Over the past several years, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) has worked diligently to further the legacy of talented African-American artist Hugh Bell, whose photography career began in the early 1950s. We are pleased to announce that the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the Department of Art, University of Minnesota, will feature Hugh Bell’s work in their forthcoming exhibition projected for September of 2021, entitled “ A Picture Gallery of the Soul,” which will celebrate the work of African American photographers. The gallery, situated on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, also promotes art as a means to address the issues of social justice, especially relevant because of the murder of George Floyd in that city.

As noted in the gallery’s announcement below, they are planning to prominently feature Hugh Bell’s “powerful image of Sarah Vaughan”. David Deitch, GME’s Fine Arts Curator notes, “We are pleased that Hugh Bell is being rediscovered through his iconic image of Sarah Vaughan within the context of this probing exhibition, which highlights the significant role African American photographers have played in the development of the medium from both a creative and cultural perspective. Bell’s photograph of Sarah Vaughan has appeared on the LP from 1955 entitled “After Hours with Sarah Vaughan”; was prominently featured in the exhibition at Harvard University in 2016 entitled, “Art of Jazz: Form/Performance/Notes”; and was the basis for the USPS Forever Stamp Issue in 2016 as well.”

Click here for more information about Hugh Bell and his legacy or write to info@gartenbergmedia.com.

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

On behalf of the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, operated by the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota, we add our voices to the collective expressions of sadness, grief, and outrage heard across our community, the country, and the world in memory of George Floyd.

We believe that a university art gallery can make a contribution in the struggle for racial equality and justice -- by showing and promoting the work of a wide variety of artists, including artists of color, and by increasing the dialogue in support of the artists and their work. The Katherine E. Nash Gallery aspires to be a center of discourse on the practice of visual art and its relationship to culture and community -- a place where we examine our assumptions about the past and suggest possibilities for the future.

This powerful image of Sarah Vaughan by the great American photographer Hugh Bell will be included in the forthcoming exhibition "A Picture Gallery of the Soul," planned for the Katherine E. Nash Gallery in 2021. The result of 5 years of curatorial research and planning, "A Picture Gallery of the Soul" will feature the work of African American artists from Minnesota and across the country whose practice incorporates the photographic medium, and will include diverse artistic perspectives from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

A Picture Gallery of the Soul will demonstrate that the history of American photography and the history of African American culture and politics are two interconnected histories. From the daguerreotypes made by Jules Lion in New Orleans in 1840, to the lectures on the possibilities of photography delivered by Frederick Douglass in the 1860s, to the iconic images of Jazz made in the 20th century, to the Instagram post of the Baltimore Uprising made by Devin Allen in 2015, photography has chronicled African American life and African Americans have defined the possibilities of photography. A Picture Gallery of the Soul will honor, celebrate, investigate and interpret Black history, culture and politics in America.

We believe that art can help us become more compassionate, better human beings. We dedicate our work to that belief.

Herman J. Milligan, Jr., Ph.D.
Howard Oransky
Exhibition Curators, "A Picture Gallery of the Soul"

Teréz Iacovino
Nash Gallery Assistant Curator

Sarah Vaughan USPS Forever Stamp Issue (2016) — Sarah Vaughan USPS Forever Stamp Issue (2016)

News

Iconic Sarah Vaughan Photo by Hugh Bell to be Included in Forthcoming Exhibition at the University of Minnesota Katherine E. Nash Gallery