Philosophy:
Nelson found himself in the position of proving to the professors and
the people in the Art Department that there was such a thing as 'Black
art' he began to research the Wall of Respect in Chicago and ran into
great resistance his professors believed that there was no prejudice in
art; prejudice existed but certainly not within the world of art. Nelson
developed the concept that 'art was for the sake of people'.
Affiliations:
AFRICOBRA/Farafindugu
'68, Chicago. The African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (Africobra);
the term 'bad' means aesthetic integrity, artistic and social commitment.
AfriCobra was established in 1968, members:
- Napolean Jones-Henderson
- Adger Cowans
- Wadsworth Jarrell
- Michael Harris
- Nelson Stevens
- Akili Ron Anderson
- Frank Smith
- Murry DePillars and James Phillips
- Jeff Donaldson (deceased)
- source: Drum Magazine
Page 31, Volume 18, Number 1&11, May 1988.
FESTAC
'77 Lagos, Nigeria
The second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture attended
by 15,000 artists from 57 lands.
Teaching Interests:
-Art and Murals
-Drum Magazine
- Faculty Advisor and Consultant 1977
Future
Work:
Nelson' would like his next focus to be on creating art to be displayed
on billboards the idea is to take billboards, which are located according
to marketing people in strategic areas and putting pure art on [them].
It's not a brand new idea, but it is an idea that he wants to start putting
his energies behind. The stumbling block at this point is getting advertisers
who own the billboards to deal with this concept and give up the space.
| Education: |
| 1958 | AAS Advertising, Design | Mohawk Vally Technical Institute, Utica, N.Y. |
| 1962 | BFA Painting, Art Education | Ohio University Athens, Ohio |
| 1969 | MFA Studio Art/Art History | Kent State University Kent, Ohio |
| Work Experience: |
| 2003 | University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Professor of
Art, Emeritus |
| 1978 | Sabbatical Leave, research in print making and offset lithography, Washington, D.C. |
| 1974-77 | Director of Summer Public Arts Program. Hiring and
utilizing skills oof University art majors to further mural painting in New England area. Specificallly Western Massachusetts, Springfield, Hartford, and Boston |
| 1972-2003 | Associate Professor of Art, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Art and W.E.B. Department of Arican American Studies |
| 1969-1971 | Assistant Professor of Art, Northern Illinois University,
Department of Art |
| 1966-1968 | Education Coordinator for Cleveland Museum of Art and Cleveland Junior High Schools |
| 1968 | Gallery Lecturer, Cleveland Museum of Art |
| 1967 | Instructor oof Art, Case Western reserve University |
| 1966-68 | Instructor of Adult Drawing and Design, Karamu House Cleveland, Ohio |
| 1962-66 | Artist/Teacher, Cleveland City Junior High Schools,
Cleveland Board of Education |
| 1961 | Layout Artist, Work in opaquing negatives, Cramwell Printery, Albany, New York |
| 1957 | Assistant Commercial Artist,General Electric Company Utica, New York |
| Courses Taught: |
| Intoductory Drawing - undergraduate |
| Introductory Painting - undergraduate |
| Advanced Drawing - graduate/undergraduate |
| Advanced Painting - graduate/undergraduate |
| Relief Printmaking - graduate/undergraduate |
| African American Art History - graduate/undergraduate |
| Contemporary Black Image Making - graduate/undergraduate |
| Publication Production and Design - graduate |
| Aesthetics in African American Art - graduate/undergraduate |
| Theories and Practices of Visual Thought - graduate/undergraduate |
|
AfriCOBRA’S |
| 1969 | WJ Studio, Chicago, Illinois Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana Afam Studio and Gallery, Chicago, Illinois |
| 1970 | Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York National Center for Afro-American Artists, Boston, Massachusetts South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, Illinois “Black Expo,” International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois |
| 1971 | Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, Illinois
Museo La Tertulia, Cali, Columbia Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois |
| 1972 | Howard University, Washington, D.C. Langston Hughes Center, Buffalo, New York State University of New York, Albany, New York Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York Haiti Gallery, Rochester, New York Malcolm X Community College, Chicago, Illinois |
| 1973 | Northern University, De Kalb, Illinois Rainbow Sign Gallery, Berkeley, california University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts Howard University, Washington, D.C. |
| 1975 | Carnegie-Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| 1977 | FESTAC ‘77 Afro-American Historical & Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 1978 | U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. |
| 1979 | Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi Miami University, Oxford, Ohio University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania Centre D’ Art Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| 1979 | Winner of the Portia Pitman Grant
to paint the Centennial Visions Mural at Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee, Alabama |
| 1980 | Museum of African & African-American Art, Buffalo,
New York Lamont Zeno Gallery, Chicago, Illinois South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, Illinois United Nations Security Council, New York, New York |
| 1981 | Neighborhood Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia |
| 1985 | University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Princess Anne,
Maryland |
| 1986 | Saginaw Black Arts Festival, Saginaw, Michigan |
| 1987 | “AfriCOBRA in Detroit,” National Conference
of Artists Gallery, Detroit, Michigan |
| 1988 | “AfriCOBRA USA,” 16eme Festival of Culture,
SERMAC, Fort De France, Martinique Fay God Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia |
| 1989 |
”AfriCOBRA and Group Fromaje, Esthetique Universelle,
Universal Aesthetics,” |
| 1990 | “AfriCOBRA: The First 29 Years Traveling Exhibition,” Lee Hall Gallery, Cemson University, Clemson, South Carolina Nexus Gallery, Atlanta Georgia University Gallery, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte, North Carolina |
| 1992 | “AfriCOBRA Reunion,”Museum of Science and
Industry, Chicago, Illinois |
| 1998 | “Trans-African Art Exhibition,” Art Atrium II Gallery, Portsmouth, Virginia |
| Works may be found in many private and public collections including: the Smithsonian, Schoumberg's Library and Research Center, NYC, and the Chicago Institute of Art. |
Proudest Accomplishments of the 90s: Founded "Art in the Service of the Lord", which commissioned African American artists to do Sacred works of art to form a Black Christian Fine Arts Calendar that existed for four years and circulated 15,000 copies of our art each year. |