Skip to main content

Dr. Driskell: A quick reflection of soup & salad

Dr. David Driskell



Most of our conversations, at least the most memorable ones, happened over lunch. Soup and salad; that's what we did. We chatted about which fresh vegetables from the garden made it into that day's lunch and we chatted about techniques that were perfected for that day’s soup. “Remember Jonathan, always save a little of your stock for the next batch. That’s how the French do it. It keeps your flavors alive — balanced.”

The Dr. Driskell I knew was a humble man — an artist of media and an artist of life. And while we hung out in his Hyattsville studio from time to time, woodblock printing and encaustics weren’t really my thing, so our connections were much more about finding ways to live and breath as an artist. From time to time, he’d give me a lead on some art finds — a rare Romare Bearden for example — but really, most chats of ours were just about life. Still, he knew I was an obsessive maker in the digital media/sculpture realm, so from time to time he’d make sure to note that I needed to make it up to his Falmouth studio sometime. You know, connect as artists. But in those moments, all I could think was “...man, I wouldn’t be able to afford graduate school without your foundation. How am I gonna make it all the way up to Maine?!?” … Looking back though, I’m humbled that these things were even a consideration. I guess walking amongst the greats is just the way it is sometimes.

For the couple of years of graduate study that I was invited into his home to catalog slides and help Daphne and Rodney prepare to open what is now the David C. Driskell Center for the study of visual arts... at University of Maryland, I was blessed to gain a true appreciation and understanding of what success as a black artist could be. Well beyond notoriety, Dr. Driskell was surrounded by family and people like myself who genuinely cared about him, as a creative human, and never asked for much more than an inspirational story or even a quick recipe. Soup and salad was our jam, but man oh man, I can honestly say my life’s trajectory would have been much different had I not gained such an understanding of what life as a successful Black creative could be. 




So today — two years after Dr. Driskell’s untimely passing — I’d like to send some overdue thanks. To Daphne: Please know you changed my world. Thanks for being there and understanding that all nighters in the studio happened (maybe more frequently than they should have) and that sometimes I was just going pass out at work, mid sentence. To Rodney: Thanks for the overall joy and helping me to understand what life really could be. Your stories and presence are still very much a part of my driving force. And to Thelma & David: Please know your warmth was appreciated far more than I was ever able to articulate. I’m grateful that every memory I have with the two of you is filled with smiles and laughter. Aside from the spoken lessons, you gave me an amazing sense of what family could be. And to you all, if this post somehow finds you, please note that my center ended up happening in the humble town of Cincinnati and I’d love to tour you around our campus if the chance ever arises. 

Peace and blessings,
Jonathan 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PAR-Projects completes first $500K round of fundraising. Alisha Budkie joins Team PAR- to help launch Round 2.

  If you Blinked too hard you may have missed it. With the help of organizations like ArtsWave, Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, both civic and cultural leaders are creating powerhouse experiences. Our town's symphony is thriving. Our major museums are producing nationally recognized exhibitions. Even our ballet and playhouses are making headlines. Cincinnati is doing BIG things! Then there's us. Over at PAR-Projects, we don't make much noise. Why not?...  Well... until now, we were still waiting our turn in line. There's a whole lot of fast action clutter out there. But in the same breath, there's a lot of fizzling out as well. Because of the latter, our goals have simply been to keep our head down, keep working, and be the best we can be. The cool thing is we've never changed our mission and we've always held ourselves to the highest of standards — press or no press. We too have BIG things to accomplish

Behind the Art - Elena Masrour

Elena Masrour was born on May 5, 1990 in Tehran, Iran. She received her BFA in Fabric & Textile Design from Tehran University of Art in 2013 and received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Kansas State University in 2022. She currently lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio where she is a visiting faculty-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Art.   Masrour was interested in art from a young age, especially as a legacy artist. She recalls being ten years old and attempting to copy a self-portrait her grandfather completed, to her grandfather’s great amusement. In high school, she was afforded the opportunity to take several elective drawing classes and soon realized that artist was to be her path in life. At Tehran University of Art, Masrour initially studied fashion design. However, she encountered great difficulties in the field, finding few real opportunities for creative enterprise due to the strict dress code enforced by the Irian government. She recalls a experience in