Lonnie Graham has taken on multiple academic roles, serving as a professor of fine arts at Pennsylvania State University, an instructor of special programs at the Barnes Foundation in Marion, PA, and as a visiting instructor of graduate studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. A former visiting professor at Haverford College in Philadelphia, PA and Curator-in-Residence for the Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, PA. Graham also continues to serve as an active site visitor for the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.

During his tenure as director of photography at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, an arts organization dedicated to the educational development of disadvantaged urban youth, Graham developed the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Arts Collaborative, an interactive program involving public schools and community organizations that has been officially sited by the White House as a National Model for education.  His efforts also contributed to the development of the CDC/ARI (Community Development Corporation/Arts Resource Initiative), a multi-million dollar, multi-year project funded by the Ford Foundation.

Graham has been involved in and won a number of major commissions concerning social and political issues.  Among these are: the African/American Garden Project, a physical and cultural exchange facilitating interaction among disadvantaged urban single mothers, an elderly African American community, and farmers from the small village of Muguga, Kenya; a 1997 commission to travel to Papua New Guinea to document the harvest of the Woowoosi tree used to produce tapa cloth by the Maisins, a people who successfully blocked the efforts of foreign logging companies to win over their property rights, and have chosen to support themselves by maintaining traditional values rooted in an ancient lifestyle; and a commission from Philadelphia’s Fairmont Park Art Association to address the needs of a blighted urban community with revitalization through the arts, cultural activities and various entrepreneurial ventures.

Most recently, Graham was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and a National Endowment for the Arts/Pew Charitable Trust Travel Grant for travel to Ghana.  He is a three-time Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowship winner and has also been nominated as a Dupont Fellow and for the Cal Arts-Alpert Award in the Arts.

Graham’s photo credits include co-authorship of the book, Thaddeus Mosely, African American Sculptor, work for the National Endowment of the Arts and the Ford Foundation, the catalogue for the exhibition Countdown to Eternity, photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King by Ben Fernandez, and designs for a number of limited editions and catalogues, including an edition of his own work produced in photogravure entitled, Friendship, Strength, and Vitality.

Graham’s work is also included in the permanent collections of the Museum of African American History in Detroit, MI; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, PA; the Delaware Museum of Art in Wilmington, DE; and the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA.

Graham is a member of the National Planners for the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA! Festival).  He has volunteered as the guest curator in The Hurston’s 2008 - 2009 exhibition season.

This exhibit showcases Graham’s most recent conversations with the residents of the historic Eatonville community, featuring individuals from all walks of life and from a broad range of ages.

Ernestine E. McWhite, Eatonville, Florida 2008. Photo courtesy of artist.

Eatonville, FLA – The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts (The Hurston) will unveil the first exhibit of the 2008-2009 season on Saturday, September 13. Conversation with the World: Eatonville will profile the photographic expertise of artist Lonnie Graham as he captures the history and essence of Eatonville and its residents through his photography. The town of Eatonville serves as the ideal setting for Graham’s exhibit as it holds the distinction of being the nation’s oldest incorporated African-American municipality.

Graham, a professor of fine arts at Pennsylvania State University, will also serve as the guest curator for The Hurston’s 2008-2009 season. This season’s theme focuses on Community as the Medium for Artistic Expression.

Graham has engaged in conversation with individuals worldwide through his photography, travelling the continents of Africa, Asia and North America. Along with his photographs, Graham takes the time to interview the individuals he encounters on his travels, recording their opinions and beliefs on their culture, heritage and traditions.

One of his earlier projects with public schools and community organizations was designated as a National Model for Education by the White House. After being awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and the Pew Charitable Trust Travel Grant, his work expanded to the project, A Conversation with the World, a combination of visual art and socio-anthropology, where he illustrates the human condition from his interviews and photographs with people from around the globe.  This exhibit showcases Graham’s most recent conversations with the residents of the historic Eatonville community, featuring individuals from all walks of life and from a broad range of ages.

