Benny Andrews papers, 1945-1968

Collection Information

Size: 5 Microfilm reels

Summary: This microfilm collection of Benny Andrews papers includes autobiographical notes; family, general, and business correspondence; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements; notebooks with drawings; sketchbooks; and photographs.

Biographical/Historical Note

Benny Andrews (1930-2006) was an African American painter and educator in New York, N.Y. After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1958, he moved to New York to continue his art career. In 1962 he had his first solo exhibition at Forum Gallery. Throughout his career, Andrews developed a reputation as a socially-minded artist and he was an advocate for greater visibility for African American artists in the art world. He led art education programs for underserved students and taught at Queens College through the 1990s, and also served as the Director of the Visual Arts Program for the National Endowment for the Arts from 1982 to 1984. Andrews also co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, which demanded greater visibility for people of color in art musuems and in 1969 protested the Harlem On My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900-1968 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Provenance

Lent for microfilming 1968 by Benny Andrews.

Related Materials

Emory University Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library holds the Benny Andrews papers, 1940-2006.

Language Note

English .

Location of Originals

• Originals returned to the lender Benny Andrews after microfilming.