The Legacy of Terry Adkins

“I am a sculptor, musician, and latter-day practitioner of the long-standing African American tradition of ennobling worthless things,” Adkins wrote. A beloved and influential artist, his singular practice integrated sculpture, live music, spoken language, and video. Terry Adkins was a faculty member in the Weitzman School of Design, teaching from 2000 until his sudden passing in February 2014. He left an indelible mark not only through his work but also through his profound impact on his students, many of whom have gone on to achieve significant success, contributing to major institutions and public art collections around the world.  

This event, a collaborative effort between the Weitzman School of Design, Arthur Ross Gallery and the Penn Art Collection, showcases the vibrant Fine Arts ecosystem at Penn.

Panelist Biographies:

Charles Hall’s (MFA’15) practice explores the architecture of syntax, the spectacle of masculinity and strategies for community empowerment, through drawing, performance, sculpture, video and installation. He is the founder of Mamie & Weaver’s Ultra, a monument to the legacy of his late grandparents which specializes in the presentation of time-based media, performance and community engagement in West Philly. 

Nsenga Knight’s (MFA'10) process is grounded in research and experimentation with form, drawing on historical archives, memoirs, rituals, and documentary photographs. She works in serial projects that often utilize repetition. Across paintings, drawings, prints, and social practice projects, each body of work reflects a subjective and permutational response to history and place, navigating connections across time, geography, and cultures. 

Ernel Martinez (MFA’04) explores creative methods to give underserved communities the tools to tell their stories through art making. He uses their stories as a framework to produce artwork based in social practice that engages and builds dialogue and believes that art enriches communities and is the path to “true” collaboration. 

Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. is a widely published writer, music historian, pianist, composer, and the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is a producer, label head, and leader of the band Dr. Guy’s Musiqology. 

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw is the Class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Professor in the Department of the History of Art and the inaugural faculty director of the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on portraiture and issues of representation, with an emphasis on the construction of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the American context. 

Dr. Tukufu Zuberi is the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, and Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is dedicated to bringing a fresh view of culture and society to the public through various platforms such as guest lecturing at universities, television programs, and interactive social media.