The Driskell Center Receives Gift of Archive Documenting History of Influential Artist Collective with Support from the Terra Foundation for American Art
Press Release :: October 2
The Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, is proud to announce that the Center’s Archives will be home to The Okoe Pyatt and Shelley Inniss Archive of the Weusi Artist Collective (a gift of Shelley Inniss) and a $120,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art to support archival processing of the collection and additional programming devoted to preserving the history and advancing scholarship about the Weusi Artist Collective.
Since its founding in 2001, The Driskell Center has sought to create an intellectual home for scholars seeking a fuller understanding of the American art canon. That understanding can only come about through a reckoning with the outsized accomplishments of artists of African descent. This was David C. Driskell’s lifelong vision and his motivation for assembling an archive, the David C. Driskell Papers, over the course of five decades, that he donated to the Center in 2011. The Driskell Center Archives houses multiple collections, including the Faith Ringgold Study Room Collection, Harmon Foundation Papers, Hayes-Benjamin Papers on African American Art and Artists, Alonzo Davis Collection, Michael D. Harris Collection, Robin Holder Collection, Crumpler Collection and now The Okoe Pyatt and Shelley Inniss Archive of the Weusi Artist Collective. The Driskell Center’s Archives is supported in part by major grants from the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
The Driskell Center’s acquisition of the papers of Ronald Okoe Pyatt is an opportunity to preserve and critically engage the work of Weusi, a Harlem-based collective rooted in the Black Arts Movement (BAM) of the 1960s and 1970s. Established in 1965, Weusi embodied the intertwining of aesthetics and social justice objectives within the Black Arts Movement (BAM). Seen as an expression of Black Power, this movement delved into essential inquiries regarding the purpose and impact of art.
The Weusi Artist Collective, founded in 1965 by artists Abdullah Aziz, Taiwo DuVall, Gaylord Hassan, Bill Howell, Otto Neals, Ademola Olugebefola, and Abdul Rahman, emerged during the Civil Rights Movement as a response to the lack of representation of Black artists in mainstream galleries and institutions. Operating primarily in Harlem, New York, Weusi, meaning “blackness” in Swahili, aimed to reclaim African cultural heritage and promote Black identity through art. Significantly, the collective blended traditional African art forms with contemporary styles, creating a unique visual language celebrating African American culture and history. They drew inspiration from ancient African masks, symbolism, and spiritual motifs, infusing them with modern techniques and social commentary.
Weusi’s impact on American art lies in its role as a catalyst for the Black Arts Movement, a cultural and artistic revolution that sought to empower Black artists and communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, and educational programs, Weusi challenged the dominant narratives of Eurocentric art and paved the way for greater recognition and representation of Black artists in the art world.
The Okoe Pyatt and Shelley Inniss Archive of the Weusi Artist Collective, assembled by Weusi artist Ronald Okoe Pyatt (1942-2020) from the group’s founding until his passing, contains many handprinted fliers for Weusi exhibitions, art sales, and other group events; approximately 300 photographs of artists and events related to the group; meeting minutes and other business records related to the group’s activities and exhibitions of members’ work; invitations to group exhibitions; exhibition catalogs, postcards and other ephemera; 35mm slides; newspaper clippings; DVDs; materials related to specific Weusi artists, including Pyatt; records related to the Twentieth Century Creators collective (from which Weusi artists split in 1965 to form the Weusi Artist Collective).
ABOUT THE AWARD
The three-year, $120,000 grant will fund three major projects: 1) the transfer, processing, cataloging, and description of the The Okoe Pyatt and Shelley Inniss Archive of the Weusi Artist Collective and development of a comprehensive finding aid for the collection; 2) oral history interviews with Pyatt’s widow, Shelley Inniss, and surviving Weusi members, including Dingda McCannon, Otto Neals, Ademola Olugebefola, and Jim Phillips; and 3) a “study day” on Weusi art and artists at The Driskell Center. This convening will include members of the Weusi group and three invited researchers, who will present and discuss scholarly papers on the Weusi Artist Collective’s contributions and significance. The papers and a transcript of the proceedings will be published online via the open-access platform Quire for widespread public access.
ABOUT THE TERRA FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN ART
The Terra Foundation for American Art, established in 1978 and having offices in Chicago and Paris, supports organizations and individuals locally and globally with the aim of fostering intercultural dialogues and encouraging transformative practices that expand narratives of American art, through the foundation’s grant program, collection, and initiatives.
ABOUT THE DRISKELL CENTER
The Driskell Center is a creative incubator dedicated to a world where Black artists exist at its center. We invite inquiry, experimentation, and dialogue to reexamine histories and shape shared futures. All programs at The Driskell Center are free and open to the public. For further information regarding exhibitions and activities at The Driskell Center, please visit driskellcenter.umd.edu or call 301-314-2615.
