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Jones Collection praised for its impact

William B. DeLauder (left) chats with Paul R. Jones.

The board’s second formal meeting, held Sept. 8 at Spelman College, coincided with the opening of “A Century of African American Art: Selections From The Paul R. Jones Collection” at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, presented in partnership with UD.

“I am very pleased with the direction that this is going,” William B. DeLauder, retired president of Delaware State University and head of the advisory board, which includes artists, collectors and educators, said after the meeting.

The meeting opened with a brief video presentation, A Man’s Vision, A University’s Commitment, A Shared Journey, which highlights UD’s successful efforts to publicize the collection, its academic value and the interest it has sustained among students, art lovers and educators from across the country.

“The video was outstanding! It was very well done and comprehensive,” DeLauder said, adding that the advisory board’s vision for the collection is firmly on track. “A lot of that occurs because of the great commitment from the University of Delaware and especially from President David Roselle.”

The Paul R. Jones Collection is counted among the world’s oldest, largest and most complete collections of works by 20th-Century African American artists. Jones, an Atlanta businessman, gave the collection to the University of Delaware in 2001. The first major exhibition was held at UD throughout the 2004-05 academic year in Mechanical Hall, which was renovated to house the collection, and the University Gallery in adjacent Old College.

The advisory board was formed in 2004 to advise on the use of the collection as an educational resource and on the overall enrichment and advancement of the collection. Among the key purposes of the board is to encourage partnerships in the use of the Paul R. Jones Collection between UD and other educational and cultural institutions, specifically Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and to support the use of the collection to increase the appreciation of African-American art and its recognition as a central element of American art.

The board also encourages appropriate donations from artists and collectors, and recommends additional acquisitions to the collection.

During the meeting, Jones explained that his goal of sharing the collection as widely as possible has been accomplished through UD, and greater access is being developed through collaborative efforts with other institutions, including Delaware State University and Spelman College.

“I wanted to see something lasting come out of this gift,” Jones said. “It has been a new day at the University of Delaware. I’m hoping that out of this will come many great ideas.”

Roselle said ongoing digitization of the collection will provide greater access to the art and create new learning opportunities for UD to share with other colleges and universities. “What pleases me most is how proud our students are to have the University of Delaware as the home of the Paul R. Jones Collection,” he said.

UD Provost Dan Rich and his counterpart at Spelman, Myra Burnett, told the board that the partnership between the two institutions will be further strengthened by proposals made by the UD-Spelman partnership committee during its first meeting on Friday, Sept. 9
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In addition to Jones and DeLauder, members of the board of advisers are

• Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker;
• Florence B. Bonner, chairperson of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Howard University in Washington, D.C.;
• Lucinda Bunnen, an Atlanta photographer and arts patron;
• Wayne Craven, H.F. du Pont Professor Emeritus of Art History at UD;
• Edmund Barry Gaither, director and curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston;
• Linda J. Gilliam of Wilmington, an art collector;
• Yvonne A. Gordon of Wilmington, vice president of marketing for MBNA America;
• Eric Hanks of the M. Hanks Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif.;
• Catherine Hughes, founder and chairperson of Radio One Inc. in Baltimore;
• Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president for corporate affairs for the Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta;
• Cynthia Primo Martin, president of the Primo Fund for Racial Justice, an art collector and a member of UD’s Board of Trustees;
• Teresa Mason, former executive vice president at MBNA America in Wilmington and an art collector;
• Joan T. Mobley, an art collector and secretary-treasurer of UD’s Board of Trustees;
• Donna Jones Northington of Marietta, Ga., vice president for strategic planning for Turner Network Sales;
• Donald A. Parks, director of the Arts Center Gallery at Delaware State University;
• John Wieland, owner of John Wieland Homes in Atlanta; and
• Dyana Williams, president of the International Association of African-American Music in Gladwyne, Pa.

Ex-officio members are Roselle and Rich.

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photo by Wilford Harewood for Spelman College

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