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LIFESTYLE

drawings, etchings, lithographs, watercol- start somewhere in the seven-figure range. “Someone made a suggestion that we
ors, pastels, acrylics, gouaches, linoleum and While collecting art was more affordable should loan it to the museum while we de-
color screen prints. Works included in the back then, it also was difficult. Harriet, a cided where we hang it,” Harmon said.
collection are by established artists such as science major who taught biology before “But after we saw it hanging in the mu-
Ron Adams, Benny Andrews, Romare Bear- becoming a stay-at-home mother, handled seum –– such a magnificent painting ––
den, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, most of the legwork. we realized it was a painting that belonged
Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, John Big- “In 1988, it was not an easy feat,” Har- in a museum for everyone to enjoy.”
gers, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Eldizer Cortor mon said. “It was back when we had no In- Talking to the Kelleys, it becomes evi-
and Margaret Burroughs, as well as other, ternet, and at that time most galleries did dent how much these meaningful works of
lesser-known artists. not carry paintings by black Americans. art have impacted their lives and, most im-
When the Kelleys first began collecting We had to go to the periphery to find the portantly, how they remain willing and
art, finding works by African-American paintings.” eager to share it with others.
artists was a challenge. It also should be The Kelleys have given major art works “Two of the most important contribu-
mentioned that the works were priced far to the San Antonio Museum of Art as well, tions you can make in this life are the
below other contemporaries back then, Including a landscape painting by Edward kind of people you rear your children to
making it affordable for the working cou- Mitchell Bannister from 1892 and a still become and the legacy you leave be-
ple to make numerous purchases. The Kel- life by Charles Ethan Porter done in 1885, hind,” Harriet said. “Those are two very
leys said they would never be able to and they have contributed toward the mu- motivating thoughts that former U.S.
duplicate the collection they have today. To seum’s purchase of a major Jacob Lawrence Secretary of State Colin Powell once said.
put it into numerical perspective, they painting. The Kelleys were actually con- You want to build a legacy, and I think
bought their first two paintings in 1988 for templating where to hang one of the paint- that is what we have done. I think we
a combined $14,000, a price they say ings in their home until they realized the have made a significant contribution,
today wouldn’t even allow them to pur- best place for it was somewhere with a and we will be remembered for making
chase a single painting. Some works now broader view. this a better place.”

Clockwise from left:
Ernest T. Crichlow (1914-2005),
Anyone's Date, 1940, Gouache
on paper.
William E. Smith (born 1913),
Pay Day, 1941, Linoleum cut.
Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891-
1978), Wind and Flowers, 1973,
Watercolor on paper.
Ron Adams (born 1934), Black-
burn, 2002, Color lithograph.

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