SALEM — The final exhibition to fill the main gallery at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art this year is a delightfully eclectic collection of postwar African American art that is every bit as interesting as the story of how it came together is inspiring.
Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art is on display in the Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery and in the lobby through Dec. 20, accompanied by a softcover catalog published by International Arts and Artists, the Washington, D.C., group that coordinated the show. Salem is the final stop on a tour that that has taken the collection of more than 60 works around the United States since January 2020 (the start of the pandemic) — a trip with 16 exhibitions in a dozen states.
The exhibition had the most humble of beginnings — it started in the early 1980s when Kerry Davis, then a young postal carrier in Atlanta, decided he wanted some art in his home…