The Huntington Museum of Art will showcase the work of local black artists as part of the Selections From the Black Art Expo 2005 scheduled to begin Saturday.
The exhibit brings the work of artists from the community to the museum, Jenine Culligan, senior curator for the HMOA, said.
"[This is] a way that the museum can be more involved with artists working in this area," she said.
The Delta Sigma Theta sorority founded the Black Art Expo in an effort to provide black artists in the region with a venue to show their work, according to a news release.
The sorority presents the Black Art Expo in the community and the museum selects works to be shown, John Gillispie, public relations director for the HMOA, said.
In past years, the exhibit only featured chosen pieces from the Black Art Expo; however, this year, all pieces are on display due to low participation, he said.
Two cash prizes of $200 each will be awarded to the Best of Show winners in the adult and the youth categories. Awards for Honorable mention and a People's Choice Award will also be given. The recipients of these awards will receive a membership to the museum for one year.
Willie Cole, Walter Gropius Master Artist, will be the guest speaker at the opening reception for the exhibit scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Cole's discussion will focus on the exhibits as well as his work as an artist, Gillispie said.
The reception will also celebrate the recent opening of Graphics by 20th Century Masters from The Cochran Collection, an exhibit displaying the work of 56 international and American artists including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol.
Cole will also conduct the workshop "Perceptual Engineering: The Fine Art of Seeing" today through Sunday. Participants of the workshop will disassemble a mechanical object they have brought and reassemble it into a piece of art.
Cole's exhibit, "The Elegba Principle," a maze consisting of a 72-doors is on display at the museum as part of the Walter Gropius Master Artist Series. The artist series was developed to give local artists the opportunity to work with nationally and internationally known artists.
Cole studied media arts, a combination of graphic design with photography and video, at Boston University's School of Fine Arts, the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Arts Students League in New York City.
He has received awards including The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, The Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial Fellowship and a Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking Fellowship.
Selections from the Black Art Expo will be on display until April 3. The Graphics by 20th Century Masters from The Cochran Collection exhibit will be on display until April 10.
Selections From the Black Art Expo 2005 is sponsored by Marshall University Multicultural Affairs, Cabell Huntington Hospital and the Huntington Mall.
More information about the exhibits is available by contacting the museum at 529-2701.
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