The Frist Art Museum presents David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship, an exhibition that traces the artist’s career and his relationships with contemporaries. It will be shown concurrently with Kindred Spirits: Intergenerational Forms of Expression, 1966–1999, an exhibition that explores the legacy and influence of Fisk University’s art department, which Driskell led from 1966 to 1976.
Organized by the David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, David C. Driskell & Friends will be on view from March 14 through June 1, 2025. During the same dates, Kindred Spirits, organized through a partnership between Fisk University Galleries and the Frist, will be on view at both locations.
David C. Driskell & Friends highlights the artistic legacy of David C. Driskell (1931–2020) and the importance of his relationships with fellow artists—many of whom hold a significant place in the 20th-century art canon, such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Earl J. Hooks, Jacob Lawrence, Alma W. Thomas, Kara Walker, Hale Woodruff, and many others. In total, there are more than 70 artworks by 35 prominent African American artists, as well as ephemera from the Driskell Papers that exemplify the artists’ unique friendships.
“We are proud to bring Driskell’s story back to Nashville, a city that played a central role in his journey,” writes Frist Art Museum Associate Curator Michael Ewing. “While many envision the modern artist as solitary, Driskell’s career tells a different story—one rooted in collaboration and community. As an artist, educator, curator, and historian, Driskell championed and elevated African American art, emphasizing the importance of both individual achievement and collective support.”
Driskell’s collaborations shaped his artistic vision. He was instrumental in organizing solo exhibitions for artists including Bearden, Catlett, Hooks, and Thomas. He also played a key role in curating retrospectives for figures like Claude Clark and Aaron Douglas.
In 1976, Driskell curated the groundbreaking exhibition Two Centuries of Black American Art, which was foundational for the field of African American art history. Organized for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, it also traveled to Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition received widespread recognition, and its accompanying catalogue remains a key text for artists and scholars of African American art. Many of the artists featured in Two Centuries of Black American Art are included in David C. Driskell & Friends.
Originally conceived by Dr. Sheila Bergman (University of California, Riverside), Curlee Raven Holton (former director The David C. Driskell Center), and Heather Sincavage (Wilkes University), the exhibition’s presentation at the Frist was overseen by Michael Ewing. The collaborative effort behind this showcase mirrors the ethos it seeks to celebrate, emphasizing the interconnectedness that defined Driskell’s artistic legacy.
Kindred Spirits: Intergenerational Forms of Expression, 1966–1999
Kindred Spirits examines and celebrates a critical period spanning David C. Driskell’s tenure as chair of Fisk University’s Art Department (1966–1976) and the overlapping tenure of artist and educator Earl J. Hooks (1968–1999). Organized through a partnership between Fisk University Galleries and the Frist Art Museum, this exhibition will showcase more than 50 art objects and archival materials, including recordings of oral interviews, and will span gallery spaces at both the Frist and Fisk University’s Carl Van Vechten Gallery and at the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library Special Collections.
The year 1966 marked the centennial of Fisk University, the oldest institution for higher learning in Nashville. It also represented a moment of transition after the retirement of Aaron Douglas, founder and chair of Fisk’s Art Department and a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The appointment of Driskell as Douglas’s successor ushered in a broadening view of the African diasporic arts. “Driskell’s vision aimed at expanding the department by hiring additional full- and part-time professors, establishing visiting-artist and artist-in-residency programs, planning a progressive exhibition schedule, and securing a dedicated building that would serve both the university and the Nashville community,” write exhibition co-curators Michael Ewing and Jamaal B. Sheats, director and curator of Fisk University Galleries.
This vision was shared and further realized by faculty members such as Robert Hall, Earl J. Hooks, Stephanie Pogue, and Greg Ridley, among others. “Kindred Spirits celebrates this lineage of artist-educators, their exchange of ideas, and their modes of expression across generations. This spirit born in Nashville continues to manifest itself through the canons of art history today,” write Ewing and Sheats.
About David C. Driskell
David C. Driskell (1931–2020) helped to advance the field of African American art history and was one of its leading authorities. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Driskell grew up in North Carolina. An art major at Howard University, Driskell studied with James A. Porter and Loïs Mailou Jones, professors who profoundly impacted his future career. In 1953, he received a scholarship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. He remained a pivotal member of the prestigious school’s community for decades to come, serving on the board of governors (1975–89) and boards of trustees (1989–2002); he also maintained a studio practice each summer in Fairmont, Maine. In 1962, Driskell earned an MFA degree from the Catholic University of America. The recipient of numerous fellowships, awards, and prizes, he also held 13 honorary doctoral degrees in art.
Driskell was also an influential educator, teaching at Talladega College, Howard University, Fisk University, and finally the University of Maryland. In 2001, the University of Maryland established the David C. Driskell Center, which honors Driskell by preserving the rich heritage of African American visual art and culture.
Driskell’s time at Fisk University marked a pivotal chapter in his career. As an associate professor and later the chair of the Art Department, he profoundly shaped the University and Nashville’s art scene. Through groundbreaking exhibitions, visiting-artist programs, and artist-in-residence initiatives, he broadened the understanding of the African and African American visual art canons.
Program
Opening Conversation: David C. Driskell & Friends
Thursday, March 13, 2025, 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Auditorium
Gallery admission required
Join Heather Sincavage, associate professor of art and director of the Sordoni Art Gallery at Wilkes University; Shelia Bergman, executive director of the Catalina Museum for Art and History; and Michael Ewing, associate curator at the Frist Art Museum, for this conversation about the exhibition David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship.
Exhibition Credit
David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship is organized by The Driskell Center, University of Maryland, with support from the Teiger Foundation.
Kindred Spirits: Intergenerational Forms of Expression, 1966–1999 is organized by the Frist Art Museum and Fisk University Galleries and co-curated by Michael Ewing, Frist Art Museum associate curator, and Jamaal B. Sheats, Fisk University Galleries director and curator.
Supporter Acknowledgment
Supported in part by the Sandra Schatten Foundation.
The Frist Art Museum is supported in part by The Frist Foundation, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Fisk University Galleries, is supported in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Marlene and Spencer Hays Foundation.
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More information: fristcenter.org
