The documentary film David Driskell: In Search of the Creative Truth by Richard Kane will kick off the UMVA (Union of Maine Visual Artists) Bi-Monthly Maine Masters Screening Series via Zoom on February 7, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.

Following the screening will be a discussion of the importance of Dr. David Driskell’s art and scholarship by Daniel and Marcia Minter, founders of the Indigo Arts Alliance, Dr. Curlee Holton, former director of the David Driskell Center and Driskell’s Master Printmaker, moderated by Richard Kane, award-winning documentary filmmaker and UMVA board member.  

Aside from appearing on Maine Public Television, the film was premiered at the Maine International Film Festival and screened at the Camden International Film Festival before touring the country to ten more festivals as well as at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. To receive a link to this special Zoom presentation, email KaneLewisproductions@gmail.com. Limited to the first 100.

The documentary captures Driskell making collages inspired by mentor Romare Bearden, documents him with National Gallery consulting curator Ruth Fine, and painting at his Falmouth studio. The film also explores the give and take of his creative relationship with master printmaker Curlee Holton, who will participate in the post screening discussion. Driskell ruminates about the obligation of the artist to search for the creative truth “‘til his or her dying day.” 

David Driskell: In Search of the Creative Truth won the Shaw Prize for Best Film (Maine Public) and appears in HBO’s special Black Art: In the Absence of Light, by Sam Pollard. The trailer can be found here: https://vimeo.com/kanelewis/daviddriskelltrailer

Driskell (1931-2020), born into a family of Georgia sharecroppers, was a renowned painter and one of the leading authorities on the subject of African American art. His paintings can be found in major museums and private collections worldwide including the National Gallery of Art. In 1976, Driskell curated the groundbreaking exhibit “Two Centuries of Black American Art: 1750-1950” which laid the foundation for the field of African American Art History. In 2000, in a White House ceremony, Driskell received the National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton. In 2007, he was elected as a National Academician by the National Academy. 

Daniel Minter is an American artist known for his work in the mediums of painting and assemblage. He is a visual storyteller and accomplished illustrator. Minter’s artwork reflects abiding themes of displacement and diaspora; ordinary/extraordinary blackness; spirituality in the Afro-Atlantic world; and the (re)creation of meanings of home. He has illustrated over a dozen children’s books and commissioned twice to create Kwanzaa stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. Minter teaches at the Maine College of Art.

Marcia Minter is a seasoned creative professional, dedicated arts advocate and community leader deeply committed to social and cultural activism. Her work on numerous boards represents the interest of underrepresented voices, talents and citizen constituents. She has spent her professional career as an Executive Creative Director for some of the world’s most iconic brands. Her curatorial work focuses on photography, symposiums on the intersection of art and social practice, exhibition planning and implementation. Currently she serves on the Maine Arts Commission, and is a Trustee of the Portland Museum of Art and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

Kane is a New England Emmy-nominated director of 80+ films. CARLO … and his Merry Band of Artist is his latest addition to films of extraordinary artists premiering July 2024 at the Maine International Film Festival. Truth Tellers, his doc about artist/activist Robert Shetterly and the courage to defend our nation’s founding ideals, will begin airing nationally to over 300 PBS affiliates by American Public Television February 1, 2024 and is educationally distributed by Bullfrog Films.

The film is part of his series Maine Masters, fiscally sponsored by the Union of Maine Visual Artists. Others in the series include: I Know a Man … Ashley Bryan screened at 15 international festivals in the US, South Africa and the Caribbean and is now being distributed by Kanopy. His Imber’s Left Hand won four BEST FILM Awards and is streaming on WNET’s ALL ARTS (New York PBS).

UMVA, founded in 1975, is a non-profit organization that promotes and advocates for the visual arts, artists, and all arts supporters.  As artist advocates, the UMVA initiated and saw enacted into state law the Maine Percent for Art Program (requiring a percentage of funds for state buildings to include art) and the Artist's Estate Tax Law (allowing art work to be used to pay artists estate taxes). Other programs and projects supported by UMVA include: The Maine Arts Journal, an online, quarterly publication. The Journal features essays by and about artists, interviews, UMVA member submissions, poetry, UMVA updates about its current projects, local chapters, and more; ARRT! Artists' Rapid Response Team, a collaboration of artists & progressive groups making art to create positive change; Lumen ARRT!!, a group creating large-scale video projections in public spaces to give a visual voice to progressive non-profits; and the New England Emmy Award-nominated Maine Masters Project, a video series of 19 compelling profiles of some of Maine’s most distinguished and often less recognized artists. There are currently two chapters: Portland and Midcoast.