This exhibition is the first in a series of smaller exhibitions which Meridian is planning to make available for circulation abroad. The initiative responds to the increasing need to promote a better image of America and its culture abroad, as well as to the hunger to see original American art around the world, particularly in areas where such access is non-existent or limited. The Jacob Lawrence\Lois Jones exhibition has been organized and is circulated by Meridian and is presented in Africa by the Department of State in cooperation with embassies and consulates around the continent.

Jacob Lawrence and Lois Mailou Jones are two of America's best-known artists. Both African Americans, they made their mark on the American art scene in different ways and from different directions. Both shared a strong connection with Haiti, as well as with the Harlem Renaissance. Although their styles are markedly different, both artists were influenced by the world around them and by American traditions.

The Jacob Lawrence and Lois Mailou Jones prints are on loan from the estate collections of the two artists, both of whom are now deceased. The exhibition consists of 28 prints by Jacob Lawrence and 6 by Lois Jones. Although Lawrence produced hundreds of prints during his lifetime, Lois Jones left less than a dozen. Meridian is grateful to the Gwen Knight Lawrence and the D.C. Moore Gallery in New York, the repository for the Jacob Lawrence works, and to the Lois Mailou Jones Pierre-Noel Trust for making possible the loan of these works. Meridian is pleased to be working with the Department of State on this public diplomacy initiative.

Update: Please click here for a report on the exhibit at the Malindi Museum in Kenya.

For general information on the exhibition (and its tour), call (202) 939-5568.