DMA Acquires Works from Souls Grown Deep Foundation
The Dallas Museum of Art has acquired seven works of art from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation (SGDF) through its museum transfer program.
The program works from the foundation’s foremost collection of artworks by artists from the African American South in esteemed institutions around the country.
The DMA acquisition, a partial gift/partial purchase from the foundation, includes works by Thornton Dial, Ronald Lockett, Nellie Mae Rowe, and four quilts created by Louisiana Bendolph, Mary Lee Bendolph, Amelia Bennett, and Annie Mae Young, women of Gee’s Bend Alabama. These works will be on view at the DMA beginning in April.
Dallas collector Marguerite Hoffman has purchased a second Thornton Dial painting, Two Coats, from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation and has promised the work to the DMA.
“The acquisition of this important group of works advances the DMA’s commitment to engaging audiences with the spectrum of art history and reflecting a wide range of voices in both our collection and programs,” said Agustín Arteaga, The Eugene McDermott Director of the DMA.
“We are grateful to the Souls Grown Deep Foundation for enabling these works to join the Museum’s collection and others across the country, providing opportunities for the public and scholars to discover the work of these significant artists. Additionally, we extend deepest thanks to Marguerite Hoffman, for her continued commitment to strengthening and deepening the DMA’s collection.”
The DMA joins the Brooklyn Museum, The Morgan Library & Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in the most recent group of museums to acquire works from the Foundation.
Souls Grown Deep Foundation is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, exhibiting, and promoting the work of artists from the African-American South. It holds the largest and foremost collection of works of contemporary African American artists from the Southern United States, encompassing over 1,000 works by more than 160 artists, as well as a collection of archival photographs, videos, and documents relating to the artists in the collection.
“Our core mission is to advocate for artists of the African American South represented in our collection,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, president of the Foundation. “We could not be happier to announce that five additional institutions will now have significant holdings of these artists in their permanent collections.
“These acquisitions will broaden the exposure of works by these important American artists among audiences around the country and provide new opportunities for exhibition, research, and other partnerships.”
