101 x 76 cm, oil on canvas
Location: Second Floor Gallery, Hirsch Hall
Artist's Commentary delivered February 15, 2021
Madam Vice President, like American Presidents, is a very simplistic painting. Properly depicting the historic event of the desegregation of the University of Georgia and the Georgia public school system is a tall task. In my attempt to do so, I emphasis the year, “1961” and incorporate images from the desegregation and protests in the numbers “9” and “6”. Likewise, images of the student body and others marching in protest to Holmes and Hunter are incorporated into the University Arch which is also the central element of the painting. These images are coupled with news paper articles from the Red and Black, and Judge William Bootle’s January 6, 1961 Order forcing the admission of Hunter and Holmes.
In summation, the year “1961” is transitioning (walking) through the Arch. The other key elements of the painting highlight the following important facts:
1. The 400 Faculty Petition
2. 167 years of Segregation
3. The statement “No Not One”
4. The 7000 white students and 2 black students (symbolized by white and black dots)
5. Turner High School
6. A Strong Foundation
7. Love > Fear
8. The Mary Frances Early School of Education