Students and visitors to the Friday opening of the exhibition of African art Jackson State University got a rare treat with a visit by the collection’s donor.
James Anderson, who with his wife Beatrice, donated the art, spoke a few words to the crowd, saying his appreciation for JSU started in the 1990s.
He was lured to the campus by Dr. Ally Mack, former dean of the International Studies Department now known as JSU Global.
Anderson was involved with the Mississippi Consortium of International Development and director of the group’s scholarship program. “I wanted to increase the number of students going to HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities),” he said.
It was during that visit that he decided he would see what he could do to help JSU. That led to donating the pieces from his collection, amassed since 1968 until 2002, while he was serving in Africa with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Art became a passion, said Anderson, now of Gaithersburg, Md. “It’s really an insight into the culture of the country.”
He first went to Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, he said, teaching beekeeping. He ended up with USAID and living in 15 different African countries. His personal collection totals about 2,500 pieces.
Since 2001, Anderson and wife, who was born in Senegal, have given JSU about 200 pieces, in groups of about 20, said Assistant Art Professor Dr. Yumi Park Huntington, who coordinated the exhibit. The total value of the gifted art is about $100,000, Huntington said.
Anderson said Friday that he plans to keep giving to the university. And, said Huntington, more of the artwork will be displayed. Plans are to show different pieces each spring, she said.
JSU art students who are enrolled in the class African Art History curated the exhibit that is free and open to the public at Ayer Hall at the Margaret Walker Center for the Study of the African-American Experience, Huntington said.
Titled “The Student Art Exhibition, Animated World: African Art from the Anderson Collection at Jackson State University, the exhibit being shown through June 11 highlights three specific themes: Cosmology in African Art, Images of Animals in African Art, and Images of Ancestors in African Art.
For more information, contact Huntington at 601-979-0831 or email: