On Thursday, April 11, 2024, the Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College continues its monthly Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series with a public presentation at noon with Perry H. Trice, Librarian and Archivist at Talladega College’s Savery Library and Curator of the special exhibition on the art of Dr. Arthur Bacon. The collection features art from the College’s Special Collections and works on loan from public and private collections.
Dr. Arthur “Art” Bacon was a scientist, educator, administrator, activist, and artist. In January of 1961, his senior year at Talladega College, he was attacked by members of the KKK in nearby Anniston, AL. This pivotal act would propel Bacon into the canon of civil rights history in Alabama. After graduating from Talladega College, he eschewed a career as an artist and followed his passion for marine biology and the natural sciences. He earned a master’s and Ph.D. at Howard University. In 1967, he became the first Black postdoctoral researcher at the University of Miami before returning to Talladega as a professor of Natural Science in 1969. Over his 40-year career at Talladega College, he would become Chair of the department, Dean of the division, and ultimately Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs of the college before his retirement in 2009.
Trice explains that, within the Talladega College campus community, Dr. Bacon was known as “a science professor who occasionally did art.” After retirement, unencumbered by his day job, his role in the Arts and the Arts community expanded. In an orbit where he was known as an artist, not a scientist, Bacon could engage the local and regional art community through local art shows, public painting demonstrations, and frequent entries of his finished work in juried exhibitions. He was awarded the Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award in 2017. A bronze bust of Dr. Bacon was unveiled in the college museum’s Civil Rights Garden last year on Nov. 2, 2023, two days after he passed away.
Trice will discuss his process for selecting work for the exhibition, which spans five decades, and elucidate Bacon’s artistic evolution from minimalist figure drawings to large-scale paintings to painting as performance. Through a slide presentation of Bacon’s works throughout the decades, beginning with early drawings Bacon contributed as a staff member to the college yearbook committee in the late 1950s, Trice will conceptualize that Bacon not only possessed the natural talent to be a great artist from an early age but how his artistic style was influenced and evolved throughout his life, and that fundamentally, Bacon’s natural gift was his ability to connect to people through his creative endeavors.
The Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series is made possible in part by a grant from the Daniel Foundation and through support from Talladega College.
About the Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series
The Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series introduces audiences to creative thinkers and visionaries through engaging dialogues and demonstrations. The series seeks to connect members of the local communities served by the Museum and increase awareness of its resources. Various genres and art forms are explored, with many focusing on African-American contemporary art practices, literature, music, and more. For a complete list of speakers, visit online at harveymuseum.org.
Presentations are held monthly at noon in the Museum Lecture Hall. Admission is free; RSVP to srobertson@talladega.edu or (256) 761-6299. Attendees are invited to bring a brown bag lunch; water and cookies are provided gratis. Door prizes will be awarded. The Museum galleries will be open. For more information, visit online at harveymuseum.org or call (256) 761-6284.
For guests who require assistance with sight or hearing impairments, contact the organizer at least two weeks before the event at (256) 761-6299, srobertson@talladega.edu. The Museum and museum parking area are handicapped accessible.
Visiting the Museum
The Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art, located on Talladega College’s campus, is the Amistad Murals’ home. Admission is free; donations are appreciated. The Museum is open by appointment; all visits are guided. Schedule at least two weeks in advance by contacting Savery Library at (256) 761-6284, tclibrary@talladega.edu. Allow at least one hour for your tour. The Museum is wheelchair accessible. Motorcoach unloading and parking are available.
