June 5, 2002 -- The exhibition "Original Acts: Photographs of African-American performers in the Paul R. Jones Collection" is traveling after its successful debut at the University of Delaware.

"Original Acts" will be on display June 17- July 27 at the Georgia State University School of Art & Design Galleries in Atlanta, which is the home city of noted art collector and UD benefactor Paul R. Jones.

"Original Acts" is the first major exhibition based on the collection since it was donated to the University of Delaware in February 2001. It ran Feb. 5 through March 28 at the University Gallery, with an enthusiastic response from the large number of people who viewed it.

"Original Acts" presents the work of 19 African-American photographers who have captured images of African-American performance in dance, theatre and music from the 1930s to the present.

Works selected for the show include photographs of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington and others.

Photographers whose work is featured include Prentice Herman (P.H.) Polk, James Van Der Zee, William Crite, Bert Andrews, Jim Alexander, Shelia Turner, Adger W. Cowans and Frank Stewart.

The exhibition will coincide with the National Black Arts Festival, to be held July 19-28 in Atlanta.

An opening reception will be held from 6-8 p.m., Thursday, June 20, in the Georgia State University gallery. Several of the photographers included in the exhibit, along with Amalia Amaki, an Atlanta artist and assistant professor at the University of Delaware, will give an informal talk at the opening reception.

A closing reception will be held July 26, after a panel discussion at 7 p.m. that will focus on music and the African Diaspora.