Portfolio Gallery Artwork Featured

Culver-Stockton College Art & Design Department is pleased and honored to open the 2022 fall semester with a collection of art from the Portfolio Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri. Portfolio Gallery promotes artists that are of the African American heritage. They are also an education center, providing art classes. The mission of the Portfolio Gallery is to educate and enrich lives and foster a greater awareness of American artists of African American heritage.

Artists from the Portfolio Gallery that will be displaying their work in the MaBee Gallery include Robert A. Powell, Basil Kincaid, Rickie Frager, Dean L. Mitchell, Lonnie Powell, Anthony High, Darnell Malone, and Marilyn L. O. Robinson.

Basil Kincaid is a post-disciplinary artist who explores the fixity of conditioned and self-imposed constructs. Through quilting, collaging, photography, installation, and performance – done with found, salvaged and donated materials – Kincaid interrogates social mores while drafting alternative cultural fabrics. He has won numerous awards and will debut a new body of work with Galleria Poggiali in Milan.

Rickie Frager is a self-taught color-pencil, pen and ink artist, born and raised in St. Louis. His work is mainly about moments and prefers to work from photographs rather than from life. He prefers to draw in black and white as it forces you to focus on the image and the elements of design.

Dean L. Mitchell is a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio. He is well known for his figurative works, landscapes and still lives. In addition to watercolors, he is accomplished in egg tempera, oil, and pastel. His art can be found in corporate and museum collections across the country, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Gadsden Art Center, Quincy, Florida, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio and the Library of Congress to name a few. He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society.

Lonnie Powell has had art accepted in competitions around the country and has exhibited in many Kansas City venues including solo and group exhibits. His work is in numerous private collections as well as corporate and museum collections such as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, American Jazz Museum, Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Art Collection, Sprint Corporation, etc. He is a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society and his award-winning watercolor; South Sun toured the country in 2006 with the National Watercolor Society’s 85th Annual Traveling Exhibition.

Anthony High teaches at the Nelson-Atkins Museum and taught art education for the Kansas City Missouri School District for 29 years. He is also an adjunct professor at UMKC and the Metropolitan Community Colleges of Kansas City.

Marilyn L. O. Robinson retired from a highly successful professional career in human services administration and is now able to devote time to her artistic lifelong passion of creating unique, multi-media artworks. Robinson states that “Capturing the infinite beauty of ‘Nature’ and ‘Cultural Compositions’, is the essence of my mixed-media artworks and photography. Unique creativity is the ultimate visual avenue that I utilize to share my own spirituality and celebrate, with deep appreciation, passion and love the vibrant artistry of “Contemporary Cultures” that have emerged from African and Caribbean ancestry.”

Darnell Malone earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Fine Arts and Communication with an emphasis in Technical Theatre and Design, and a Master of Science degree in Education: Curriculum and Instruction. He taught art in several elementary and high schools in St. Louis as well as workshops at Craft Alliance. In 1998 he established his business Company Excelsior which has provided interior and color consulting, case good designs, murals, wall painting, faux finishes and mixed media paintings for residential homes and businesses. This will be his 45th exhibit. Currently he has paintings in homes and institutions in California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, South Carolina, as well as Atlanta, Houston, and Miami.
Robert A. Powell is a self-taught artist who creates art from found wood. He creates art that reflects his philosophy of “Positive Motivation” through art. He attempts to provide an alternative thought and way to live life with his creations. He is founder and Executive Director of the Portfolio Gallery and Educational Center – St. Louis, MO. Portfolio is a 501C3 arts organization located in St. Louis, Missouri, whose mission is to educate, enrich lives and to foster a greater awareness of American artists of African American heritage. Their mission is accomplished through exhibits, programs, and classroom instruction to children, adults and the developmentally disabled.

The show will open on August 25. The reception will be held on September 22nd, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, with a talk by Robert Powell at 6:30 pm. The gallery is open from 9:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday and by appointment. This show will be up from August 25 through September 23. It is free and open to the public. For questions, please contact Debra K. Scoggin/Myers at dmyers@culver.edu.