Conversation with the World: Eatonville runs through December 20, 2008. For more information, call (407) 647-3301 or visit www.zorafestival.com.

Established in 1990, the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts (The Hurston) is located in Eatonville, Florida, the nation’s oldest incorporated African-American municipality and hometown of writer, folklorist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. This exhibition museum provides a place in the heart of the community where the public can view the creative works of artists of African ancestry. The museum is a program of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.), a historic preservation organization whose mission is to enhance the town’s resources; educate the public about its significance and use its heritage and cultural vibrancy for economic development.

September 5 – October 12 Opening Show
Prints from the Collection of Clarence Otis Jr., and Jacquelyn L. Bradley

The Legendary Series –

The 1998 – 1999 exhibition season at The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts featured the work of four of the most prominent contemporary visual artists – Samella Lewis, John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, and William Pajaud. Dr. M.J. Hewitt was guest curator:

October 17 – November 28 The Work of Samella Lewis

January 17 – February 26 The Work of John Biggers

March 15 – April 30 The Work of Elizabeth Catlett

May 8 – August 7 The Work of William Pajaud

1999 – 2000

September 11 – October 23 Leon L. Theodore: A Retrospective
Exhibition – Part I (1960s – 1970s)
Guest Curator, Trent Tomengo

November 13 – December 30 Leon L. Theodore: A Retrospective
Exhibition – Part II (1980s – 1990s)
Guest Curator, Trent Tomengo

These two retrospective exhibitions honor the life and artistic legacy of the late Leon L. Theodore, founder and curator of The Hurston.

January 8 – March 3 Sankofa Style: 19th Century African
American Furniture Makers – Curator, Gylbert Coker.
The Sankofa Style exhibit presents a selection of furniture by several free black artisans who maintained businesses within their communities during the 1820 – 1860 period known as the “the Golden Era.” This exhibition also presents several works by slave artisans.

March 15 – May 5 Mary Proctor, Divine Painter: Fabrication on
Found Wood by Regional Self-Taught Artist and Missionary.

May 20 – August 11 Quilters’ Exhibition: Expression from “The
Home”

2000 – 2001

September 9 – November 4 The Sculptures of Jesse Aaron: A Rough
Artist – Curator, Gylbert Coker

Jesse Aaron’s sculpture is characterized by and noted for its rough, gestural depictions of human and animal forms.

November 13 – December 8 Urban Art Through the Eyes of Children
- Curator, Dorothy Shabazz
Works in various media from children (ages 6 – 16) in the Central Florida area highlight their vibrant creativity and growing knowledge of diverse cultural heritages, art materials and art making processes.

Partially funded by the Orange County Citizens’ Commission for Children

December 18 – February 5 Photographic Visions – Carrie Mae
Weems – Curator, Gylbert Coker

Exhibition featured photographs from Carrie Mae Weems’ critically acclaimed Sea Island Series and From Her “I Saw What Happened and I Cried Series.”

February 19 – March 30 The Mural Project: Residency of John
Biggers and William Pajaud
Legendary artists John Biggers and William Pajaud created a mural in the gallery space in the Hurston Museum. Four apprentices – Gerald Habarth, Trent Tomengo, Derrick Washington (University of South Florida) and Natalie Lovejoy (University of Central Florida) – assisted in executing the mural.

April 14 – May 11 Connecting Andre Smith and Zora Neale
Hurston: Maitland and Eatonville as Adjoining Communities – Lead Scholar, Dr. Beverly Robinson

May 19 – August 17 Prints by Kabuya Bowens – Curator,
Gylbert Coker
The prints featured in this exhibition merged traditional Western and African visual imagery. Bowens’ works conveyed a metaphysical aura of the ancient civilizations of Africa and the bond between ancient, almost mystic cultures.

