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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.

 


Mose Tolliver visits at his home in Birmingham, Ala., with the Rev. Bob Hennessee in this 1980s era photo.

 

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

 


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.


Floyd Clark, Hennessee Collection

 


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

 


Hennessee Collection

 


Folk art adorns the breakfast area of Hennessee's kitchen.

 

 

 

 


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