David Driskell 2005


2005 Lifetime Achievement 
Award Winner
David Driskell
June 7, 1931 - April 1, 2020




We are saddened by the passing of David Driskell, one of the world's leading authorities on African American Art and Anyone Can Fly Foundation’s Lifetime Awardee in 2005. He had a generous spirit, and we loved him a lot. He will be missed.  

"Afro-Americans have been a vital force in American Art for nearly three-hundred years, from Colonial times to the present. This is true not only in music and dance where Black Contributions are recognized as basic to American creativity, but in the visual arts as well."  – Hidden Heritage: African American Art 1800-1950 by David Driskell


Interview

Anyone Can Fly Foundation 
2005 Distinguished Artist and Scholar
Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
David Driskell interviewed by Faith Ringgold and Curlee Holton.
Click on each question to see video.
















1 As a child you were encouraged to draw but what did it take for you to become an artist?

2  What are the rights of passage for contemporary white male artists and contemporary black males artists? Have thing improved since the Harlem Renaissance?

3 What is the right of passage that artists must follow to realize themselves as artists?

4 What is your passion as an artist? Why do you make art? What are you trying to tell us and why? 

5 What makes a work of art important?

6 Mary art historian and scholars have pursued
a career in art but few have persevered.
How difficult is it to be both a scholar and
an innovator? Is one more challenging or rewarding?

Q7 Is there one artist, one movement, one genre that has inspired your work more than any other?
++++
8 In the 50’s art student’s might discuss over a cup of coffee. What is art.

9   To Quote from your book, Hidden Heritage: African American Art 1800 -1950. “African Americans have been a vital force in American Art for nearly 300 years from Colonial times to the present this is true not only in music and dance where black contributions are recognized as  basic to American creativity but in the visual arts as well. “

 African Art influenced the modern art movement as in African sculpture and masks and Picasso and the cubists movement.  How has the art of Black America n’s influenced the US?

Can you see an influence from the sparsely composed quilts of Gee’s Bend to the and the minimalist movement of the 1970’s? 

Can you think of other genre of Black American Art and it’s impact on the modern art movement? 
What visual art forms did the slaves bring to America?
How have these visual art forms influenced mainstream American Art? 

In 1976 you curated a major African American Art exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Two Centuries of Black American Art 1750 to 1950.

You brought together the start of the Harlem Renaissance.

What was it like to be in the company of so many great artists and scholars of the Harlem Renaissance?

Who was the most significant artist of this period?

What was his/her major contribution?

10. Exhibition in LA


11.  Now that you have retired from teaching what are you doing now?



Sept 24, 2005

Dear David;    
The Anyone Can Fly Foundation is pleased to honor you, David C, Driskell, for uncovering our glorious past art history of African American Art, and enriching our present as both artist and scholar. You have ensured our future in the Art Establishment Canon of American and World Art. 

To quote from your book: Hidden Heritage: African American Art 1800-1950 by David Driskell 
ìAfro-Americans have been a vital force in American Art for nearly three-hundred years, from Colonial times to the present. This is true not only in music and dance where Black Contributions are recognized as basic to American creativity, but in the visual arts as well.î 

So few people, even scholars, including African American scholars know and understand the continuing problem of pervasive anonymity Master Artists of the African Diaspora face in the Mainstream Art World. So many Masters of African American art have lived their lives as artists devoting time, energy and innovation to documenting the great history and culture black people in America have developed and then die often in poverty, alone and in anonymity. The great works they leave behind, known primarily to those of us who search for it. 

The Anyone Can Fly Foundationís mission is to expand the art establishment canon to include Master Artists of the African Diaspora and to introduce those artists and their art traditions to kids as well as adult audiences. We want to thank you for helping us achieve our mission. 

Sincerely


Faith Ringgold

An interview with David C. Driskell, Faith Ringgold and Curlee Holton follows with an on-site live taping by Barbara Wallace and DVD filming by Grace Matthews. The DVD film and illustrated transcrip titledt: David C. Driskell 2005 Distinguished Scholars Lifetime Achievement Award will appear on the Foundation website at HYPERLINK "http://www.Anyonecanflyfoundation.org" www.Anyonecanflyfoundation.org .

A short bio will be added to your on-line transcript and is included here for your approval:  

DAVID DRISKELL was born in Eatonton, Georgia on June 7, 1931 He is an internationally acclaimed art collector, connoisseur, curator, scholar, artist, professor, and is the worldís leading authority on the subject of African American art. Driskell all but created the scholarship of African American art history. He opened the way for the Black esthetic in academia. And he helped secure the role of the black artist into its present day visibility and acceptance in American society. 

Driskell has written and co-authored nine books, and more than forty catalogues on exhibitions he has curated.  He has shown us that it is indeed difficult but possible to be a talented little black boy from the mountains of Appalachia who grows up to be a great scholar and an accomplished artist at the same time. David Driskell has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa as a painter collagist, printmaker and sculptor. 

