Centenary
News Service
2911 Centenary
Boulevard
Post Office
Box 4188
Shreveport
Louisiana
71134-1188
Telephone
318 869-5120
Fax
318 841-7266
Email
news@centenary.edu |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (11/06)
Media contact: Diane Dufilho, Director, Meadows Museum, 318-869-5169,
or Lynn Stewart, Director of Public Relations, 318-869-5120
See
also feature article in The (Shreveport) Times
Louisiana Collects Folk
Art Exhibits Opening Nov. 12 at Centenary's Meadows Museum of Art; Upcoming
Exhibits Feature Collections of Hennessees and Wallaces of Shreveport
During much of the time that the Rev. R.L. Hennessee served
churches throughout Arkansas and the region, he and wife Simone followed
such hand-done signs along rural backroads to locate original artworks
by folk artists. Part of their collection will be on display at Centenary
College's Meadows Museum of Art Nov. 12-March 4, 2007. Folk art by
the late Shreveport artist M.C. "Five Cent" Jones and collected
by Sam and Jan Wallace of Shreveport will be on display Nov. 12-Jan.
28, 2007. (Photo courtesy of Simone Hennessee) |
SHREVEPORT, LA -- Artwork prepared with found items such as tractor paint
and discarded boards, sometimes framed with garden hose, are testament
to the drive to create art by local and regional folk artists. Two folk
art collections with Shreveport connections will go display beginning
Nov. 12 at Centenary College's Meadows Museum of Art.
They are:
- Louisiana Collects: Works by M.C. Jones from the Collection
of Sam and Jan Wallace of Shreveport
Nov. 12, 2006-Jan. 28, 2007
Featuring works by Gilliam artist M.C. "Five Cent" Jones,
with both secular themes devoted to rural life and New Testament themes
for which Jones is best known.
- Louisiana Collects: The Folk Art Collection of Simone N.
Hennessee and the Late Rev. Dr. R. L. Hennessee of Shreveport
Nov. 12, 2006-March 4, 2007
Including folk art by Mose Tolliver, Annie Tolliver, Howard Finster,
Floyd Clark, Opal May and Frank Pickle, collected by the Hennessees
along regional backroads, after personal meetings with artists and during
a lengthy interest in folk art.
Simone Hennessee's South Highlands home is filled wall to wall with artwork
that she and her late husband, the Rev. Dr. Bob Hennessee, collected for
more than 25 years -- some from this area and others from rural areas
throughout the South as the Rev. Dr. Hennesse served numerous churches.
Many of the artworks are done with "found materials" such as
tractor paint or wall paint on discarded wall board. Many done by artist
Floyd Clark are framed with decorated garden hoses.
The Wallaces's collection on display will be the work of the late Gilliam
folk artist M.C. Jones, known as "Five Cent" Jones. Their collection,
which now includes close to 300 pieces by Jones, began with an interest
in country scenes that reminded Sam Wallace of his native Arkansas. Jones
was a self-taught artist with ties to sculptor-artist Clyde Connell, who
was from the Belcher area, and to her friend and Wallace's mother, Betty
Wallace, also an artist.
A number of events -- including collectors' talks and a Family Folk Art
Weekend -- have been scheduled by the Meadows Museum in relation to the
two exhibits.
Upcoming events at the Meadows Museum in relation to the exhibits are:
- Members' previews of exhibitions
Saturday, Nov. 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the museum galleries,
refreshments
- Public Collector's Gallery Talk, "Act of Devotion: Collecting
What Speaks to the Heart" with Simone N. Hennessee
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2-3 p.m. in the museum galleries, holiday refreshments
- Docent Collector's Circle with Simone N. Hennessee, Community
Invited
Monday, Nov. 13, 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the museum galleries, breakfast
refreshments
- Family Folk Art Weekend
Nov. 25-26, 1-4 p.m. in the museum galleries; Folk art projects,
refreshments, gallery tours
- Lecture: "The Tools of Her Ministry: The Art of Sister
Gertrude Morgan" with William Fagaley from the New Orleans Museum
of Art
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2-3 p.m. in the museum galleries, light refreshments
- Lecture: "Five Cent Jones: The Artist's Life and Works"
2-3 p.m. in the museum galleries, light refreshments
- Docent Collector's Circle with Sam Wallace, Community Invited
Monday, Jan. 22, 2007, 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the museum galleries,
breakfast refreshments
Some of the artwork and collectors' photos are shown below.
Folk artist Floyd Clark at home, with artwork now in
the Hennessee collection. (Photo courtesy of Simone Hennessee)
|
Simone Hennessee of Shreveport points to self-portrait
of folk artist Mose Tolliver that hangs in a hallway of her South
Highlands neighborhood home. Many other pieces are found throughout
the house and in her office at Providence House.
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Mose Tolliver visits at his home in Birmingham, Ala.,
with the Rev. Bob Hennessee in this 1980s era photo.
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Mose Tolliver Self Portrait from the Hennessee Collection.
Because he was dyslexic, the "s" in the artist's name
was signed backwards. |
M.C. "Five Cent" Jones portrait from the Wallace
Collection
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Vision of Memorial Mountain of Planet Aromolo "Into
the Holy Mountain of God," July 6, 1984, by Howard Finster, Summerville,
Ga., wood painted with tractor paint, from the Hennesee Collection.
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Floyd Clark, Hennessee Collection
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Floyd Clark, Hennessee Collection |
M. C. "Five Cent" Jones
Untitled image of Jonah
Paint and graphite on paper
No date
16" X 20"
Loan courtesy of Sam and Jan Wallace
|
M.C. "Five Cent" Jones
Untitled image of a farm scene
Paint and graphite on paper
No date
16" X 20"
Loan courtesy of Sam and Jan Wallace
|
Mose Tolliver, Hennesee Collection |
Mose Tolliver, Hennessee Collection |
Floyd Clark, Hennessee Collection
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Hennessee Collection
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Folk art adorns the breakfast area of Hennessee's kitchen.
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