2001 – 2002

September 8 – November 21 Terry Adkins: Altar Encore

Acclaimed sculptor and musician, Terry Adkins, reproduced an installation he has dedicated to Zora Neale Hurston. The installation was created on-site with material from the sponsoring community – Eatonville, FL.

December 8, 2001 – February 15 Willie Birch: 1994 – 1997

Willie Birch’s exhibition at The Hurston featured paintings and paper mâché sculptures that reflect the artist as a Black American while transcending race and culture, maintaining universal elements of communication.

March 2 – May 3 Jane Turner: Eatonville Artist

This exhibition featured the work of Eatonville artist Jane Turner, graduate of Tuskegee Institute and one of Central Florida’s emerging artists. Tuner says her work purports “to capture the job of living, my love for people, and the many colors and turns that life offers.”

May 18 – August 30 Caribbean Images from the Collection of
Dr. Janet L. DeCosmo

This exhibition focused on the Caribbean works from Dr. DeCosmo’s extensive collection of art from the Caribbean, Central and South America. As an outreach activity, Dr. DeCosmo conducted a Junkanoo mask-making and performance workshop with children attending the annual Summer Performing Arts Workshop (SPAW X) hosted by Preserve the Eatonville Community.

2005 – 2006

September 17 – December 10 Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston
and Her Eatonville Roots

This exhibition invited the visitor into “Zora’s World” – late 19th century Florida – Eatonville. It served as a primer to understanding her life, her contributions to the arts and humanities, and the cultural antecedents upon which she relies.

December 31, 2005 – March 31, 2006 Traditional African Culture: Cultural
Catalyst of the Diaspora – Curator,

Ernestine Maat Ray. This exhibition showcased the work of London-based photographer and ceramic artist, Maxine Muhammad. It was a pictorial exploration and celebration of the evolution of African culture and practice seen throughout the Diaspora – Africa, North and South American, the Caribbean and Europe.

April 22 – August 18, 2006 American Culture and African Textiles:
An Enduring Relationship

This exhibition explored the dynamic contribution of African textile traditions and crafts persons to the development of African American quilts and American textile design.

2006 – 2007

September 16 – December 29, 2006 The Ties that Bind: African Textiles and
The Diaspora

This exhibition was the second installment of a two-part series focusing on African textiles. It highlighted important textiles from West Africa which offered a direct link to the design considerations in the African American quilt.

January, 20 – April 27, 2007 The Eatonville Quilters – A Celebration
A Community Tradition

Based on field research conducted by folklorist and oral historian, Worth Long, who conducted the project through grant assistance provided by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Historic Preservation Advisory Council, this exhibition featured the craft of Eatonville matrons ranging in age from their early 60s to their late 80s. This was a companion exhibition to the Orlando Museum of Art’s African American Quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama and Central Florida.

May 12 – August 24, 2007 African Metalwork and Currency
This exhibition centered on metal as currency for trade, a measure of wealth and a display of social status.

2007 – 2008

September 15 – December 15, 2007 Too Old a Hand

Featured the works of a collection of artists who specialized in imagery which reflects the folklore of their respective native lands. It also paid tribute to Zora Neale Hurston’s own love of anthropological research.

January 26 – April 26, 2008 Kindred Spirits: Installations by Betye
Saar and Mildred Howard

This exhibition featured an installation of mystical things, a unique artistic genre that even seasoned arts patrons seldom have an opportunity to see. Guests experienced how art is made from “myth and ritual, memory and place, religion and family, metaphor and symbolism, music tradition and found objects.”

May 15 – August 24, 2008 Sam Gilliam: Recent Works

The works of world-renowned artist, Sam Gilliam, are featured in an installation art exhibit at the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts (The Hurston) in Eatonville. The exhibit, entitled “Sam Gilliam: I Adapt to Eatonville,” was specially created for The Hurston and will be on display through August 24.

Size varies | Acrylic on Nylon | 2007 | Coutesy of the Artist