UD promotes Jones exhibit at UNITY

Neil Thomas (left), senior editorial coordinator in the Office of Public Relations, and Paul Jones chat with visitors to the UD booth at the UNITY Conference.

3:49 p.m., Aug. 18, 2004--The University of Delaware was represented at the UNITY: Journalists of Color conference held Aug. 4-8 in Washington, D.C., with a booth to promote the upcoming exhibition “A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection,”

The exhibition, which will open Sept. 8 and continue throughout the academic year with major events planned in mid-November, will feature 101 significant works by 66 artists, including Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James Van Der Zee, Carrie Mae Weems and Hale Woodruff. The main exhibition space will be in the newly renovated Mechanical Hall, home of the Paul R. Jones Collection, with additional works on view in the University Gallery in adjacent Old College.

The UD booth in the Washington Convention Center, primary site of the UNITY conference, drew an estimated 500 visitors, according to Neil Thomas, senior editorial coordinator in the UD Office of Public Relations who staffed the booth at the conference. UD’s display was visited by a large number of print and broadcast journalists, as well as by art lovers, alumni, employers of UD graduates and parents interested in learning more about admissions, he said.

The booth also was seen by hundreds more of the estimated 7,000 journalists, students, media representatives and executives who attended the conference, which was addressed by both President George W. Bush and Democratic nominee U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

UD benefactor Paul R. Jones, who developed the collection that is among the world’s oldest, largest and most complete holdings of works by African American artists, was on hand throughout the conference with Thomas to discuss the collection and upcoming exhibition.

The UD booth was designed by Barbara Broge of UD’s Public Relations staff and included a videotape presentation produced by Robert DiIorio of UD’s Media Services.

“I was most pleased to attend the conference, both to promote the upcoming exhibition and also its home, the University of Delaware,” Jones said. “I look forward to seeing many of the fine people we met in Washington here on campus for exhibition-related events.”

The UD booth was designed by Barbara Broge of the Public Relations staff, and a videotape presentation was produced by Robert DiIorio of UD’s Media Services. Visitors were provided materials on the Paul R. Jones Collection, including press kits, reprints, bookmarks and videotapes. Also available were keychains to promote the UDaily online daily news site.

For additional information on the exhibition, see the Paul Jones Collection web site at [http://www.museums.udel.edu/jones/index5.1.html].

Photos by Martin Mbugua

E-mail this article

To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.