The Art of Delaney: Redeeming, Reconciling & Healing

While I was in Knoxville for the opening of Through the Unusual Door, the exquisite monographic exhibition of Beauford's work at the Knoxville Museum of Art, I had the pleasure of returning to the Beck Cultural Center, which is Knoxville's storehouse of African-American history and culture and a primary repository of black history and culture in East Tennessee. Beck is restoring the Delaney family home on Dandridge Avenue with the intent to create The Delaney Museum at Beck.

Delaney home on Dandridge Avenue
© Wells International Foundation
Beck's president, Rev. Reneé Kesler, gave a private, guided tour of the center and proudly presented several items recovered from the home. She also spoke passionately about the original performing arts tribute to Beauford and the Delaney family that she is writing and producing. It is called The Art of Delaney: Redeeming, Reconciling & Healing. Through this Black History Month show, she will interconnect the story of the Delaney family with the story of African-American history through the arts.

Photo of the Delaney Family, 1909
Top, left to right: Samuel Emery, John Samuel, Delia
Bottom, left to right: Joseph, Ogust Mae, Beauford, Naomi
Image © Discover Paris!

Rev. Kesler says that “Beauford Delaney is by far the most important artist Knoxville produced in the twentieth century, at least in terms of national and international reputation. This special tribute will showcase the influence of Beauford’s art and its ability to redeem, reconcile and heal, at a time when we need it the most."

Hosted by Dr. Maxine Thompson Davis, former Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life at the University of Tennessee Knoxville,The Art of Delaney will feature several acts:

- Music by the Knoxville Opera Gospel Choir, which is celebrating over ten years of concert performances under the direction of Jeanie Turner Melton.

- Singing performance of the final scene from Okoye’s Harriet Tubman by Adia Evans, accompanied by Brian Salesky, Executive and Artistic Director of the Knoxville Opera.

- West African drum and dance performances by the Austin East Magnet High School performing arts department under the direction of Malaika Guthrie.

- Fashions that bring art to life by Yvette Rice of YR Productions.

- Music by saxophonist Casey McClintock.

- Presentation of the award-winning theatrical performance, “The Cure” by Dalton Miksa of Morristown West High School and Chris Cox of the University of Alabama.

- Portrayals of Beauford's mother, Delia Delaney, by Artece Slay and Beauford by Malik Baines.

The Art of Delaney will be performed at the Bijou Theatre, 803 S Gay St in downtown Knoxville on Monday, February 24 at 6:30 PM.

Bijou Theatre
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students K-12 and are available online at Ticketmaster (fees apply). Bijou tickets can be purchased at the Tennessee Theatre box office located at 224 Clinch Avenue on the side of the theatre ($1.00 fee).

The performance is sponsored by the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and the Bijou Theatre with support from UBS Financial Services.

Beauford Delaney banner on Gay Street
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney

Knoxville Continues to Celebrate Beauford - What's Coming Next

I'm back in Paris after visiting Knoxville for the FABULOUS opening of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door.

Banners bearing Beauford's image line the streets around the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Banners near the Knoxville Museum of Art
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
Signage on the façade of the museum announces the exhibition.

What's on at the Knoxville Museum of Art
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
Inside, a enlarged photo of Beauford and James Baldwin walking down a Paris avenue greets visitors.

Monique Y. Wells and photo of James Baldwin and Beauford Delaney
Image courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art
The museum was packed for the VIP preview of the exhibition and the excitement of the attendees was palpable.

Attendees at VIP Preview of Through the Unusual Door
Image courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art
The exhibition itself is exquisite!

Exhibition rooms for Through the Unusual Door
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
It has whetted the appetite of Knoxville's citizens for the next big celebration of the lives and work of Beauford and Baldwin - the University of Tennessee Knoxville's symposium entitled "In a Speculative Light."

Banners for "In a Speculative Light" on campus
at the University of Tennessee Knoxville
Photo courtesy of Amy J. Elias, Ph.D.
Director, University of Tennessee Humanities Center
Originally planned as a closed event, UT Humanities Center director and conference organizer Amy Elias has now opened the symposium to the public due to popular demand. Entry is free.

For additional access, most of the sessions will be livestreamed.

The keynote speaker, NYU professor Fred Moten, will discuss Beauford's painting in relation to Baldwin's writing and Elvin Jones' theory of music on Thursday, February 20, at 3:30 pm in the UTK Student Union Auditorium.

The complete schedule for this three-day event can be found here:

https://baldwindelaney.org/schedule/

"In a Speculative Light: The Portrait Project" is an innovative addition to the symposium that honors Beauford's love of portraiture. Four artists - Jered Sprecher, Joshua Bienko, Rubens Ghenov, and Mary Laube - have offered to create portraits of symposium speakers, who will be asked to sit for their sessions in a pop-up studio in the UT Student Union.

During the week of February 17, visitors to campus will be able to view an exhibition called "The Paris Years: Paintings by Beauford Delaney from the Artist’s Estate" at the Student Union Art Gallery on the UT campus.

This show is being organized by Derek Spratley, Esq., the executor of the Beauford Delaney estate, to give the public and UT students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to see original Delaney artwork that will be available for purchase after the close of the exhibition.

James Baldwin Feted in Knoxville

During African-American History Month 2020, Beauford's hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee is celebrating Beauford's dear friend James Baldwin just as much as it is celebrating Beauford!

