Benny Andrews is a major figure in American art, celebrated for his artwork, his teaching and leadership, and his tireless advocacy for the inclusion of black and women artists within museums and academia. His fight for representation has transformed the ways in which museums and scholars look at previously excluded and under-represented artists.
Andrews was born in Plainview, Georgia, a small farming community outside of Madison. His father, George, was a self-taught artist and sharecropper and the young Andrews, along with his nine siblings, worked in the fields at an early age. He attended elementary school in a log cabin built by the local African American community and, through his mother Viola’s efforts, was able to attend high school when not in the fields. He was the first of his family to graduate from high school, and with a small 4-H Club scholarship, enrolled in 1948 at Fort Valley State, one of three black colleges in Georgia. He struggled academically and chafed at the lack of art so, when his scholarship ended, Andrews enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving in the Korean War from 1950-54.
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The GI Bill enabled Andrews to enroll at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The city was a new experience for him, introducing him not only to an art museum but also to a city and academic facilities not segregated by race. The jazz scene in Chicago was particularly appealing and he found part time work sketching live music performances. Abstract Expressionism was in vogue but it did not fit with Andrews’ interests, so he pursued his own style and began to incorporate collage into his art. After graduating in 1958 he moved to New York, painting from home while caring for his children.
As he became established in the city, Andrews was soon exhibiting, teaching, and receiving major awards. He also became socially active, protesting the outright exclusion of black artists from the Whitney and Metropolitan Museum of Art and joining fellow artists in forming the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC). Throughout his activism he also continued to paint and achieved increasing levels of recognition and success, including his appointment as director of the visual arts program for the National Endowment for the Arts from 1982–1984.
Andrews’ life was ultimately one of service and art, and his legacy of teaching and activism opened the institutional world of art to a host of black and women artists.