Indianapolis Museum of Art Features Work of Willis "Bing" Davis '59

April 10, 2006

April 10, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - The work of Willis "Bing" Davis -- a Dayton, Ohio-based artist, retired chair of the art department at Ohio's Central State University, and a 1959 graduate of DePauw University -- is featured in the Indianapolis Museum of Art's new Star Studio through July 2, notes a column published in several Indiana newspapers, including the Auburn Evening Star. Davis "has an Indiana connection, being a graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle," writes the Rev. Dave Hogsett. "He is president of the board of directors of the National Conference of Artists and a visiting scholar at Wright State University," the columnist adds.

Davis' exhibition is titled "On the Shoulders of Ancestors." The artist "would invite those visiting his exhibition to pause and reflect on those who have gone before, upon whose shoulders we stand in the present and who have paid the price for the freedoms and privileges that we hold dear," Hogsett writes. "Coming from his heritage as an African-American, he has a special concern for those who did not make it, but by their sacrifice made it possible for the present generation to make it." (Davis' Thrown and Altered Form is seen in photo at right)

Rev. Hogsett describes how -- through the exhibit -- Davis' art encourages visitors "to join him in using the ordinary objects of our every day life to create art that tells our story as well as the story of our community."

Read the complete column here (a paid subscription to the newspaper is required to access the text).

The museum's Web site, which notes "Bing Davis' DePauw degree, states: "With a particular focus on youth and families, but designed for all ages, Star Studio creates environments that spark the imagination through interactive art-making, sensory interaction and a fresh look at creative processes."

Learn more by clicking here, and access a previous story on Davis here.

Back