James Baldwin
(1963) Pastel on Paper
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Here is the list of planned events:

Movie Screening ~ James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket
Sunday, February 2, 2020 | 2:00 PM
Location: Lawson McGhee Library Contact: nhill@knoxlib.org

Socratic Seminars ~ James Baldwin: The Fire Next Time
Tuesdays, February 4 and 11, 2020 | 6:30 PM
Location: Lawson McGhee Library Contact: nhill@knoxlib.org

Movie Screening ~ James Baldwin: I Am Not Your Negro
Sunday, February 9, 2020 | 5:00 PM
Location: La Bamba Seafood, 2619 Chapman Hwy #1913, Knoxville, TN 37920
Contact: nhill@knoxlib.org

Spoken Word Performance ~ Black Atticus and Friends
Sunday, February 9, 2020 | After Movie Screening
Location: La Bamba Seafood, 2619 Chapman Hwy #1913, Knoxville, TN 37920
Contact: nhill@knoxlib.org

Socratic Seminars ~ James Baldwin
Tuesday February 18, 3:00 PM (Murphy Branch) & Thursday, February 27, 6:00 pm (Bearden Branch)
Contact: nhill@knoxlib.org

An Eruption of Creativity – An Interview with Gary Elgin

This week, I'm pleased to share an interview with Gary Elgin, an artist who adopted the city of Knoxville as his own and who feels kinship with Beauford's life and work.

Gary Elgin
Image courtesy of Gary Elgin
Les Amis: Tell us a little about yourself.
GE: I'm a transplanted Knoxvillian, having been born in Chicago, Illinois in 1962. Adopted by two loving parents, who always encouraged every creative avenue I wanted to explore. I always exhibited visual artistic talents from the time I could hold a crayon, but I was a late bloomer in other aspects of life only coming out at age 30.

Les Amis: You describe yourself as a queer portrait painter. Does this mean that you are queer and you paint portraits, that you paint portraits of queer people, or both?
GE: First I guess I should explain My embrace of the word queer. This word has had a checkered past both in and outside the LGBTQ community. I have embraced it from almost day one of my identifying as 'other than'. Although I identify as 'gay' I find the more inclusive term queer to be preferable. I have been a visual artist nearly all my life, but I would have to admit that my queer nature has always, whether I knew it or not, informed my art. If not in subject matter, in energy or color or style. It has to.

Les Amis: What drew you to portrait painting?
GE: I honestly couldn't say. I have always since the very beginnings been attracted to faces! One of my more recent exhibits was entitled "Familiar Faces" (one of the key pieces was coincidentally a portrait of James Baldwin that now is in the collection of the Knoxville Public Library system at the Burlington Branch). I've always been fascinated with faces and eyes.

Les Amis: Do you paint things other than portraits?
GE: Oh yes! I particularly enjoy painting owls, animals of all sorts and clowns (I was a professional performing clown from about 1982 to 2001).

Les Amis: You discovered Beauford’s art at a KMA exhibition upon moving to Knoxville in 1992. If you can remember the paintings by him that you saw during that show, please describe them.
GE: I honestly do not remember the first pieces I saw other than to say they were striking... Passionate... and seemingly an eruption of creativity. His portraits evoked emotions in me… this is before ever reading anything about his life or his challenges. When I first saw his 1944 "Portrait of James Baldwin," I felt an instant connection. On a very deep level.

Portrait of James Baldwin
(1944) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Les Amis: Perhaps you are aware of the digital exhibition that celebrates Beauford’s portraiture. What are your thoughts about the evolution of his portraits over the years?
GE: I find his early portraits steeped in realism and exactness are very similar to how many of us begin painting, before we give ourselves permission to are creative true selves.

Les Amis: In what way(s) has Beauford’s art influenced yours?
GE: He (it) gave me “permission.”

Les Amis: Have you ever done a self-portrait?
GE: HAVE I !!!??? (laughs) in 1989, I had amassed an extensive collection of self-portraits. I launched an exhibit and paired them with journal entries that appeared appropriate. "Long, Hard Looks Inside: Portraits of a Gay Life" was a very satisfying exhibit for me. It enabled me to get a lot of junk out of my system.

Les Amis: Have you ever done a portrait of Beauford?
GE: Started, but not yet completed.

Les Amis: Perhaps you’ve seen Beauford’s 1944 self-portrait at the Art Institute of Chicago. How would you describe this work?
GE: To me, it seems to be influenced by Vincent van Gogh's "Portrait of a Young Man". Although I understand the resemblance to a self-portrait by Matisse. The arched eyebrow and penetrating gaze draws the audience in.

Les Amis: In what way has Beauford’s story inspired you?
GE: His courage. Through all of his trials and tribulations with his inner voices... He still had what I would consider to be courage and that is expressed through his work.

Les Amis: How well would you say his life and work are known in the LGBTQ community – locally or nationally?
GE: Sadly, I would say it is not as well-known especially locally. I believe that will change with this upcoming exhibit. The energy and resources Knoxville has put toward this latest collection of events will certainly catch the attention of even the casual observer.

Les Amis: Are you using his story or his art as part of your activist activities?
GE: Most of my activist activities happened from 1992 to 2005 and I can definitely say he as well as James Baldwin heavily influenced how I went about my work.

Les Amis: If so, in what way?
GE: I did my utmost to represent the LGBTQ community in a professional and upstanding manner. Even in the most heated moments, I did my best to stay polite, soft-spoken and yet direct. I also kept a creative thread through each of the activities and social actions we participated in.

Les Amis: Any final thoughts?
GE: I am thrilled to be living in Beauford & Joseph Delaney's hometown and have lived to be able to see them celebrated in such a grand way! It is much deserved.