative creations, the unique aesthetic sensibilities, the cultural kinship to community and to Africa, gave this work, and attendant activities, a distinct presence and authority that, at least for the moment that could not be ignored.
In the decades since, the art and the significance of the artists and actions of that era have often been omitted from critical study and scholarly dialogue.
The 17th Annual James A. Porter Colloquium seeks to re-examine and re-contextualize the Black Arts Movement by bringing to this forum many of the artists, activists, scholars and cultural workers who were actual participants in the movement, as well as younger scholars who have been seriously engaged in researching the art of this period and young artists who are indebted to the groundbreaking work of artists who defined the Black Arts Movement.
Keynote Speaker
Lowery Stokes Sims
Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims, art historian extraordinaire, has solidified her place in the canon of art history. With stellar contributions on the visual arts, particularly of artists of color, Dr. Sims continues a tradition forged by art historians before her. Her scholarship has been demonstrated through numerous exhibitions, lectures, articles, exhibition catalog essays, and books.
Currently the President of The Studio Museum in Harlem, Dr. Sims earned her doctoral degree in art history from The Graduate School and University Center of City University of New York. She holds a master of arts from John Hopkins University and a bachelor of arts from Queens College, both in art history, respectively.
During Dr. Sims’s extensive career, she has held tenure at The Studio Museum in Harlem as the Executive Director (2000-2005) and Curator of Modern Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975-2000). In addition to her current position with the Studio Museum in Harlem, she is a visiting professor in the Department of Art at Hunter College.
Ongoing exhibitions of various themes, subjects, and artists, Dr. Sims has illuminated many in the arts. A Hans Hoffman retrospective, “Hans Hoffman in the Met,” “Next Generation: Southern Black Aesthetic,” and “Wifredo Lam and His Contemporaries, 1938-1952” are just a few of the exhibitions Sims has organized, and each has an accompanying catalog. Among the many exhibition catalogs Dr. Sims has written and contributed to, she has published Wifredo Lam and the International Avant-Garde, 1923-1982. A significant contribution of the Afro-Cuban influences, the text investigates Lam’s art in relation to his multicultural heritage and its international impact on the different cultures.
A formidable expert on the visual arts, especially art of the Diaspora, Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims continues pushing the standard of excellence higher and higher. Her dedication to cultural expressions of the Diaspora is exemplified not only in her research and investigations, but also with the many honors she has received, most recently an honorary doctorate from Brown University in 2003. Dr. Sims has a created a path for many to follow, excel, and expand the canon.
Lecture on Faith Ringgold
Lisa Farrington
A leading scholar on women artists of the Diaspora, Dr. Lisa Farrington wears many hats: historian, curator, author, and educator. As a multifaceted scholar, Farrington’s extensive research and documentation has contributed to the canon of art history with her enlightenment. Providing missing pieces to the story of African American art history, Farrington continues upon a tradition forged by her predecessors in the field.
Dr. Farrington received her doctorate in art history from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. Prior to her doctoral work, she attended American University, earning a master of arts, and Howard University, where she received a bachelor of fine arts. Farrington is a Ford Foundation Fellow as well as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow.
While she is currently senior art historian at Parson School of Design, teaching there since 1993, Farrington has worked for the Museum of Modern Art and The National Gallery of Art. Along with professorial duties, Farrington has curated exhibitions and written extensively on art of the Diaspora. The exhibitions she has curated are as follows: “The Language of Color: Women’s Voice,” “Art and Identity: The African American Athletic,” “Textiles Transformed: The New American Fine Art Quilt,” and “Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists.”
“Creating Their Own Image” celebrates the book of the same title. The publication, thought to be the first to provide an extensive account of women artist’s contributions to the visual arts, was published in 2005. Receiving critical acclaim, the text was awarded the 2005 Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Prize from the Association of Black Women Historians and Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation by the BCALA Literary Award Committee. Dr. Farrington has written a monograph on Faith Ringgold for the David C. Driskell Series of African American Art, published in 2004. She has contributed to many other publications in the form of essays and articles.
Lisa Farrington continues the legacy of James Porter while expanding the bounds placed on African American art history, through her roles as scholar, curator, author, historian, and educator.
5th Annual David C. Driskell Lecture
David C. Driskell
Dr. David C. Driskell has elevated African American art and art history to a level his mentor, James A. Porter envisioned for the field. A visionary, Driskell is a formidable presence in the visual arts. Driskell has distinguished himself as a curator, collector, artist, and a pioneer in the history of African American art. Expanding the canon set forth by Porter, Driskell has accelerated the exploration and appreciation of art of the Diaspora through his active participation in assembling exhibitions and publishing on the area. With Driskell’s warrior mentality and extending the path paved by his mentor, art by African and African Americans is continually receiving critical attention.
As an artist, Driskell has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is included in public and private collections, such as the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Although his primary media are painting and collage, Driskell works in various media–sculpture, printmaking, and drawing. Driskell’s art incorporates his connections to the South and comments on racial and social issues. Depicting diverse subjects, which include portraiture and landscapes, Driskell’s artistic techniques are representative of formal aspects of art, the essence of art–color, shape, and texture.
Like his predecessor and mentor, James A. Porter, Dr. David C. Driskell has greatly impacted the field of African American art and art history. Driskell has picked up where Porter’s legacy left off. With his diligence, the field has expanded from writing and teaching about the artistic merits of African Americans to collecting the works and organizing insightful exhibitions. Driskell serves as a model for artists, collectors, and scholars in the area. His passion and understanding of the art and the value of the art are clearly evident in all of his accomplishments. A true champion for African American visual activity, Driskell further sets the standard for in-depth, profound scholarship and artistic production in African American visual arts.
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