ABSTRACT
Forty-fi ve-year-old administrator Lawrence Fleming lives with his wife and four children in a suburban home surrounded by tall green trees. A bright and multicolored sculpture by Kevin Cole consisting of intertwining strips of bended wood is displayed high on a wall. A limited edition print by Jacob Lawrence and a painting by Mose Tolliver are also among the art by African American artists that hang in the Fleming home. Lawrence’s interest in African American art is also nourished by the books that he reads. Several of these books, such as Modern Negro Art and Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America, are stacked in rows of three and four underneath a glass-topped iron table in his home. One reason that African American art appeals to Lawrence is that it is a source of pride. “For me, it [the black art in his home] says that I am proud of who I am. I want to see . . . images of my people and their contribution,” he shares.
