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Another great library has burned down
Murry N.
DePillars, Ph.D. (1938 - 2008)
Murry N. DePillars . . . artist, educator, historian,
visionary...died May 31, 2008. Art was his
passion. Education was his vocation. Dr. Murry
DePillars devoted his entire life to combining the two
to promote enlightenment, to encourage understanding and
to engender pride in the African-American experience.
Born in Chicago,
DePillars grew up in a family that recognized and
encouraged his interest in visual art, as well as in the
performing arts. The neighborhoods in which he lived
were teeming with jazz and blues clubs, as well as with
gospel and ethnic music which strongly affected him.
This early childhood development provided the foundation
for the man, whose commitment to art and to education
changed the lives of those who were privileged to know
him.
Murry DePillars was
educated in the public schools of Chicago. He earned an
A.A. in Fine Arts from Kennedy-King Community College, a
B.A. in Art Education and an M.A. in Urban Studies from
Roosevelt University, also in Chicago. He received his
Ph.D. in Art Education from The Pennsylvania State
University. Both his master’s thesis, “Housing,
Environment and Children’s Art” and his doctoral
dissertation, “African-American Artists and Students: A
Morphological Study in the Urban Black Aesthetic”
addressed societal issues.
Prior to coming to
Richmond, Virginia, in 1971 to serve as Assistant Dean
of the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth
University, DePillars worked in several educational
settings in Illinois. He also served in the U. S. Army
during the Vietnam War. One of the leading figures of
Chicago’s 1960s African-American Arts Movement, often
referred to as the “Black Arts Movement” and “Chicago’s
Black Cultural Renaissance,” he attracted international
attention for his artistic output.
In 1976, Dr.
DePillars was named Dean of the School of the Arts at
VCU, where he served until he retired in 1995, earning
the title Professor Emeritus. Under his leadership, the
School of the Arts grew to become one of the largest art
schools in the U. S., and attained both national and
international recognition. He was quick to smile when
asked about his time at VCU, saying modestly, “With 2800
students, over 130 full-time faculty in 12 departments,
an art library, an art gallery, two theaters, two
concert halls, and a community music school, it was like
being on an art oasis.”
From 1980 through
1987, with strong support from the (Richmond) City
Manager’s office and other cooperating local companies
and organizations, he produced one of the region’s most
successful Jazz Festivals, featuring highly acclaimed
artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Art Blakey,
Wynton Marsalis, Carmen McRae and The Modern Jazz
Quartet. He laid a solid foundation for VCU’s Jazz
Program. In April, 1985, he was the subject of Style
Weekly’s cover story, and was dubbed “Richmond’s Jazz
Man.”
Professional and
civic commitments left limited time for Dr. DePillars to
pursue his passion. Therefore, when he was invited to
become a member of Afri-Cobra, a group of serious
African-American artists like himself, he eagerly
accepted. Afri-Cobra provided a demanding forum, beyond
the academic setting, through which the members severely
challenged each others’ art as they confronted societal
and cultural issues, not only in America, but also in
other parts of the world.
Through the years,
Dr. DePillars exhibited his artworks in numerous
galleries and museums, in both solo and group
exhibitions, including the Whitney Museum of American
Art and The Studio Museum of Harlem, both in New York;
The Mississippi Museum of Art; The Orlando Museum of
Art; The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; the
World Expo in Spokane; the Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta;
and the Joysmith Gallery & Studio in Memphis.
During the summer,
2002, he exhibited at the Hampton University Museum.
Entitled “Beyond the Fixed Star: The Art of Murry
DePillars” the exhibit was comprised of 42 works from
1960 through 2002, and included a variety of drawings
and paintings. His works are known for their color and
movement. His powerful paintings, layered with
brilliant as well as cool colors, were inspired by
African and African-American history, literature, music,
quilt-making traditions, and other strong cultural
influences. The Institute for Positive Education in
Chicago routinely uses his works as the basis for
lessons in its K-12 curriculum.
In December, 2006,
his painting, From the Mississippi Delta, 1997, was
purchased by the Friends of African and African-American
Art and presented to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
for its permanent collection. Other DePillars works can
be found in public and private collections around the
world.
Dr. DePillars was
the recipient of numerous awards. Articles,
bibliographic entries, book covers, commissioned
illustrations, reviews and photographs of his artworks
attest to his significant contributions to art and
education. In 1989, he was named an Alumni Fellow in
the College of Art and Architecture at The Pennsylvania
State University and in 1996, he was awarded the
Presidential Medallion from Virginia Commonwealth
University.
The public rewards
for his work are evidenced by several grants Dr.
DePillars received from the National Endowment for the
Arts; his appointment as an Academic Specialist by the
USIA with service in Malaysia in 1985; and his travel to
Zimbabwe in 1994 through the support of the USIA’s
University Affiliate Program. At the state level, he
served three governors on the Virginia Arts and
Architectural Review Board.
In 1998, he chose
to devote his full attention to his painting, a luxury
he had never had the opportunity to fully enjoy. His
passing silenced an important advocate for educational
and artistic growth and achievement. His legacy lives
through his work and his students.
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Memorial Services Scheduled
Saturday, June
21, 2008
12 Noon
Virginia Union University
1500 North Lombardy Street
Richmond, VA 23220
Saturday, June 28, 2008
11:00 a.m.
ETA Theater
7558 S. South Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60619
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Painting Image Above: Section of
Queen Candace: Diamond Quilt, 2002 acrylic on canvas,
"40 x 30"
Collection of Hampton University Museum
Artist’s
statement—(Murry N. DePillars)—My approach to painting
has been influenced by the six aesthetic priorities of
early African American quilt makers, and their concept
of “building”
rather than sewing a quilt. The six aesthetic
priorities of these early quilt markers are: (1)
vertical strip organization; (2) bold or high keyed
colors accented by lower keyed or earth tones; (3)
repeated or varied large design elements, motifs
influenced by African and European symbols; (4)
asymmetrical designs; (5) multiple or rhythmic
patterning; and (6) improvisation. These aesthetic
priorities and “building”
quilts influenced me to adopt a flat geometric approach
to “building”
paintings. In my paintings, repeated patterns in a
standardized repeated grid system from top to bottom and
side to side form the foundational design. At varying
intervals, overlays of opaque and transparent flat
motifs are painted or built upon these foundational
designs. This creates two or three layers of smaller
geometric designs. These smaller muted and
multi-colored patterns alter the directional axis of the
foundational design.
http://www.murrydepillars.com/id1.html
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posted 21 June 2008 |
