Jacob Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an artist, storyteller, educator and chronicler African American life in America. Lawrence’s works are in collections such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Whitney Museum of American Art, National Gallery of Art, Art Institute Chicago, and Seattle Art Museum. Locally, Lawrence’s works are included in collections of the Walker Art Center, and Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Weisman Art Museum.

In early 1996, the Weisman Art Museum shared Lawrence’s print works on paper in the exhibition Jacob Lawrence: Thirty Years of Prints. There were many events associated with this exhibition beginning with a special opening reception and preview honoring Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence on Jan 20, 1996. This event came to my attention while I processing binders of photos and slides (now foldered in box #250). One binder titled “Photos of Important People”  included whole section dedicated to the Lawrence tribute.

Here’s a selection of the images from that evening:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other archival materials related to this exhibition:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—Heather Carroll is the processing archivist for the Weisman Art Museum‘s collection at the University of Minnesota Archives. This project was made possible by funds provided by the State of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society.