Collins, Paul

1936—

Artist

Painter Paul Collins communicates the dignity of human beings in all walks of life through his work. Whether on the Sioux reservation or in Israel, Japan, West Africa, India, or Cuba, Collins paints ordinary people as well as heroes. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and his numerous honors attest to the profound impact his work has had on audiences throughout the world.

Born on December 11, 1936, in Muskegon, Michigan, Collins grew up in nearby Grand Rapids. His mother, whom he credits as his most important inspiration, raised him and his two sisters on her own. Despite struggles with poverty and racism, Rheta Collins "stood tall," the artist noted on his Web site, and "taught us to try to make life better not only for ourselves but [for] others as well." As a boy, Collins loved to draw and would sketch whatever was at hand. Without any formal art training, he continued to draw and paint, developing his skills and technique. As a young man, he began selling small paintings to tourists who came to Michigan's lakes in the summer. With his friend and mentor, Randy Brown, he also organized a sign painting business, and the pair painted billboards, truck signs, and various business logos. By 1958 Collins had earned his first critical recognition, the Michigan State Critics' Award for "Wheels."

Documented African Lives

In 1969 Collins traveled to West Africa, where he drew and painted the people and places he encountered. This trip resulted in Black Portrait of an African Journey, a series of 30 works depicting elders, children, fishermen, merchants, and tribespeople in Senegal. The series was exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Africa. When Black Portrait of an African Journey opened in Dakar, Senegal's capital, the Senegalese Minister of Culture praised it as an especially moving and beautiful collection. In remarks quoted on Collins's Web site, the minister observed that it was particularly fitting that the artist had found such deep inspiration in West Africa, the region from which his ancestors had originally come. Senegal named a street in Dakar, Rue Monsieur Paul Collins, as a tribute to the artist.

Black Portrait of an African Journey was published in 1971 as a book and won the Mead Book Award. In addition, several images from the collection appeared in the film Save the Children. Collins used some of his profits from sale of the paintings to fund an educational trust for the Senegalese children he had painted on this trip.

Collins made another trip to Africa in 1989. He spent more than a year in Kenya, painting the people and way of life of the Maasai and other tribes of the region. The 15-painting series from that journey, Kenya: In the Beginning, is on display at the Bartek Corporation Headquarters in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and at Spaulding for Children in Detroit.

Lived Among Sioux

In 1971 Collins received an invitation from Chief Frank Fools Crow to visit the Sioux Nation in South Dakota. From 1972 to 1974 the artist, who has Blackfoot Sioux ancestry, lived on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations with the Oglala and Rosebud Sioux, respectively. It was a time of crisis, with members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) protesting racism and other conditions that led to rampant poverty on reservations. In 1973 several AIM members seized the small town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation, protesting tribal mismanagement and leading to a tense 71-day standoff with FBI agents. Two activists were killed during the siege, and two federal agents were seriously wounded. The protest, which ended with a negotiated agreement, riveted the country and raised awareness of Native Americans' struggle for civil rights.

Among the individuals whom Collins painted in his Other Voices—a Native American Tableau series were AIM co-founder Dennis Banks, who became a lifelong friend, and Russell Means, leader of the Wounded Knee occupation. Collins also painted ordinary Sioux who had come to Wounded Knee to support the protest. A painting from the series, "Showdown at Wounded Knee," received highest honors when it was exhibited in 1976 as part of the American Painters in Paris Exhibit.

In 1978 Collins was initiated into the Sioux Nation as a full brother, in recognition of his efforts to help AIM members and government representatives reach a peaceful resolution at Wounded Knee. He received a staff and peace pipe as gifts from the Sioux Nation and was given the name Bright Eagle.

Created Gerald Ford Mural

Collins's next major project was the creation of a mural about the life of one of Grand Rapids's most famous citizens, President Gerald Ford. The mural, which was completed in 1976 and won critical acclaim, is on display at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. Reminiscing about the project in a WZZM television news program in 2006, Collins talked about his deep respect for Ford. He consulted several times with the president about which figures to include in the mural, he said, because when he receives a commission he does not consider it his right to paint whatever he wants. Instead, he explained, it is his job to honor the advice of his subjects. Images from the Ford mural were published in Gerald R. Ford: A Man in Perspective.

