Radiant Horizons: The Global Legacy of Beauford Delaney
For many years, Les Amis has had the pleasure and privilege of working with Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court-appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney Estate, to ensure the accuracy of the representation of Beauford’s art on this blog.
To acknowledge and celebrate 30 years of collaboration with individuals, organizations, and institutions that have expanded Beauford’s legacy across the globe, Spratley organized Radiant Horizons, a conversation between award-winning biographers David Leeming and Nicholas Boggs that examined Beauford’s life, work, and impact on James Baldwin and the world.
I was honored to represent Les Amis and the Wells International Foundation in person at this event, which took place at the Knoxville Museum of Art in Beauford’s hometown of Knoxville, TN.
Knoxville Museum of Art - façade
© Wells International Foundation
The program for this festive evening began with opening words by Maya Spratley and a dance performance by Faith Spratley (both young women are Derek Spratley’s daughters).
Maya Spratley
© Wells International Foundation
Faith Spratley
© Wells International Foundation
Next, halley k. harrisburg of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery delivered the “State of the State” address to present numerous elements of Beauford’s expanding legacy, …
halley k. harrisburg
© Wells International Foundation
… and Mary Campbell, UTK Associate Professor of Art History and author of the soon-to-be-released Beauford Delaney biography entitled Lovelight: The Art and Life of Beauford Delaney, commenting on the similarities between Radiant Horizons and the 1969 reception hosted by the American Cultural Center that honored Beauford in Paris.
Mary Campbell
© Wells International Foundation
Nicholas Boggs, author of James Baldwin: A Love Story, then interviewed David Leeming, author of Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, about Leeming’s relationship with Beauford and how he began to accumulate the information he would eventually include in the biography.
Nicholas Boggs and David Leeming
© Wells International Foundation
Host Derek Spratley then took the stage to thank the audience for attending, talk about his motivation for organizing the event, and announce a series of awards that were a surprise to everyone.
Derek Spratley, Esquire
© Wells International Foundation
Boggs, Leeming, and over a dozen additional people received the Golden Palette award, which Spratley personally designed in the name of the estate.
Nicholas Boggs with his award
© Wells International Foundation
The Golden Palette Award
© Wells International Foundation
Several Golden Palette award winners on stage
© Wells International Foundation
Monique Y. Wells, Sylvia Peters, and Rev. Reneé Kesler
© Wells International Foundation
The evening culminated with Spratley’s presentation of the gift of the papers David Leeming used to write Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney to UTLibraries’ Beauford Delaney Papers, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, and the Knoxville Museum of Art, a call for financial support for the Delaney Museum at Beck, and the screening of a trailer for a new Beauford Delaney documentary entitled Beauford Delaney: Life in Yellow.
Title screen for Beauford Delaney: Life in Yellow
© Wells International Foundation
Life in Yellow is a work in progress.