Discussions
A Deep House of Soulful Vision: The Paintings of Terry Thompson, with Special Guest Franklin Sirmans
Join us for the fifth annual Donald V. Bentley Memorial Lecture, an evening of contemporary African American art and house music, presented by the Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts.
The night will begin with an address from Franklin Sirmans, Director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, followed by a rich conversation with Baltimore art fixture Dr. Leslie King Hammond and abstractionist painter Terry Thompson. The program concludes with a reception guaranteed to reach the soul.
Each year, the Center invites distinguished intellectuals and arts practitioners to address topical, historical, or philosophical issues connecting the work of the arts to the renewal and revitalization of civic life.
The Donald Bentley Annual Memorial Lecture is a unique platform to drive debate and critical reflection on the role of the arts in our everyday lives and in our imagining of a future just world.
The auditorium is wheelchair accessible and assistive listening devices are available.
Schedule
5:45 p.m. – Auditorium doors open
6:15-7 p.m. – Presentation on contemporary African American Art by Franklin Sirmans, Director, Pérez Art Museum Miami
7-7:45 p.m. – Roundtable discussion on contemporary African American art featuring Franklin Sirmans, Dr. Leslie King Hammond, and Terry Thompson. Moderated by Dr. Lawrence Jackson, Founding Director, Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts.
7:45-9 p.m. – Culture Reception with display of visual art and live DJ set by Terry Thompson in Fox Court. Food and drink will be offered.
Tickets
Registration is encouraged. Please only sign up for this popular event if you are certain you will attend.
About the Donald V. Bentley Memorial Lecture
The Donald Bentley Annual Memorial Lecture is the Billie Holiday Center’s annual capstone public lecture. Each year, the Center invites a distinguished arts practitioner and intellectual to address topical, historical, or philosophical issues connecting the work of the arts to the renewal and revitalization of civic life. The event is named in honor of one of Baltimore’s promising young leaders who lost their life in the violence crisis that has been endemic to the city for more than thirty years. Through rich dialogue and intentional engagement, guests will be pushed to contemplate the necessity of art and creation to a positive public sphere.
About the Johns Hopkins University Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts
Founded in 2017 by Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and Baltimore native Lawrence Jackson, The Billie Holiday Center for the Liberation Arts (BHCLA) is an initiative designed to foster reparative links between Johns Hopkins University and the historic African American communities of Baltimore. Through documenting and disseminating the unique history of African American life, letters, and art in Baltimore, the Center seeks to foster opportunities for robust engagement amongst the Black population that regularly attends the city’s historic Black churches, the residents of West Baltimore whose communities have experienced little redevelopment or economic growth, Black students and faculty at Hopkins, and Black artists across Baltimore.
BHCLA realizes this mission through two broad channels of engagement and impact–the archives and the arts. We serve Baltimore by promoting the collection and preservation of African American oral histories and print material culture, and creating opportunities to connect artists and audiences. Patronizing off-campus venues, we celebrate our offerings in scholarship and the arts to historically vital and currently underserved communities in Baltimore.
Participants
Dr. Leslie King Hammond
Dr. Leslie King Hammond is Professor Emerita, Former Graduate Dean and Founding Director, Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art. She serves on the Board of the Reginald Lewis Museum of African American History and Art, American Craft Council, and the Advisory Board of Craft in America’s Handwork 2026.
Dr. Lawrence Jackson
Dr. Lawrence Jackson is the author of the award-winning books Chester B. Himes: A Biography (W.W. Norton2017), The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics (Princeton 2010), My Father’s Name: A Black Virginia Family after the Civil War (Chicago 2012) and Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius,1913-1952 (Wiley 2002). Harper’s Magazine, Paris Review and Best American Essays have published his criticism and non-fiction. Professor Jackson earned a PhD in English and American literature at Stanford University, and has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, and the William J. Fulbright program. He began his teaching career at Howard University in 1997 and he is now Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of English and History at Johns Hopkins University. His latest books are Hold It Real Still: Clint Eastwood, Race, and the Cinema of the American West (Johns Hopkins University Press 2022) and Shelter: A Black Tale from Homeland, Baltimore (Graywolf 2022).