By 2006 Collins had completed 11 series of paintings and drawings, and had contributed works to several group series. For the Anheuser-Busch Company's tenth anniversary celebration in 1976, he contributed the portrait "Shaka King of the Zulus" as part of the Great Kings of Africa collection. For the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation in 1977, he created a series of drawings and paintings on the theme of the Special Olympics. The series was first exhibited at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Collins expanded on this theme in his 1985 Special Olympics Sports Collection, which features portraits of Special Olympics athletes with celebrated traditional athletes, such as soccer legend Pele. In 1978 Collins's Great Beautiful Black Women series opened at the Chicago Cultural Center. This series, now part of the permanent collection of Spelman College, included portraits of such leading figures as Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman. In 1979 Collins received a commission to design the Martin Luther King Peace Prize medal, awarded annually to recipients who work for social justice according to the nonviolent means advocated by Dr. King. Collins also designed NASA's logo for Challenger VII and the American Woman Commemorative Plaque.

Collins has also created series based on his extended visits to Israel and to Japan. In 2000 he donated a painting he made in Israel, "Sword of Gideon," to the Zekelman Family Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The painting depicts the hand of justice reaching over a wall to seize and destroy evil as represented in a photograph of a Nazi officer.

At a Glance …

Born on December 11, 1936, in Muskegon, MI.

Career:

Artist.

Awards:

Michigan State Critics' Award, 1958; Accademia delloElla Arti E Dell Lavoro, Parma Italy, Gold Medal, 1980; NAACP Contribution to the Black Arts Award, 1981; Cine Gold Eagle Award, 1995; Giant of Giant Awards, Grand Rapids, MI, 1997; Citizens Appreciation Award, Omihachiman, Japan, 1997.

Addresses:

Office—Paul Collins Fine Art, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, 220 Lyon NW, Suite 101, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.

Among Collins's numerous awards are the Gold Medal from the Accademia delloElla Arti E Dell Lavoro, Parma, Italy, in 1980 and the NAACP Contribution to the Black Arts award in 1981. He received the Cine Gold Eagle Award in 1995, and in 1997 received the Giant of Giant Awards from the city of Grand Rapids and the Citizens Appreciation Award from the city of Omihachiman, Japan. He has also been named one of the top 20 painters in the United States by the Watson-Guptil Publication.

Collins continues to paint and to support a wide range of philanthropic endeavors. He has donated paintings to organizations such as the Veterans Administration, and has used proceeds from the sale of his works to help fund educational and social services for those most in need. His works are included in the permanent collections of museums, universities, and institutions in the United States and throughout the world, including the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

Selected works

Books

Black Portrait of an African Journey, text by Tom Lee, Eerdmans, 1971.

Gerald R. Ford: a Man in Perspective, photographs by John R. Fulton, Jr. and Candace Brown, text by Tom LaBelle, Eerdmans, 1976.

Murals

Gerald R. Ford mural, Gerald R. Ford International Airport, Grand Rapids, MI, 1976.

Presidential Physical Fitness Campaign mural, 1978.

Famous Moments in Black American History, 1981.

Founders of a Dream, Simon Bolivar Museum, Havana, Cuba, 2003.

Painting Series

Black Portrait of an African Journey, 1971.

Other Voices-A Native America Tableau, 1974.

Great Beautiful Black Women, 1978.

America at Work, 1983.

Special Olympics Sports Collection, 1985.

Voices of Israel, 1988.

American Portrait of Japan, 1997.

Visions (retrospective), 1998.

World Visions (retrospective), 2000.

Who Is Key West?, 2000.

Kids and Cops, 2002.

Sources

Periodicals

New Crisis, July-August, 1999.

On-line

"Painting Donated to HMC," Zekelman Family Holocaust Memorial Center, www.holocaustcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=407 (March 13, 2007).

Paul Collins Fine Arts, www.collinsart.com (February 26, 2007).

"Paul Collins Remembers Gerald Ford," WZZM News, www.wzzm13.com/news/fordfullstory.aspx?storyid=67909 (March 13, 2007).