David C. Driskell & Friends

An exhibition at the Frost Art Museum examines the creative legacy of David C. Driskell through the friendships and collaborations that shaped his life and work.

David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration and Friendship highlights the influential role of relationships in African American art by bringing together more than 70 works by 35 artists connected to Driskell’s expansive network. Spanning generations, the exhibition places Driskell’s work in dialogue with artists such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Alma Thomas, Hale Woodruff, Kara Walker and others whose contributions are central to the 20th-century art canon.

Rather than focusing solely on individual achievement, the exhibition emphasizes collaboration, mentorship and shared creative inquiry as vital forces in artistic practice. By foregrounding friendships and professional exchanges, the presentation invites viewers to consider how artistic ideas evolve through community and sustained dialogue, often in ways that remain unseen.

David C. Driskell (1931–2020) was a pivotal figure as an artist, art historian, curator and educator, best known for curating the landmark exhibition Two Centuries of Black American Art: 1750–1950 and for his long academic career at institutions including Howard University, Fisk University and the University of Maryland. The exhibition reflects both his personal artistic journey and his broader impact on the field of African American art history.

This group show is on view from February 21 through October 11 at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU.

David C. Driskell, Five Blue Notes, 1980. Tempera on canvas, 22 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches. Gift of Nene Humphrey from the Benny Andrews and Nene Humphrey Collection, 2010.06.020. © David C. Driskell/David C. Driskell Center, 2017