Leading African American Art Collector to Speak at UA Law School; Exhibit Opens at Moody Gallery Oct. 6

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Paul Jones, one of the nation’s leading collectors of African American art, will speak at The University of Alabama School of Law on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m. in the Moot Court Room (room 140).

Jones will be on the UA campus for the opening of an exhibit of 42 works from his collection at the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art in 103 Garland Hall. The exhibit, titled “Paul R. Jones Collection: Looking Up,” will be on display from Oct. 6-Nov. 20. There will be an opening night reception Oct. 6 from 6-8 p.m. at the gallery

Jones grew up in Bessemer. He graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., then became a businessman in Birmingham and later in Atlanta. He was heavily involved in the civil rights movement. By 1965, Jones had moved into politics and was working for the U.S. departments of Justice and Commerce. He spent a year in Thailand as a deputy director of the Peace Corps. He was in charge of President Nixon’s national get-out-the-black-vote campaign in 1972 and was subsequently an official in the Nixon education department. He also ran unsuccessfully for Congress, as a Republican, in 1982.

The Paul R. Jones collection of modern African-American art is one of the largest and most comprehensive, including more than 1,500 works by African-American artists such as James van der Zee, Elizabeth Catlett, Charles White, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Colescott and many others.

Jones bought his first art in the early 1960s. “Literally, I started my collection by picking up three small prints, one each of works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas and Chagall.” Jones says he is interested in seeing his collection used as a means to weave African-American art into the totality of American art.

Funding support for this exhibit has been provided by the diversity committee in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the President. Funding for the gallery is provided by UA’s art department and College of Arts and Sciences. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.- 4:3 0 p.m. weekdays, and 2-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission to the gallery is free.