The University of Delaware and benefactor Paul R. Jones of Atlanta are preparing for a major art exhibition featuring works from the Paul R. Jones Collection, the largest private holding of works by African-American artists in the world, during the 2004-5 academic year.
UD has undertaken a $4.6 million renovation of historic Mechanical Hall on the campus in Newark, Del., as a gallery to house the extensive collection, which features paintings, drawings, photographs and three-dimensional works.
Mechanical Hall will be the primary locus of the upcoming exhibition, with works also to be shown in the University Gallery in Old College and in the Perkins Student Center.
With more than 1,500 pieces, the Paul R. Jones Collection is one of the oldest, largest and most complete holdings of African-American art in the world.
Currently showcased in the collector's Atlanta home and in exhibitions across the country, the Paul R. Jones Collection includes works by such noted artists as Charles White, Herman "Kofi" Bailey and David Driskell. Other artists represented include Elizabeth Catlett, Earl Hooks, Leo Twiggs, Stanley White, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, P.H. Polk and Selma Burke, who created the image of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that appears on the dime.
Jones, a federal administrator and entrepreneur, began compiling the collection in the mid-1960s. A pioneer in the field, Jones got to know many of the artists on a personal basis and jokes that at times he was as much social worker as collector, with his purchases often meaning a meal or the next month's rent.
The Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, an organization that champions cultural diversity in the visual arts, recognized Jones with a 2002 James Van Der Zee Award for lifetime contributions to the arts. This spring, Art & Antiques magazine named Jones one of the top 100 collectors in America.
For more about Jones and the collection, see the web site at [http://www.udel.edu/PaulRJonesCollection/index.html].
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