Banners announce Jones Collection exhibit

2:46 p.m., Sept. 15, 2004--Two new banners proudly announcing the Paul R. Jones Collection exhibit now open have been hung on the exhibition sites, Mechanical Hall and Old College.

Designed by Barbara Broge, assistant director of Creative Services in UD’s Office of Public Relations, the external banners feature two different works from the collection. A third welcoming installation features an image of the collector himself. The banner that hangs between the columns of Old College depicts a detail from a painting titled John Henry by Charles White, while the banner displayed alongside the wall of Mechanical Hall depicts the painting Three Souls by Margaret Burroughs.

“For the banner on the columns of Old College, I chose a detail from the work John Henry, by Charles White, because this drawing has been a key image representing the Paul R. Jones Collection since the collection was given to UD in 2001,” she said. “Having John Henry's watchful eyes looking out over the campus is a compelling image that I thought would command attention from passers-by.”

Three Souls appealed to Broge for similar reasons. “The variations in skin-tones of the three faces is an interesting feature of a painting that is also colorful and full of playful decorative elements,” she explained.

“I chose faces for both banners for continuity and because people naturally respond to faces. The differing styles hint at the range of works that are in the exhibition and collection.”

The exhibit, “A Century off African-American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection,” is open to the public through June 1. Hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesdays; and 1-4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. For additional information on the exhibition, see the University Museums web site at [www.museums.udel.edu/jones/index5.1.html].

Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photos by Barbara Broge

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