In Carter G. Woodson’s The Negro History Bulletin, volume XV, number 6, published in March of 1952, Delilah W. Pierce wrote:
Education for “our way of life” in “our times”; education for “all the people” that our way of life might be maintained; this we hear and say ever so often and, as Americans, firmly believe. We believe that our security, progress and happiness, as a democratic…
Take a moment to enjoy Delilah’s article:
The Significance Of The Art Experiences In The Education Of The Negro
Delilah W. Pierce is considered one of Washington, DC’s “Six Washington Masters.”
From Jo Ann Lewis’s 1996 article:
Tibbs’s collection has not gone unseen here.
He organized several important exhibitions at the house-museum over the years, including “Surrealism and the Afro-American Artist.” In 1983, “Six Washington Masters,” featuring works by Richard Dempsey, Lois Jones, Delilah Pierce, James Porter, Alma Thomas and James Wells, helped revive the forgotten careers of several of these artists.
Click to read: Corcoran To Be Given African American Art.
Also read:
College Park, MD August 20, 2015 – Beginning September 27, 2015 Delilah W. Pierce Natural Perspective opens at the University of Maryland University College Arts Program Gallery. The show runs to January 3, 2016. On November 8, 2015, from 3 pm to 5 pm, there will be a panel discussion and reception at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center featuring Floyd Coleman, Ph.D., Art Historian, Jerry Langley, Art Collector, Author, Wanda Spence, Great-Niece of Artist, and Myrtis Bedolla, Owner, Galerie Myrtis.
Delilah W. Pierce, born in 1904, 34 years after the American Industrial Revolution (1820-1870), was an African American artist and Washington, DC native who, through her body of work, helped to expand western thought about what African American art and subject matter was at the time. Delilah captured what was beautiful, simple, and innocent in the world. Her usage of figurative to abstract subject matter was inspired by her ability to see prosperity and opportunity during Jim Crow and mass lynching. Art critic Judith Means agrees:
“The way she perceives the world, with joy and optimism, and the stunning clarity of her finely-developed aesthetic sense are integral not only to her character but also to the vivid visual textures of her work.”
Join the Arts Program at University of Maryland University College for an art exhibition showcasing the works of Delilah W. Pierce. Delilah W. Pierce also worked in D.C. public schools for more than 25 years to provide artistic training to the next generation of artists.
You are invited to experience the art of Delilah W. Pierce, as well as take a journey through the life and artistic expression of one of Washington, DC’s rediscovered artists, educators, curators, and advocates. To RSVP: www.umuc.edu/artrsvp.
Click to download invitation. (The link on the invitation is incorrect. Please visit www.umuc.edu/artrsvp if you plan to attend.)
Contact:
Office of the President
University Arts Program
3501 University Boulevard East, Suite 0144
Adelphi, MD 20783-8000
301-985-7937
RSVP: www.umuc.edu/artrsvp
Delilah W. Pierce is mentioned in Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era. In the chapter about close friend, Lois Mailou Jones, artist, it was said that it was her membership in The District of Columbia Art Association (DCAA) that, “provided long-standing bonds with such artists as Delilah W. Pierce, Peter L. Robinson Jr…and Alma Thomas.”
Read more: Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era.
Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance was edited by Lean’tin L. Bracks and Jessie Carney Smith. It was published in 2014 by Rowman & Littlefield.
Related Articles:
Delilah W. Pierce was very involved with the Smithsonian Institution throughout her life. In 1992 Delilah was published in: Delilah W. Pierce in Smithsonian Year: Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the Year Ended September 30. The author was the Smithsonian Institution and was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1992.
Related Information:
Delilah W. and Joseph Pierce were fierce advocates for social and economic empowerment in the United States and around the world. On August 25, 1979 they both attended a party at the home of local Washington, DC artist S. Bruce Brown. The party was to support the National Council of Negro Women’s efforts to help empower Puerto Rican women. Please take a moment to read Nikki Nakatani’s Baltimore Afro-American Washington Sidelights.
Additional Resources:
Known as the Gold Coast, the upper NW Washington, DC neighborhood is well respected for its affluent African American dwellers. Joseph and Delilah W. Pierce were among the select group.
Delilah and her Gold Coast dwellers had a club called The Neighbors and they regularly got together to socialize, especially during the holiday. It was an annual event at Fort McNair. Many in the African American social elite considered The Neighbors holiday party to be the season kickoff event.
