UNCF Receives Art of Renowned Artist Benny Andrews


“The Funeral Procession”, by Benny Andrews
“The Funeral Procession”, by Benny Andrews

UNCF–the United Negro College Fund–the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization has announced that the Benny Andrews Foundation selected UNCF to receive 128 pieces of his art collection and to assist with the exhibition of his art in the collections of UNCF’s historically black colleges and universities, African American museums, and other places where people come together to learn about culture and American life.

“The work of this accomplished and visionary artist has been exhibited in some of the world’s most important permanent collections. He will be remembered for generations, both for his art and for his generosity and belief in UNCF’s mission and education,”said Michael L. Lomax, UNCF president and CEO.

Born in rural Georgia in 1930, Benny Andrews grew up picking cotton with his family, but his mother insisted that her family get the education they would need to get ahead, and Andrews graduated from Fort Valley State College, a Georgia HBCU and the worldfamous Chicago Art Institute.

His paintings hang in major museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, both in New York. Andrews died in Brooklyn, New York on November 10, 2006.

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