PAR- Quarterly // Issue 01 // Quarter 2 Year 2022

pq.01
04.22
PAR- QUARTERLY
Issue 01 Quarter 2
YEAR 2022

Table of Contents
This Quarter @ PAR-
This Quarter @ PAR .................................................. 2
A Word From Jonathan ............................................. 3
APRIL
24 th | 11 am - 3 pm
Beer Burger Brunch
at PAR-Projects
What’s In a Photo? ................................................... 6
Studeo PAR- Highlight ............................................ 10
In Case You Missed It ............................................. 11
MAY
21 st | 6 -10 pm
Artist Talk w/Raymond
Thompson, Jr. & Reception
at Studeō PAR-
Launching into Spring!
During COVID, we’ve raised over $350,000 in
donations & pledges! Now that spring is here,
and we’re reopening, it’s time to go public
with the community portion of our campaign.
Click to learn more about this effort via
JUNE
29 th | noon - 6pm
Final day to view Tunnelitis,
currently on display in
The Gallery at Studeō PAR-
2

A word from Jonathan
Some offerings will relate directly to our work at PAR-Projects while others may comment
on trends in the industry. But to kick off this series, I offer a bit of personal reflection.
Dr. Driskell: A quick reflection of soup & salad
Most of our conversations, at least the most memorable ones, happened over lunch.
Soup and salad; that’s what we did. We chatted about which fresh vegetables from
the garden made it into that day’s lunch and we chatted about techniques that were
perfected for that day’s soup. “Remember Jonathan, always save a little of your
stock for the next batch. That’s how the French do it. It keeps your flavors alive —
balanced.”
The Dr. Driskell I knew was a humble man — an artist of media and an artist of
life. And while we hung out in his Hyattsville studio from time to time, woodblock
printing and encaustics weren’t really my thing, so our connections were much
more about finding ways to live and breath as an artist. From time to time, he’d
give me a lead on some art finds — a rare Romare Bearden for example — but
really, most chats of ours were just about life. Still, he knew I was an obsessive
maker in the digital media/sculpture realm, so from time to time he’d make sure
to note that I needed to make it up to his Falmouth studio sometime. You know,
connect as artists. But in those moments, all I could think was “...man, I wouldn’t
be able to afford graduate school without your foundation. How am I gonna make
it all the way up to Maine?!?” … Looking back though, I’m humbled that these
Portrait by David Hill
things were even a consideration. I guess walking amongst the greats is
just the way it is sometimes.
For the couple of years of graduate study that I was invited into his home to catalog
slides and help Daphne and Rodney prepare to open what is now The David C.
Driskell Center for the study of visual arts... at University of Maryland, I was
blessed to gain a true appreciation and understanding of what success as a black
artist could be. Well beyond notoriety, Dr. Driskell was surrounded by family and
people like myself who genuinely cared about him, as a creative human, and never
asked for much more than an inspirational story or even a quick recipe. Soup and
salad was our jam, but man oh man, I can honestly say my life’s trajectory would
have been much different had I not gained such an understanding of what life as a
successful Black creative could be.
So today — two years after Dr. Driskell’s untimely passing — I’d like to send some
overdue thanks. To Daphne: Please know you changed my world. Thanks for being
there and understanding that all nighters in the
studio happened (maybe more frequently than
they should have) and that sometimes I was
just going pass out at work, mid sentence. To
Rodney: Thanks for the overall joy and helping
me to understand what life really could be. Your
stories and presence are still very much a part of
my driving force. And to Thelma & David: Please
know your warmth was appreciated far more
than I was ever able to articulate. I’m grateful
that every memory I have with the two of you is
filled with smiles and laughter. Aside from the
spoken lessons, you gave me an amazing sense
of what family could be. And to you all, if this
post somehow finds you, please note that my
center ended up happening in the humble town
of Cincinnati and I’d love to tour you around
our campus if the chance ever arises.
Peace and blessings,
Jonathan
David Driskill,
Jazz Singer (Lady of Leisure, Fox)
1974
3 4

