Alabama and Beyond: African American Educators and Their Art

In celebration of its 25th anniversary and National Monument designation, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) will present an exhibition of selected art from the personal collection of Carnetta and Norm Davis of Birmingham.  The show, “Alabama and Beyond: African American Educators and Their Art – Selections from the Carnetta & Norm Davis Collection,” features thirty works of art.  The exhibition will run from July 18-October 22 in BCRI’s Odessa Woolfolk Gallery.  Major funders include Wells Fargo, Vulcan Materials Company, Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust, The Hugh Kaul Foundation, and BBVA Compass

The “Alabama and Beyond” exhibition features artists who were educators, with many having ties to Alabama.  Among the artists featured are Hale Woodruff, who created the Amistad Murals at Talladega College and Claude Clark, who established the art department at Talladega in 1948 and was succeeded by David Driskell whose work is also featured; Hayward Oubre, who taught art at Alabama State College and Florida A&M University; Dr. William Colvin, who taught art at Stillman College and Eastern Illinois University; and John Rhoden, a noted sculptor from Birmingham who created the Fred L. Shuttlesworth statue at the Birmingham Civils Rights Institute.  Others included in the exhibition include Fred Jones, Charles Sebree, William Sylvester Carter, William Edouard Scott and more.