The 3-Minute Interview: Robert Steele

By Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer 8/20/08

Though a psychology professor by training, Robert Steele’s interest in art collection landed him as director of the University of Maryland’s David C. Driskell Center, devoted to showcasing and developing African-American art and culture. A new grant from the Ford Foundation will allow the center broader outreach to the Washington community.

What’s your favorite piece in the Driskell Center’s permanent collection?
My personal favorites are by Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. I would suspect that these two artists are probably celebrated among the best artists that America has produced. In terms of their talent and contribution, they transcended their identity as African-Americans and are seen simply as American artists.

What will you do with the $100,000 grant?
The purpose is twofold. We will use the grant to support two exhibitions — the first will be a midcareer exhibition of a New York-based artist named Robin Holder, and the second will showcase William T. Williams, a New York-based abstract painter. The second focus is a high school outreach program that’s complementary to the exhibitions.
A subtext with regard to educational outreach: One of our major missions is to expand and replenish the field for persons interested in promoting African-American art and visual culture.

What benefit does the Driskell Center bring to the region’s artistic offerings?
If you think in terms of museums and art institutions, some by their mission are encyclopedic and broad, like the National Gallery, but if you look at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, or the Phillips Collection, which focuses on contemporary art, they have a niche. What we try to bring is an appreciation and understanding of the contributions of African-Americans and artists in the African diaspora. One would, at our center, get a wider base of African-American artists — people like Jacob Lawrence and William T. Williams.

You can’t have a complete story of American art unless you understand and appreciate the contributions that African-American artists have made historically. That’s one of our major missions, to help people see that.

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