WHAT’S IN A PHOTO?
A candid conversation with Raymond Thompson Jr.
by: Vic Mullins
As the old saying goes, ‘a picture is
worth a thousand words.’ This is still
true in today’s galleries as artists work to
maintain the delicate balance between
self, story, and subject as they attempt
to share untold stories and perspectives
with the world.
I had the wonderful opportunity to
interview Raymond Thompson, Jr., an
artist disguised as a photojournalist,
whose project “Appalachian Ghosts” is
on display in the Gallery at Studeo-PAR
as part of the Tunnelitis exhibition.
was to be present in the landscape you’re in. I learned to take in the smells, tastes,
and all that stuff. All those details really help you connect, which helps you make
better photographs.”
On being a Black kid in West Virginia:
“Coming up as a Black male… in the 80s… the war on drugs was really raging on
TV… and it’s like oh my God, I don’t like myself because all I’m seeing is these
representations. Then combine that with all the pop culture representations and
films, those constant Black males as predators really messed with my head.
Later on in my career, I turned to photojournalism to help work through some of
these issues, but I soon realized that maybe this wasn’t the right path for me.
“...I lost faith in its inability to
render Black people without
bias. It got complex.”
We chatted candidly about how he sojourns this path using his background in
journalism to root his work creating subjective archives of the Black experience in
American history.
On his journey to photojournalism:
“When I started school I wanted to be a biologist… something practical… so
I stumbled through trying to find something super practical. But my Northern
Virginia Community College had a photography class. So I started taking those
darkroom classes and it was like ‘ooh this is cool.’
I fell in love with photography then, but this still wasn’t really a career option at
that point. But at some point, I ended up going for it. I ended up moving to Chicago
to go to school there for a little bit, but I was broke, and photography is expensive.
I could only afford two rolls of film each week. So that was 64 pictures each week
to do all my photojournalism assignments. The most important lesson I learned
The first project:
During grad school, I did a project called “Justice Undone” which looked at the
prison industrial complex through the lens of black communities. I was interested
in examining the financial impact of mass incarceration on the ability of black
communities to thrive.
Then, things changed:
Then in 2016, I began to lose faith in journalism. I didn’t stop believing in it as an
important part of understanding the world, but I lost faith in its ability to render
Black people with bias. It got complex.
I began to ask myself who am I making these images for? Am I making images to
make Black bodies palatable to an audience that is most likely largely white folks?
Is it allowing the white folks to say “Oh, at least I’m not them?” And that became
problematic to me.
5 6

A pivot of perspective:
[Through my artistic practice ] “I want to pivot who my audience is. I hope the
primary audience for my work is Black folks, then everyone else.”
My first attempt at an art project was “Imaging/Imagining.” I read a book called
Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney. That book looks at the African
American experience in the American landscape, so I started to think about my
own experience with nature — like my family doesn’t camp.
So where did that come from?
I decided to google ‘white people in trees’ and ‘black people in trees’ and got two
very different sets of pictures. One being leisure, enjoying wild spaces and the
other being images that showed lynchings. So I wanted to contest this archive that
I found of Black people in the woods and I wanted to make pictures of black folks
engaging with the space. It was my first attempt at creating a speculative archive.
Next time a Black person googles ‘black people in trees’ they’ll find my pictures too.
I’m obsessed with HLT Quan’s phrase ‘It’s hard to stop a rebel who time travels.’
I’m trying to manifest that idea in my work. I’m trying to weave past, present and
future in a way I don’t understand yet.
Deadline: May 31st
We are now accepting applications for our first OPEN CALL
in our new space — The Gallery at Studeō PAR-.
Visit our website or the following link for more information.
bit.ly/par-opencall2022
Click this sentence for more words and images from Raymond.
7 8

In Case You Missed It
During the month of February, PAR-Projects highlighted outstanding Black
artists and our first artist highlight was James Hampton (1909-1964).
While Mr. Hampton only created one collection of art in his lifetime, it was,
quite simply, a masterpiece.
Studeō PAR- Highlight
Artist Doug Meyers of SkyVengers Cartoon is the Executive
Director of the Cincinnati-based animation studio that is
“dedicated to storytelling through digital media.” Meyers
and SkyVengers moved into Studeō PAR- in May of 2020,
becoming the building’s first long-term tenant.
Meyers also serves on PAR-Projects’
Education Committee, where
he brings his passion and
excitement for all aspects of
arts education. We’re lucky
to have him on board as we
cultivate a close-knit creative
community in Northside.
The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly
is a massive collection of pieces inspired by a religious vision in preparation for the
second coming of Christ.
Created in a carriage house and entirely from plastic, cardboard and found items
such as aluminum foil, discarded furniture, and used lightbulbs — from the office
buildings where he worked as a janitor — this work 14 years to complete.
Often regarded as “America’s greatest work of visual art,” the collection is both
overwhelming and simplistic. It encompasses both the grandiosity of the return of
the savior, and the humble instinct of an untrained artist to create.
- Other examples of Black Art History can be found via our facebook page.
9 10

Raymond Thompson Jr.
Untitled
from the “Dust” series
PAR- Recommended... Art Links
The Urgent Need To Train Writers To Effectively Explain Black Art
David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History at Cincinnati Art Museum
Black Prism presents Mos Def x Spencer Charles (NSFW)
Need something different? Take a pottery class at Queen City Clay