Click to read: Bright and Jolly – I’m Cutting Holly By Nikki Nakatani.
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In February of 1979 Delilah W. Pierce was asked to exhibit at a tribute to artist Lois Mailou Jones (November 3, 1905 – June 9, 1998) held at the Martin Luther King Library in Washington, DC. Lois Mailou Jones and Delilah W. Pierce were more than peers in the visual arts. They both summered and have homes on Martha’s Vineyard Island, and in Washington, DC, they traveled the world together to share their talents with the international community; and were advocates of education, women’s rights, civil rights, and human rights. Ms. Jones is also buried in Oak Bluffs Cemetery (Martha’s Vineyard) where they both remain a fixture in the rich history of that island. Lois Mailou Jones was a leader in expanding black art perceptions, and art perceptions as a whole.
Afro American reporter Charles Hall wrote in his 1979 article:
“More and more, she [Lois Mailou Jones] is being called America’s first black female painter of note. Edmonia Lewis, sculptor, Augusta Savage, sculptor, and Laura Waring, portraitist, were among the women who preceded her and proves their skills in several media.
None, however, dealt exclusively and masterfully with all phases of painting.”
Ms. Jones’ paintings can be found at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA), Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, DC), and in Dr. Bill Cosby’s private collection to name a few.
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In 1975 Delilah W. Pierce was selected to exhibit at the second World Black & African Festival Of Arts & Culture. It was reported in the The Washington Afro-American the festival would be held in the spring or fall of 1976. However, the festival wasn’t approved by the United Nation General Assembly until November 1976 and was held in 1977, from January 15th to February 12th in Lagos, Nigeria.
Affirmed by UN Resolution A/RES/31/41 in November of 1976, the World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture carried out the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (article 15 under A/RES/21/2200) which:
Reaffirms the right of everyone to participate in the preservation and development of culture.
The UN General Assembly was,
Convinced that the forthcoming Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture will contribute immensely to the promotion of international co-operation and understanding,
- Commends the efforts made thus far by the international community, including international organizations and the International Festival Committee, in the preparations for the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture;
- Notes with appreciation the efforts made by Nigeria in its capacity as host country for the Festival;
- Appeals to all interested and concerned countries to make all possible efforts at the national and international levels towards ensuring the success of the Festival.
According to researched complied from Wikipedia, the festival took place in 1977:
In 1977, from 15 January to 12 February, the Second World Festival of Black Arts or Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture – known as FESTAC ’77- took place in Lagos, Nigeria, under the patronage of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Attended by more than 17,000 participants from over 50 countries, it was the largest cultural event ever held on the African continent.
The festivals were planned as Pan-African celebrations, and ranged in content from performance – particularly dance and theatre – to debate.
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On June 23 of 1962 Delilah W. Pierce and a group of business owners, educators, and clergy left for an organized trip outside of America. This trip took them to Holland, France, Italy, and Greece. After their Europe tour the group traveled to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Jerusalem, and a multi-country tour of Africa. Delilah’s sister Mediel Hoskins, a housewife and married to New York City chef Jack Hoskins, also made the trip.
During this time Delilah had also earned the Agnes Meyer Fellowship to travel and study Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The proof of how Delilah’s travels impacted her art work can be seen in a few pieces from the Delilah W. Pierce Collection, for example Sudanese Women.
Delilah’s trip was interesting for many reasons. First, Blacks, women, and labor were fighting for equality and worker rights in America. Second, Ethiopia had just begun a civil war with Eritrea. Eritrea had become a part of Ethiopia after World War II when both were liberated from Italian occupation. The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), who never accepted the merging of the two, starting gaining support from Christians. Christians in Eritrea were upper class and highly educated. Ethiopia then revoked Eritrea’s autonomy sparking the Ethiopian Civil War (Also known as the Eritrean War of Independence) in 1961.
Delilah W. Pierce and her travel cohorts wanted to meet with Emperor Haile Selassie who was known internationally as a fierce advocate for Africa’s independence from western rule. Yet, he was not a supporter of Eritrea’s fight for independence from Ethiopia and used force to maintain Ethiopia’s control. When the unofficial delegation went to his palace to meet with him, they learned that Emperor Selassie went on safari in northern Ethiopia.
The group left Ethiopia for Nigeria (Also see Crisis in Western Nigeria – May 1962), Ghana, and Liberia – All were steeped in social and political change, and civil unrest.
The story ran in both The Washington Afro American and The Afro American.
Delilah W. Pierce