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Dark Roots

Jul 15, 2005 - Sep 17, 2005
10am - 5pm

Dark Roots emphasized the historically significant roles played by two Atlanta based institutions in bringing some of America’s most gifted visual artists who are African American to the national forefront.  The Atlanta University Annual Art Exhibition and Competition, known as the AU Annual and The Atlanta Life Insurance Company Annual African American Art Competition and Exhibition known as the Atlanta Life Annual, jointly form the basis of a rich visual arts tradition of local, regional and national importance.  Each annual also contributed uniquely to the social, educational and cultural life of America by providing professional platforms for the viewing, discussion and broader appreciation of work.

Initiated in 1942 on the recommendation of artist and educator Hale Aspacio Woodruff (1900-1980) and with the enthusiastic support of Atlanta University President Dr. Rufus Clement, the AU Annual was the first institutionalized yearly presentation of nationally juried work by African American Artists in the United States.  Continuing through 1970, the prestigious purchase prize component to the project contributed largely to Atlanta University (currently Clark Atlanta University) amassing one of the most impressive academically held collections of African American art in the country.

The Atlanta Life Annual, held between 1980 and 1992, reestablished a national forum for the presentation, purchase and promotion of artwork by African Americans.  Established by President and Chief Executive Officer Jesse Hill, Jr. as a core component to the company’s seventy-fifth anniversary celebration, the event was modeled after the AU Annual, serving the additional purpose of being an exemplary corporate supporter of artistic expressions reflecting various aspects of African American cultural life.

Thank you to the lenders to this exhibition:

Atlanta Life Insurance Company

Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries

Paul R. Jones

Spelman Museum of Fine Art

 -Amalia Amaki, Curator

View Catalogue/Database Exhibition Record

 

Charles Henry Alston

William Ellisworth Artis

Dawould Bey

William Buchanan

Selma Hortense Burke

Calvin Burnett

William Carter

Elizabeth Catlett

Willis Bing Davis

Louis Delsarte

William Duffy

Tina Dunkley

Frederick Flemister

Paul Goodnight

William M. Hayden

William H. Johnson

Jacob Lawrence

Norman Lewis

Robert Martin

Valerie Maynard

Sana Musasama

Hayward Louis Oubre

Faith Ringgold

John N. Robinson

William Edouard Scott

Jewel W. Simon

Alvin Smith

Leo F. Twiggs

Charles White

Stanley White

John Woodrow Wilson

Hale Aspacio Woodruff