An exhibition of works by popular Memphis-based artist George Hunt
- Ongoing: until Saturday, November 28, 2009
- Tuesday: 9:00am
- Wednesday: 9:00am
- Thursday: 9:00am
- Friday: 9:00am
- Saturday: 9:00am
- Where: Delta Cultural Center, Helena-West Helena
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: Not available
An exhibition of works by popular Memphis-based artist George Hunt, considered by many as one of the South’s most significant African-American artists, is underway at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street.
Hunt’s bold, colorful work has been featured in numerous galleries and museums and on highly-sought posters for music festivals and other events. In 2005, Hunt’s tribute to the Little Rock Nine, “America Cares,” was featured as part of the U.S. Postal Service’s “To Form A More Perfect Union” series of postage stamps honoring the Civil Rights Movement.
The “Conjurating the Blues” exhibition of 29 works by Hunt focusing on musical themes will continue at the DCC through Saturday, November 28. Hunt will present a special gallery talk at the DCC Visitors Center on Friday, October 9, in conjunction with the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival. Admission is free to the exhibit and to Hunt’s presentation.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The public is encouraged to attend all DCC events.
Hunt, a Louisiana native, was raised in Texas and Hot Springs, Arkansas. Family members had recognized Hunt’s artistic sensibilities at an early age and he would study art while attending the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on a football scholarship. He completed post-graduate studies at the University of Memphis and New York University, settling in Memphis where he coached and taught art for three decades at George Washington Carver High School.
Today, Hunt works from his studio over-looking historic Beale Street.
His artwork, Hunt has said, is influenced by his experiences as a Southern African-American male, the Civil Rights Movement, folk traditions, and blues music and culture. One important blues influence in his life, Hunt has said, was spending time at Helena’s Dreamland Café, a juke joint owned by his mother-in-law, where he listened to Sonny Boy Williamson and watched and interacted with other patrons of the establishment.
Hunt took on a large role in America’s celebration of 2003 as the “Year of the Blues.” As part of the celebration, Hunt created a new body of work depicting the history of blues music that he then toured across the nation, from New York’s Radio City Music Hall to Helena’s blues festival, from Clarksdale to Seattle. As part of the celebration, Hunt also told tales of blues music and life in the rural South in a 13-part public radio series. In 2003, Hunt was also honored with the Blues Foundation’s prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award.
“America Cares,” Hunt’s tribute to the Little Rock Nine, was originally commissioned for the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, but took a detour to the White House where it hung for five years during the Clinton Administration. “We are grateful that our visitors and staff have such a powerful image of hope and freedom to greet, inspire, and inform them,” Hillary Clinton wrote in a personal note to Hunt.
Perhaps Hunt’s biggest impact on popular culture lies in his continuing relationship with Memphis in May’s Beal Street Music Festival. For more than 15 years, Hunt’s work has been selected to capture the spirit of the event for the festival’s posters.
His art has also been utilized to promote events at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Cleveland, Ohio, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the Chicago Blues Festival. He also completed 24 portraits for the Blues & Legends Hall of Fame Museum at Robinsonville, Mississippi.
Gallery hours at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street and the nearby DCC Depot at 95 Missouri Street are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. “King Biscuit Time,” the nation’s longest-running blues radio program, is hosted each weekday at the DCC Visitors Center by “Sunshine” Sonny Payne, from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. “Delta Sounds,” hosted by DCC Assistant Director Terry Buckalew and Payne, is broadcast each Friday at 1 to 1:30 p.m. An additional broadcast of “King Biscuit Time” is also slated for 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, as part of the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival celebration.
For more information, interested persons can call the Delta Cultural Center at (870)-338-4350 or toll free at (800)-358-0972 or visit the DCC online at www.deltaculturalcenter.com.
The Delta Cultural Center shares the vision of all seven agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage – to preserve and promote Arkansas heritage as a source of pride and satisfaction. Other agencies within the department are the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Arts Council, and the Natural Heritage Commission.
This event was posted Oct. 9, 2009 and last updated Oct. 9, 2009
