LESSONS AND CHANTS is an interactive forum dedicated to the contributions of American artists of African descent to our nation's culture and identity. Through video taped interviews and still images of their work, these artists express their lives, personal relationships, and reasons for working. They create in their living spaces and encode the unique resources of their African heritage into a visual language rooted in American popular painting and sculpture. While many have produced art since childhood, they first emerged as public figures in the decades following the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 60's.
Primary film and video documentation is provided by Judith McWillie, professor of Painting and Drawing of the University of Georgia's Lamar Dodd School of Art. In addition to viewing artists' pages, you are encouraged to visit the bibliography and share your thoughts by posting on the site. Scroll down to begin.
Reverend George Kornegay's "Sacred Mountains". Residence and testimony. Brent, Alabama. 1992. Photo: Judith McWillie
 John B. "J.B." Murray |
 James "Son" Thomas |
 Mary Tillman Smith |
 Rev. George Kornegay |