David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History Stewardship Report
Born in Eatonton, Georgia, David Driskell (1931–2020) was a revered American artist whose work inspired generations of artists and audiences alike. Icons of Nature and History reveals the artist’s aesthetic inheritances from home, family, the South, and his formative education—at Howard University, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, and the Catholic University of America—as well as the influence of his sojourns to Europe, Africa, and South America. His artistic evolution is marked by distinctive eras, experiences, and experiments with media. What remains steadfast in his paintings and collages is a commitment to a symbolic form that elevates the mind and the spirit above that which exists in the physical world: these are Driskell’s icons. (On view June 19-September 12, 2021)
2075 visitors in its first five days with a total social media reach of 48,971 (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
While the exhibition was on view, 14,679 individuals visited the museum with a total social media reach of 585,286 (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
7,954 unique page views were recorded (Overall website was 92,063 unique users and 54,649 unique page views)
Community Partnerships
Community Voices
Shaun Leonardo on David Driskell's Self-Portrait, 1953
Marcia Minter and Adrienne Patel reflect on David Driskell as a Mentor
Events & Programming
2 Small Group Donor Tours led by Shalini Le Gall - In-person, 40 attendees
June 17, 2021 - Members Opening Program with Jessica May and Julie McGee - Virtual
June 19, 2021 - Family Art-Making: Driskell Collage + Mixed Media with Rachel Gloria Adams - In-person, 100 attendees
July 21, 2021 - Summer Party supported by the Director’s Circle and Contemporaries – In-person, 240 attendees
July 28, 2021 - Indigo Arts Alliance Present Driskell’s Legacy and the Land: Re-Contextualizing Environmental Justice - In-person, 40 attendees
August 21, 2021 - Indigo Arts Alliance Presents African American Forms and Iconography In-person Workshop at Indigo Studio with Daniel Minter - In-person at Indigo Arts Alliance, 13 attendees
August 25, 2021 - In the Shadow of a Pine: Black Poets from Maine Respond to David Driskell - In-person at Maine Audubon, 80 attendees
September 8, 2021 - PMA Films and Indigo Arts Alliance presents Black Art: In the Absence of Light - In-person at Hannaford Hall, USM Campus, 71 attendees
September 9, 2021 - PMA Films and Indigo Arts Alliance present a Conversation with Black Art: In the Absence of Light Director Sam Pollard - Virtual
David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History Members Opening Program with Jessica May and Julie McGee, June 17, 2021
Indigo Arts Alliance presents Driskell's Legacy and the Land: Re-Contextualizing Environmental Justice, July 28, 2021
Bernard Osher Lecture with Dr. Adrienne L. Childs, David C. Driskell: Interiors, Objects, and the Spirit of Form, July 13, 2021
Indigo Arts Alliance and PMA Films presents a Conversation with Black Art: In The Absence of Light Filmmaker Sam Pollard, September 9, 2021
