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Loïs Mailou Jones (American, 1905–1998) was a leading Black artist and educator. A graduate of Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Jones founded the art department at Palmer Memorial Institute, North Carolina in 1928, and, two years later, was recruited by Howard University to join the Art Department, where she taught for much of her life. In 1937, Jones was awarded a fellowship by the General Education Board, which allowed her to study in Paris, where she assimilated modernist syntax and African motifs. The Musician (pictured above) is thought to be a portrait of Charlie Christian (1916–1942), an American swing and jazz guitarist. In 1936, Jones illustrated the poster Important Events and Dates in Negro History (pictured below). The text was written and compiled by Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950), an American scholar, historian, author, journalist, and founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH, now ASALH). Woodson was the creator of Negro History Week in 1926, now Black History Month, and devoted his life to Black History as a means to racial harmony and Black empowerment. In the 1950s, Jones was awarded a commission to paint two large murals on the subjects of Africa and Ghana for a house owned by the National Baptist Convention that was used as a retreat for African-American missionaries. Today, the house is a youth shelter owned and administered by Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a nonprofit organization that serves vulnerable youth and families. The two oil on plaster murals have suffered over the years and were at some point heavily overpainted. Our friend Judith Brodie, former Curator and Head of American and Modern Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and her husband Merv Richard, former Head of Conservation also at the National Gallery of Art, are raising funds to initiate their conservation (see images below). Their goal is to raise $300,000 and they are halfway to reaching it. To learn more about this important project and how to donate, click here.
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