In addition to his writing and research, Professor Jackson launched and now serves as director of the Billie Holiday Center for the Liberation Arts, an initiative that showcases the unique arts, history, and culture of Baltimore. Founded in 2017, the project fosters organic links between the intellectual life of Johns Hopkins University and the city’s historic African-American communities, celebrating the strengths and potential of both. The BHCLA serves a cultural purpose, hosting regular events to nurture such connections, as well as an archival one, protecting artifacts of African-American culture and politics.
He is writing a biography of Billie Holiday, focusing on her early years in Baltimore City.
Franklin Sirmans
Franklin Sirmans is the Director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), since 2015. He recently organized Hurvin Anderson: Passenger Opportunity and Every Sound is a Shape of Time: Selections from the PAMM Collection. Prior to his appointment, he was the department head and curator of contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the head of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Menil Collection, in Houston.
Prior to his work as a museum director and curator, he was an editor at Flash Art Magazine in Milan and New York and Publications Assistant at Dia Center for the Arts. Sirmans has written for numerous publications including The New York Times and Artforum. He has curated exhibitions including Futbol: The Beautiful Game; Noah Purifoy: Junk Dada; NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith; Maurizio Cattelan: Is Their Life Before Death?; One Planet Under A Groove: Contemporary Art and Hip Hop and Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster, 1964-1966. He was the artistic director of Notes for Now, the Prospect.3 New Orleans exhibition, from 2012-2014. And, he is the 2007 David Driskell Prize winner, administered by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Sirmans has also taught art criticism at Princeton University and the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Terry Thompson
Terry Thompson is an innovative artist based in Baltimore, Maryland, renowned for his captivating series titled “Alien Conversations.” His artwork features large-scale paintings characterized by bold and vibrant hues of red, yellow, and orange, with overlapping oval shapes that evoke the playful fluidity of floating jelly in a lava lamp.
Terry’s unique approach to painting is marked by a fearless exploration of abstraction, allowing him to push the boundaries of traditional art forms. Terry draws inspiration from the vibrant art and music scene of the city, as well as his own experiences and observations of the world around him.
Thompson held Artist-in-residence from 1999-2004 at School 33 Art Center. Thompson participated in various exhibitions including: Bianco e Nero, YART Gallery Baltimore (2019), Post Cards from the Edge, Bortolami Gallery (2019) New York, ATM at the Former Robert Miller Gallery (2018) New York, Post Cards from the Edge at Gallery 524 (2018) New York, The ArtBox Project 1.0, Basel, Switzerland (2017), Post Cards from the Edge, Metro Pictures (2017) New York, Art Takes Miami at Scope (2014), Scope, Miami (2012), Sub-Basement Art Gallery (2004, 2008), Galerie Francoise (2012), Flash Art Museum, Trevi, Italy (1998). He holds a Masters of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University.
Sponsors
This event has been graciously co-sponsored by the Joshua Johnson Council and the Baltimore Chapter of The Pierians, Inc.
The Joshua Johnson Council, an affiliate group of the BMA, was formed in 1987 to both provide educational outreach and support initiatives between the BMA and Baltimore’s Black community. Named for 18th-century African American portrait painter Joshua Johnson, the JJC is one of the nation’s oldest African American museum groups.
Solidly anchored in the Fine Arts, the focus of The Pierians, Incorporated, is to bring together persons interested in the promotion of the fine arts and other artistic endeavors to enhance the enjoyment of the arts, to recognize individuals in the community for their contributions to the arts, and to encourage further study of the arts by awarding scholarships to students of music, art, the theatre, and dance.
Photo credit: Terry Thompson. Futurismo #2. Oil, ink, and oil stick on canvas. 70 x 70 in. 2022