Each year we like to take a look at outstanding contributions to art and design from the black community. Unfortunately, each year most of the links go dead and previous pages have to be scrapped or heavily reconditioned. This year, only about four of last year's links were still live. It's terrible when web sites allow their links to expire in less than a year.We've caught up with some of the brightest Black artists and designers, photographers, illustrators and creatives both from yesteryear and today. We were a bit disappointed that we did not get a single submission from the DTG readership recommending African American artists and designers.
Athletes with Eyes for Art
Thane Peterson gives us an exciting look at some outstanding African American art and illustration in the "Collections" department of Businessweek online. Here's a sampling from the collections of pro basketball stars Grant Hill and Chris Webber. (Webber, a star forward with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Hill a star forward with the Orlando Magic) collects rare books, letters, and other memorabilia from important figures in African American history.
Businessweek Collections
Paul Collins
Paul Collins is a celebrated American illustrator and painter who also happens to be a designer. Watson-Guptill Publications names him one of the top 20 figurative painters. He is the designer of the Martin Luther King Peace Prize Medal, the National Physical Fitness Poster for the Carter administration and the NASA space shuttle emblem. He painted the President Ford Mural, the 40th Anniversary of Israel Mural and several other commissioned works for Anheuser Busch, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Universal Forrest Products, Amway Corporation, Johnson Products, and many more www.collinsart.com
Hughie Lee-Smith
Hughie Lee-Smith once said: "I think my paintings have to do with an invisible life -- a reality on a different level." Graduating from the Cleveland School of Arts in 1938, he went to work for the Ohio Works Progress Administration, and the Ford factory in River Rouge. Not satisfied with that life, he migrated to Chicago where he began to show his works in 1945. Soon after he began winning awards for his art such as, Detroit Institute Founders Prize (1953), National Academy of Design (four times), the Emily Lowe Award (1957), and the award from the American Society of African Culture (1960). In 1967, he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Design. Huge history of illustrations and paintings Learn more about Hughie Lee-Smith The James Logan Courier more at the Detroit Institute of Arts
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Comments
Wow! Paul Collins is amazing! Vel Verrept is another great artist on the rise http://vel.imagekind.com/store/
I enjoyed the journey through the gallery. I missed your request for black artists, but will certainly jot down sites I find during the year and pass them along.
One artist stands out for me that is Sam Gilliam.
This is such a wonderful service you do for the design industry --- we read for the first time last year in February...
It's great that you do this every year -- keep up the great work, Fred
Barbara Wright