The African-American Experience In Art And Artifact
Nearly 20 years ago, a man was clearing out his late aunt's homestead in Alabama and discovered a letter that startled him.
It was dated 1832 and told of the sale of an 18-year-old slave for $550. The man knew what to do with it. He called his friend Bernard Kinsey.
"My white friend Wally was a little embarrassed to tell me about it, but I wanted to see it," recalled Kinsey. "It arrived on my desk the next morning. When I held this document in my hand, chills just went through me. It was like entering into another person's fate."
Kinsey, a Los Angeles business consultant and West Palm Beach native, and his wife, Shirley, already collected all sorts of objects. But this letter "changed our view about what we should do as collectors."
The Kinseys began to seriously collect African-American art and artifacts.
The result can be seen at the Norton Museum of Art, where the exhibition "In the Hands of African American Collectors: The Personal Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey" is on view through July 20.
For Bernard Kinsey, the collection is a way to tell a story that will "inspire people about their possibilities," he said. The story continues...