For The Sake of Art | A Wearable Art Competition
Cultural Honorees
Honorary Chairs
Radcliffe Bailey
Radcliffe Bailey is a painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist who utilizes the layering of imagery, culturally resonant materials, and text to explore themes of ancestry, race, and memory. Bailey believes that by translating his personal experiences, he can achieve an understanding of, and a healing from, a universal history. His work is often created out of found materials and certain pieces from his past, including traditional African sculpture, tintypes of his family members, piano keys, and Georgia red clay.
In a 2013 interview with Lilly Lampe in BOMBlog, Bailey described his creative process and how he views the past as inherently tied to the present: “The day by day experience of art, even though my work may seem to have this layer of history, it is also a cover for what I’m dealing with on a day to day. It’s very much about today. We were talking about where I go next: I’m still thinking about today and yesterday and what’s coming in front of me tomorrow. It’s my attitude to my studio practice.”
Radcliffe Bailey lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. A solo traveling exhibition of Bailey’s work, Memory as Medicine, was exhibited at the High Museum of Art in 2011 and subsequently traveled to the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Massachusetts and the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas.
Grant Hill is one of the most accomplished NBA and college players of his generation. The seven-time NBA AllStar and two-time NCAA Champion has made the successful transition from 19 years as a professional athlete to leadership in business along with several television broadcasting roles.
For six-time Grammy nominated singer-songwriter, Tamia Hill, “Music is just a part of me and everything I do, every step that I take.” The Canadian-born vocal powerhouse has lived by that mantra for a career spanning over two decades and solidifying her as one of the most recognizable voices in R&B music
Grant and Tamia have solidified their lasting relationship with a mission statement through their family brand – the Hill Brand – which stands for intelligence, integrity, character, leadership, triumph over adversity, grace, charisma, family, success, credibility and likeability. Both Tamia and Grant recognize the gift they’ve been given to represent such incredible stories of success and triumph over adversity to others, and the Hill Brand was established to uphold the values the couple finds most important personally and professionally.
Tamia & Grant Hill
David C. Driskell
Artist and scholar David Driskell is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on African American art. Driskell was born on June 7, 1931 in Eatonton, Georgia. Educated in North Carolina's public schools, he earned his undergraduate degree at Howard University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Driskell also pursued post-graduate studies in Art History at the Netherlands Institute for the History of Art in the Hague and studied African and African American cultures independently in Europe, Africa, and South America.
In 1976, Driskell opened his groundbreaking exhibition, "Two Centuries of Black American Art", at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The show prompted the creation of similar shows around the country. Driskell also penned the show's catalogue, an invaluable text to art scholars who previously had very little information available on African American artists.
Since 1977, Driskell has served as cultural advisor to Camille and Bill Cosby and curator of the Cosby Collection of Fine Arts. He placed works of African American artists on the set of "The Cosby Show". This is credited with creating a new class of African American art collectors.
Driskell has contributed significantly to the study of the role of African American artists in society. He has written five exhibition books, co-authored four others, and published more than forty catalogues from exhibitions he has curated. Driskell has lectured extensively in North America, Europe, Africa, and South America and has taught at numerous universities.
In 1998, the University of Maryland established the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora. The Center honors Driskell's career as artist, educator, philanthropist, collector and art historian.