As a Black artist in Chicago during the 1960s, Keith Morrison created abstract works.
“It took race out of the equation,” said Morrison.
But as he matured, he wanted his work to reflect social and cultural issues, so he began creating more realistic figurative art.
One of his earlier works reflecting that philosophy is on display in the new virtual Black Artists Showcase, which features artwork from the permanent collection of the Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art at the College of Lake County in Grayslake.
Each piece shown was created by a Black artist including longtime CLC art faculty member Terry Dixon, who died last year, and retired CLC art professor and painter Reginald Coleman. The online art gallery also includes artist biographies, and can be viewed through Sept. 15 at https://www.clcillinois.edu/campus-life/arts/wright-gallery/black-artists-showcase. The works reflect a variety of styles as well as the history of Black artists.
“We wanted to give Black artists another voice at the school and support diversity at the school,” said Ann Rintz, the art gallery’s curator and an art professor at CLC. “I think it’s important.”
Unable to display the works in the physical art gallery since March due to COVID-19, she and her assistant Breanna Bader decided to create the virtual showcase.
The Black Artists Showcase features pieces stored in the collection, hanging in the main gallery located in the Grayslake campus library and displayed throughout the college’s three campuses.
“It would be nearly impossible to gather them all. It’s more meaningful,” when presented together online, Rintz said.
When Bader began reviewing the more than 800 pieces in the collection looking for works by Black artists, “we realized the collection should head in the direction of more diversity. It’s a great collection, but we need to add diversity,” Rintz said.
Rintz said College of Lake County President Lori Suddick agreed. In fact, while Rintz was putting together the collection, Suddick asked if one of the pieces could be hung in her office.
“She really wanted something that said, ‘Diversity,'” Rintz said. Suddick chose “Quiet Courage,” by Jameel Rasheed.
The city of Lynwood, California, commissioned Rasheed to create the piece in 1994, and it’s now part of the CLC collection. The piece depicts civil rights activist Rosa Parks on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus.
Other works in the online showcase are by Lake Bluff resident Reginald Coleman, a retired CLC art professor and former department chair.
“Reggie was experiencing quite a level of popularity at the time we purchased a lot of his pieces,” Rintz said, and his work can be seen at CLC’s Lakeshore campus.
“What truly makes him unique is that his work is abstract,” said Bader, referring to his paintings of various colors juxtaposed in geometric forms.
Interestingly, in the 1960s, Morrison was creating abstract art, because he said it got accepted more at exhibitions of juried shows.
His piece owned by CLC is called “Strollers,” and shows two people walking by two teenagers sitting on a bench – but no heads or faces are shown. He created it during his transition from abstract to more realistic art, he said.
“I was thinking about anxiety,” Morrison said. “I didn’t want it to be too explicit about what is happening. There’s a tension I wanted to get across.
“I think I was looking at Edward Hopper’s figurative paintings too and may have been attracted to the sense of human isolation in his work.”
Morrison said he was honored to learn that his piece is in the showcase alongside works from an artist he knew and admired, Margaret Burroughs.
“She was one of the founding members of the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, and promoted African-American artists,” he said.
Works by Burroughs in the online exhibit include linocuts of a boy reading, a landscape and people at the beach.
Other works are by Terry Dixon, a longtime art instructor at CLC who died in 2019.
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“His work is based on jazz and his experiences with jazz music,” Rintz said.
One piece that is 72 x 72 inches is called “Kinetic Rhythm” and features guitars. “You can feel (the rhythm) when you see it.” Rintz said.
Dixon’s wife donated the piece to CLC last year, and it’s now in storage. “I can’t wait to get it up on a wall,” Rintz said, adding she’s excited the public can see it now on the virtual Black Artists Showcase..
Some of the works in the virtual gallery will be hung in a show in the physical gallery featuring pieces done in black and white. Only students, faculty and other CLC workers can view the live gallery, which will open soon.
In addition, an exhibit featuring Hispanic students from the college will be presented in the library’s reading room sometime next month.
The gallery is also creating an online version featuring Latin artists working and living in Lake County.
“We’re going to do this dual platform,” Rintz said. “We’ll have multiple things going on virtually and the actual physical gallery going as well, there will be more art than ever was shown in a semester.”
Said Bader: “We want to continue to have a virtual presence. Not everybody can be on campus right now. We hope by using both platforms we can reach more people.”
Hispanic artists work sought for virtual gallery
The College of Lake County is asking for submissions of art work by Hispanics to be featured in an online gallery showcase. Any Latin visual artists working or living in Lake County of all ages can submit one work on line for potential use in the virtual gallery. The deadline to submit a work through the gallery’s website at clc.illinois.edu/gallery is Sept. 8. Ann Rintz, curator at the Robert T. Wright Art Gallery at CLC, said she’s reaching out to local art groups and the public to secure photos of these works to be shown on line. The virtual gallery will run Sept. 21-Oct. 19.
“It’s a nice way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month,” Rintz said. For more information, call 847-543-2405.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the name of College of Lake County President Lori Suddick.