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A wide-ranging exhibition of graphic communication—including design, illustration, advertising, television commercials and film—is currently on a two-year tour of art schools and colleges. Originated, planned, selected and produced by Black artists, it presents the work of 49 Black men and women from the New York metropolitan area. Except for collections of fine arts assembled under museum auspices, it is believed to be the first exhibition in this country to present a representative showing of graphics by Black professional artists.

The exhibition was the joint idea of co-chairmen Dorothy Hayes and Joyce Hopkins. Miss Hayes teaches advertising concept at the New York City Community College as well as operating her own design studio in New York. Joyce Hopkins is a designer with Harper & Row, book publishers.

The selection committee was made up of Black artists and designers. In addition to Miss Hayes and Miss Hopkins, it included Seldon Dix, Jr., graphic designer; Alex Oliver, Carl Overr and Roy Lagrone, art directors; Reynold Ruffins, illustrator; and Mahler Ryder, illustrator and instructor in drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Georg Olden served as a consultant to the committee, as did Leo Fassler, vice-president and associate creative director at Benton & Bowles.

Lubalin, Smith, Carnase & Ferriter volunteered their resources to design and mount the exhibition which appeared first, early this year, at the Composing Room's Gallery 303 in New York.

Several films were shown as part of the exhibition. Poet, composer, painter, photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks was represented with a 25-minute autobiographical film. Seventeen television commercials by Georg Olden were shown, as were commercials by producers Ted Shearer, Bill Mason, Alex Oliver, Dorothy Hayes and Tee Collins. An IBM sales recruiting film designed for use in recruiting sessions in Black schools was also presented. It was produced, directed and shot by Roy Inman.

A special music score to accompany the exhibition was written by Gene Casey.

The 49 artists represented in the Black Artist in Graphic Communication exhibition are:
Dorothy Akubuiro, Roosevelt Allison, Romare Bearden, Charles Boyd, Cecil Elombe Brath, Ronnie Brathwaite, Oraston Brooks-El, Wallace E. Caldwell, Elmore Theodore Collins, Donald Crews, Leo and Diane Dillon, Seldon Dix, Philip Draggan, Loring Eutemey, Tom Feelings, George Ford, Veronal Grant, Robert A. Gumbs, Donald Harper, Dorothy E. Hayes, Joyce Hopkins, Bill Howell, Roy Inman, Louise E. Jefferson, Jo Jones, Roy E. Lagrone, Vincent Lewis, Alexander Mapp, Andrea Marquez, Bill Mason, Don Miller, John Morning, Georg Olden, Alex Oliver, Carl Overr, Gordon Parks, Jerry Pinkney, George Robert Pruden, Samuel Reed, Reynold Ruffins, Mahler B. Ryder, Ahmand Sadig, Ted Shearer, John Steptoe, Otis D. Sullivan, Mozelle Wilmont Thompson, Jr., Alex Walker, Bernadine Watson and Verona Witcher.

Left: Illustration by Tom Feelings for his forthcoming book, A Black Artists Pilgrimage. Middle: Symbol designed by George Ford, Jr. for the New Lafayette Theater. Originally designed for a poster, it was adapted for letterheads and envelopes, and it was then cast as a medallion to be worn by the cast. Right: Tom Feelings illustration.
 
Left: The art director for the Brentwood ad was Wallace Caldwell. Middle: Alex Oliver art directed the two Gulf ads. Right: This poster was designed by Andrea Marquest, with the illustration by Romare Bearden. 
 
Left and Middle-Left: Seldon Dix, Jr. designed the logo for Teletape Productions, as well as the USA logo for the TImes News Tour of the U.S.A. Middle-Right: The cjd design is by Dorothy Hayes. Right: Using a motif from Uganda pottery, the African American Institute logo is by Louise Jefferson.
 
One section of the exhibition is devoted to a retrospective showing of the work of Mozelle Thompson, whose career was halted by his death a month before the opening of the exhibition. The illustration (left) appear in The New York Times. At the right are illustrations from Tuesday, the syndicated Sunday newspaper supplement.
 
Left: Stevie was written and illustrated by John Steptoe. His illustrations for this book earned him a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators. Middle: Donald Crews wrote and illustrated Ten Black Dots. Right: He also designed the cover for Across the Pacific.
 
Left and Middle-Left: Josephine Jones was the designer for the two book covers. Middle-Right and Right: Record album covers. Loring P. Eutemey, designer.
 
Left: Record album cover. Leo and Diane Dillon, designers. Middle: Record album cover. Oraston Brooks-El, illustrator. Right: The illustration is part of a series, "The Great American Subway Rider," by Mahler B. Ryder.
 
Left: Seldon Dix, Jr. created an unfamiliar Statue of Liberty by combining a Bourke-White photo of the statue with a photo of a Black woman's face by Gordon Parks. Middle: Dix was also the designer for the doll's face cover. Right: Dix was also the photographer for the other cover.
 
Philip Draggan was an associate designer for the Seatrain Lines, Inc. annual report.
 
Oraston Brooks-El designed "No Exit."
 
Left: The woman's profile is a Tom Feelings illustration. Middle and right: Reynold Ruffins illustrated The Antkeeper and the Harlem On My Mind posters.
 
Left: Romare Bearden was the illustrator for the Fortune cover. Middle: Bill Mason was the art director for the IBM ad. Right: The Pan Am ad was art directed by Ahmad Sadiq while he was with J. Walter Thompson's Pan American Division.
 
Left: Sam Reed was the art director for the unpublished AT&T ad. Right: Three children, an illustration by Mahler B. Ryder.
 
Left: "The Arts" cover was designed by Dorothy Hayes. Middle: The Children of Rio Bueno, Jamaica, by Don Miller. Right: Leo and Diane Dillon designed and illustrated the Ground Zero poster.

When designer Dorothy Hayes first came to New York in 1957, she found few Blacks in the art and design professions. She vowed "...that if I made it I would never turn my back on any Black person who came to me for advice and information, and who really wanted to learn." This exhibition is part of her total effort in keeping that promise.