Driskell received his undergraduate degree in art from Howard University in 1955 and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1962, both in Washington, DC. His postgraduate study was at The Netherlands Institute for the History of Art in The Hague, and in Europe, Africa, and South America. 

In 2000, President Clinton awarded him a National Humanities Medal, recognizing his efforts to expand, support, and contribute to this countryís understanding of the humanities.

A passionate art collector and connoisseur for more than 40 years, Driskellís collection includes art, archival materials, photographs, and films. He has advised many institutions and collectors on how to assemble their collections celebrating the unique history of the African Diaspora.  Most notable is his work with black colleges and with the Cosby Collection of African American Art, probably the most valuable in the world. 

Driskellís teaching career began at Talladega College in 1955.  He later taught at Howard University and Fisk University and served as Visiting Professor of Art at Bowdoin College, The University of Michigan, Queens College, and Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.  In 1995, Driskell was named Distinguished University Professor of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park. He retired from teaching in December, 1998.              

In 2001, the University of Maryland established the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora, honoring Driskell for his many contributions to the field.  The Center provides future generations with the opportunity to study Africa and the African Diaspora from multidisciplinary perspectives.

The Foundation hereby requests non-exclusive non-commercial copyright permission for the DVD film and illustrated transcript including text and pictures of your work and others to appear in the Foundations online Artists and Scholars Journal. (A release form from the Foundation to follow)

Thank you for your cooperation. 

The following 10 questions are from Faith Ringgold:
(Curtlee Holtonís questions will follow) 

Question 1.    From your earliest childhood, growing up in Appalachia, the youngest and only boy of four children, you were encouraged by your parents and teachers to draw. In your little one-room school you were called upon to illustrate your teachers lessons and books. The gift of creativity is universal to children, however, only certain children retain the gift and become artists, and only certain artists become known. What did it take for you? Illus #1: Your earliest work of art

Question 2   What are the Rites of Passage a contemporary American (white male) Artist is heir to? How difficult is this passage for a contemporary Black Artist today? Have things gotten better since the days of the Harlem Renaissance and the 1960s? If not why not? Illus #2: Your Greatest Accomplishment as an Artist and or Scholar

Question 3.  What is your passion as an artist? Why do you make art? What are you trying to tell us and why? What should artists, collectors, scholars look for in a work of art? What makes a work of art important? Illus #3: The Passion in Your Art
     
Question 4.    Many, if not most art historians and scholars have briefly pursued a career in art but few have persevered. How difficult is it to be both a scholar and an innovator? Is one more challenging, rewarding than the other? Which one? Why? Illus #4: What Early Work Confirmed Your Success As an Innovator?

Question 5.    Is there one artist, one movement, one genre that has inspired your work more than any other? Who? What? How? Why? Illus #5: What Inspires Your Work

Question 6.    In the fifties art students talking over a cup of coffee in the college cafeteria might debate the question: What is art? By the 1960s the art students were artists and the question evolved to: Is There a Black Art?  What is Black Art? What is the Black Aesthetic? Is it important to label the art and or the artistsí black? If not why not? How does the art the slaves brought to America differ from the Western Art, the art the immigrants brought to America? Illus #6: Your Work in the Black Aesthetic

Question 7  To quote from your book: Hidden Heritage: African American Art 1800-1950 by David Driskell  ìAfro-Americans have been a vital force in American Art for nearly three-hundred years, from Colonial times to the present. This is true not only in music and dance where Black Contributions are recognized as basic to American creativity, but in the visual arts as well.î  African Art influenced the Modern Art Movement as in African sculpture and masks and Picasso and the Cubist Movement.  How has the art of Black Americans influenced Modern Art? Can you see an influence from the sparsely composed quilts of Gees Bend and the Minimalists Movement of the 1970s? Can you think of other genre of Black American Art and its impact on the Modern Art Movement? What visual art forms did the slaves bring to America? How have these visual art forms influenced Mainstream American Art? Illus #7: Black American Innovation on Modern American Art

Question 8.    In 1976 you curated a major African American Art exhibit at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art: ìTwo Centuries of Black American Art (1750-1950) You brought together the stars of the Harlem Renaissance. What was it like to be in the company of so many great artists and scholars of the Harlem Renaissance? Who was the most significant artist(s) of this period? What was his/her major contribution(s)? Illus #8: A Major Work of the Harlem Renaissance

Question 9. With so much acclaim as an art historian and scholar at such an early age, what fed your desire to be an artist too? Did you ever feel threatened by the presence of the many scholars and artists around you, such as:  Aaron Douglas, Charles White, Lois Mai Lou Jones etc? Illus #9: Your Most Revered Mentor, Champion, Friend

Question 10. Now that you have retired from teaching you are busier than ever making art, collecting art, traveling and lecturing. Where is you passion for creativity taking you now? What content? What medium? What message? Illus #10: Your Current Work in Progress


Thank You


Faith Ringgold

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