Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art
September 27 – December 20, 2025
Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Claude Clark (American, 1915-2001), Self Determination, 1969, oil on board, 16 x 20 inches. Photo credit: Greg Staley, © Claude Clark.
Our goal is to preserve cultural memories and provide the community with a source of inspiration.—Kerry Davis
From September 27 to December 20, 2025, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art will present the traveling exhibition Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art, in the Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery. Organized and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC, the exhibition celebrates the passion and commitment of an ordinary couple who spent more than thirty-five years as devoted collectors and connoisseurs, building a collection of vivid artworks that are both resonant and remarkably personal.
The exhibition features sixty-two selected works from the collection of Kerry and C. Betty Davis of Atlanta, Georgia. Kerry, a retired postal worker, and Betty, a former television news producer, gladly gave up many ordinary comforts in order to live with extraordinary paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings as their principal luxuries. Their collection includes work by Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Sam Gilliam, Jacob Lawrence, Samella Lewis, and Charles White, but the Davises did not search exclusively for well-known or documented artists.
Instead, they sought artists whose work reflected, in the words of artist, curator, educator, and arts activist Tina Dunkley, “a spectrum of approaches to the Black image in order to console the psyche and contribute to a more authentic articulation of the self.” The result is a rich and eclectic collection of artworks in different mediums, subjects, and styles by a group of artists of the African diaspora who—in terms of training, experience, and expression—are strikingly diverse but unified in their use of cultural and historical narratives.
The Davises’ collection is considered one of the finest collections of its kind in the world, and as their collection has grown, so has the Davises' storehouse of memories of discovering new works of art, building friendships with artists, and conversing with museum professionals and other collectors in their home. The exhibition brings together an awe-inspiring selection of works, but it is their personal resonance—their connection to the Davises’ hopes, passions, and everyday lives—that gives the collection its unique power.
Exhibition Related Events
In conjunction with the exhibition, a wide variety of education programs have been planned. On Saturday, September 27 beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Paulus Lecture Hall in the Willamette University College of Law, John Olbrantz, The Maribeth Collins Director of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, will talk with collectors Kerry and Betty Davis about the history and development of their collection. The following Tuesday, September 30 at 12:30 p.m. at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, the Davises will lead a personalized walking tour of the exhibition.
And, in early November, Dr. Amalia Amaki, an independent artist, researcher, writer, curator, and lecturer, will be in Salem to offer a walking tour of the exhibition on Tuesday, November 4 at 12:30 pm at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and an illustrated lecture on the history of modern and contemporary African American art on Thursday, November 6 at 7:30 pm in the Paulus Lecture Hall in the Willamette University College of Law. Admission to the conversation, lecture, and both gallery talks is free.
Financial Support
Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art is organized and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC. Local support has been provided with funds from the HFMA Exhibition Fund and the Hallie Ford Exhibition Fund; by advertising support from The Oregonian/Here is Oregon; and by general operating support grants from the City of Salem's Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
Further information
For further information contact:
John Olbrantz, the Maribeth Collins Director, Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Phone: 503-370-6854
Email: jolbrant@willamette.edu
Vanessa Hopt, Assistant to the Director, Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Phone: 503-370-6856
Email: vjhopt@willamette.edu
International Arts & Artists
Phone: 202-338-0680
Email: info@artsandartists.org
