Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art

Seventy-two works by 67 black artists who typically have not been recognized in the traditional narratives of African American art made up “Tradition Redefined,” an exhibition organized by the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, College Park. Larry and Brenda Thompson have collected the work of both celebrated artists and work by artists who have been considered emerging, regional or less known. Artists featured in the exhibition included Amiri Baraka, Romare Bearden, Camille Billops, Joseph Delaney, Norman Lewis, Charles E. Porter, William T. Williams and Hale Woodruff. The Thompsons later donated all these works to the museum and endowed a curatorial position focusing on African American artists.