by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
“The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art” display at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is making a connection with Jacksonville in more ways than one.
The exhibit chronicling the achievements of African American artists from the mid-19th century to the present is on display through April 17. It includes 80 original works collected by Dr. Walter O. Evans of Savannah, Ga.
“The whole spectrum of African American art becomes visible in this exhibit,” said Maarten van de Guchte, director of the Cummer Museum.
A section of Jacksonville-related items in the exhibit is exclusive to the Cummer Museum.
Evans said the Cummer Museum asked him if he had anything in his collection with a local connection.
“I found books, documents, letters and some pieces of art in my collection that relate to Jacksonville,” he said.
Some items include Jacksonville native James Weldon Johnson’s travelling trunk, a sculpture done by Augusta Savage of Green Cove Springs and the original art work done for the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” – a song Johnson wrote.
Other aspects of the exhibit are also making a connection with the community. “New View,” a partnership between the Cummer Museum and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, is a comprehensive art education program that complements “The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art.”
Hope McMath, director of education for the museum, said the program was designed to expose students to the African American culture with the opportunity to compose original art based on their own interpretation of “The Creation” by Aaron Douglas.
Students from Douglas Anderson created a 30-foot mural for the Cummer that will later be donated to the Clara White Mission. McMath said the mural is meant to show the connection between Jacksonville and the concepts of the Harlem Renaissance.
An exhibition showcasing student artwork will be on display through April 17 in the museum’s Art Connections area.
“[The collaboration] is mighty powerful,” said Evans. “I am getting as much out of this as the students.”
Evans said that although the exhibit has been to over 50 cities since 1991, he experienced something for the first time at the Cummer Museum on Monday.
“We were here with children from the [Florida] School for the Deaf and Blind,] and we shared some of the works with them,” he said. “It touched an emotional nerve.”
Evans is one of the nation’s most prominent collectors of African American art. He began collecting art in the 1970s and now he has thousands of pieces of art and literature. His first major purchase was a series of serigraphs by Jacob Lawrence titled “The John Brown Series.”
“Before I knew it, I was hooked,” said Evans.
Evans said the Cummer Museum is the last venue for the exhibit.