About Us

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History of the Collection

On April 19, 1942, the painter and printmaker Hale Woodruff instituted an annual juried competition in Atlanta, Georgia, entitled Exhibitions of Paintings, Sculpture, and Prints by Negro Artists in America. Drawing upon his intimate knowledge of the exhibitions organized by the Harmon Foundation – as well as his experiences with artistic communities in France, Mexico, and various parts of the United States – he created a national forum for artists of African descent that included a cash prize and critical feedback about their work. The Atlanta University Annual, as the competition came to be known, lasted until 1970 and resulted in the development of a significant collection of twentieth-century African American art that is currently held at Clark Atlanta University. Nine hundred artists participated, and 291 of their works were purchased. These works comprise the core strength of Clark Atlanta University’s permanent collection, which now totals 1,220 objects.

At its inception, the acquisition goals of Clark Atlanta University Art Museum were tied to providing exhibition opportunities for formally trained African American artists who had been excluded from or marginalized by mainstream arts spaces and circuits. Hale Woodruff felt that critical public engagement would strengthen the participants’ artistic skills. As exhibition opportunities opened during the 1960s and 1970s, the significance of the Atlanta Annuals diminished. Acquisitions, therefore, shifted to artists who were either contemporaries of the participants during the first two decades (e.g., Margaret Burroughs) or contemporary artists residing in the South (e.g., Sheila Pree Bright, Alfred Conteh, Fahamu Pecou, and Phoenix Savage).

Historical Events

Overview of events that shaped the development of the Clark Atlanta Unviersity Art Museum and the Permanent Collection.

Date	Event
1931	At the invitation of President John Hope, Hale Woodruff joins the Atlanta University faculty to initiate the art program for the Laboratory School.
1933	Sculptor Elizabeth Prophet joins Woodruff on faculty. Woodruff's art students become affectionately known as the Out House School because of the privies that punctuate their landscapes.
1942	Harlem Renaissance cultural spokesman Alain Locke gives inaugural address at the first of 29 Atlanta University art annual series -- *Exhibitions of Paintings, Sculpture & Prints by Negro Artists of America*.
1950-52	Hale Woodruff paints and installs the Art of the Negro murals for Trevor Arnett Library.
1959	Atlanta University Exhibition Gallery is named for Catherine Hughes Waddell who donates 81 pieces of contemporary American art to the collection.
1968	Richard Long initiates African Art collection which is augmented through gifts from several donors: Jerome Furman, Rafe Henderson and Harvey Schreter.
1969	David Levy contributes works by Jacob Lawerence, Marquerite Zorach & John Marin to the collection. Art collection s recieve gift of 16 paintings by William H. Johnson.
1970	The last *Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture & Prints by Negro Artists of America* occurs.
1985	Judge Irwin C. Mollison collection is acquired, consisting of paintings and prints by William McKnight Farrow, Archibald Motley and William Eduard Scott.
1994	Renovation of former library facility, Trevor Arnett to rehouse collection in reading room.
1995	Bequest received from James Baldwin fine art collection and gift from artist Larry Walker.
1996	The new gallery reopens in collaboration with the Olympic Arts Festival under its current name Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries.
1997	Acquired gifts of works by: Lonnie Graham, Bob Tomlinson and Charles Dawson
1998	Radcliffe Bailey creates and donates *Date of Arrival* in honor of Hale Woodruff and lineage of professors. Collection receives artist gift from Helen Cohen and strip quilt from the Tysons, thereby initiating an African American quilt collection.
1999	Bill Hodges Galleries donate painting by Norman Lewis. Galleries acquire works Willie Jinks, Yusef Bell and Louis Delsarte
2000	Kathryn and Ken Chenualt donate portfolio of linocuts by Hale Woodruff: Selections from the Atlanta Period 1931-1946. Coreen Jennings donates print by Wilmer Jennings. Galleries acquire works by Sam Gilliam and Luftee Sabree.
2001	The works of Mildred Thompson, Stefanie Jackson, Coreen Simpson, Lynn MarshallLinnemeier, Bongi Bengu, Eldizer Cortor, Diane Edison and Susan Ross enter the collection.
2002-2014	The works of Sheila Pree Bright, Lucinda Bunnen, Wille Cole, Jennifer Mack, Thornton Dial, John Dowell, Robin Holder, Larry Rivers, Felrath Hines, Lev T. Mills, Eleanor Neal, Mario Petrirena, Robert Reid, John Riddle, Yanique Norman, Kevin Sipp, Phoenix Savage, and Mildred Thompson enter the collection.
2015	The Board of CAU approves changing the name from Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries to Clark Atlanta University Art Museum

Collections

Art of the Negro Mural Series

Installed in the Aspacio Atrium of Trevor Arnett Hall are the Art of the Negro murals, painted by Hale Woodruff in the 1950-51. Consisting of six panels on canvas, the murals depict the cultural art history of African and other tribal art forms, which subsequently impacted on Western art. Explicit attention is given to the emergence and presence of the visual artist in the African Diaspora. The Art of the Negro series is considered to be among the more outstanding murals in the American art tradition.

Historic and Modern African American

Anchored by paintings by the some of the earliest formally trained African American artists, like many of the canonical African American artists of the mid-twentieth century (William H. Johnson, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Sam Gilliam, Jacob Lawrence, and Norman Lewis).

Contemporary Art

The contemporary art collection is comprised of works artists who have spent a significant amount of time in the Atlanta area, like Benny Andrews, Radcliffe Bailey, Sheila Pree Bright, Kojo Griffin, and Larry Walker. Due to donations by Samuel and Dorothy Rosenman and Chauncey Waddell, a former Trustee of Atlanta University, the twentieth century collection also includes nearly 85 works by artists such as Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Alexander Calder, John Marin, Irene Rice Pereira, Gerard Ernest Schneider, and Zao Wou-Ki. This collection also includes works by self-taught artists like Thornton Dial and Nellie Mae Rowe as well as crafts such as sweetgrass baskets and quilts from Gee’s Bend.

African Art

Although the collection is primarily discussed as consisting of mid-twentieth-century American art, it also includes a sampling of African art and twentieth century art of people not of African descent. The African collection consists of 382 works of traditional art, primarily from West Africa, with a few innovative pieces from Central and East Africa.