[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 119 (Monday, July 28, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     GREAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTISTS SELECTED FOR NATIONAL ART SHOW

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                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 28, 2014

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call to the attention of my 
colleagues an upcoming national art show that will showcase America's 
creativity and diversity. In August, great American art will be 
displayed on billboards and buses, as well as in airports, malls, movie 
theaters, and transit centers. This portfolio, known as ``Art 
Everywhere US,'' was selected by top museums and was guided by online 
public voting. This unique celebration of American art will showcase 
leading African-American artists, including Romare Bearden, William H. 
Johnson, Archibald Motley and Charles White.
  Romare Bearden was born in Charlotte, NC, in 1911. At an early age, 
he moved to New York City as part of the Great Migration. For much of 
his life, Bearden worked for the New York City Department of Social 
Services, leaving nights and weekends available for creating art. In 
1964, he was appointed the first art director of the Harlem Cultural 
Council. In Charlotte, the 5.4-acre Romare Bearden Park opened in 2013, 
in a prime location near BB&T Ballpark. Bearden's 1968 collage of three 
musicians performing entitled ``Soul Three'' will be part of Art 
Everywhere US.
  Like Bearden, William H. Johnson (1901-1970) moved from the South to 
New York, where he became a foremost painter in the Harlem Renaissance. 
Johnson taught at the Harlem Community Art Center as part of the 
Roosevelt-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project. 
Johnson died in obscurity in 1970, but his artwork, which numbers more 
than 1,000, bear witness to one of America's most important painters. 
Johnson's ``Blind Singer'' will be displayed via Art Everywhere US.
  Archibald Motley (1891-1981) was born in New Orleans before his 
family journeyed to Chicago when he was two years old. Although he 
never lived in Harlem, Motley's depiction of urban African-American 
social life identified him with the Harlem Renaissance. Motley painted 
portraits and scenes in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, home of 
most of the city's African-American population. Motley's 1943 
``Nightlife'' is part of Art Everywhere US, showing the motion of jazz 
through composition.
  Charles White (1918-1953) was born in Chicago. His mother, a domestic 
worker, bought him his first set of oil paints for his seventh 
birthday. In his career, White was committed to representing the 
African-American experience, a goal reinforced after he journeyed to 
the rural South. Art Everywhere US will display White's powerful 
drawing ``Harvest Talk,'' which depicts two farm hands whose strong and 
imposing physical presence embody the dignity of their work.
  Art Everywhere US spans the history of our nation, from the 
Revolutionary era to pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein 
and James Rosenquist. Supporters and patrons of the arts tell us of the 
multiple benefits of art education. In August, we'll learn a bit more 
about great American art and artists, including outstanding art of the 
Twentieth Century by prominent African-American artists.

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