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Johnny Coleman
Maker interview details
Interview
- January 12, 2005
Profession
- Category:
ArtMakers
- Occupation(s):
Installation Artist
Art Professor
Birthplace
- Born: January 17, 1958
- Birth Location: Saugus, Massachusetts
Favorites
- Favorite Color: Red
- Favorite Food: Soul Food, Mexican
- Favorite Time of Year: Summer
- Favorite Vacation Spot: Oceans
Favorite Quote
"Son, Experience Is An Excellent Teacher But A Lousy Surgeon. It Leaves Too Many Scars."
Biography
Installation artist, sculptor, and college professor Johnny Coleman was born in Saugus, Massachusetts on January 17, 1958. The son of Florence McCoy and John H. Coleman, he graduated from Redlands High School in Redlands, California and later earned his B.F.A. degree from the Otis Art Institute of the Parson’s School of Design and his M.F.A. degree from the University of California, San Diego.
Coleman is a tenured faculty member at Oberlin College where he teaches studio art and African American studies. His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums, including Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the David Zapf Gallery in San Diego, the Akron (Ohio) Museum of Art, and the William King Art Center in Abington, Virginia. His published works include “Landscapes of the Mind: Psychic Space and Narrative Specificity” in Space, Site, Intervention: Situating Installation Art from the University of Minnesota Press.
Coleman has received many awards and honors, including grants from the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, ART MATTERS, and the Russell Foundation. In 1997, he was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the Otis Institute of Art and Design. In 2003, he received the Cleveland Arts Prize for Visual Arts.
Coleman lives in Oberlin, Ohio and is married to Annette Macios. They have two children.
Previews from the Digital Archive
Watch the full interview in the Digital Archive
- Slating of Johnny Coleman's interview
- Johnny Coleman lists his favorites
- Johnny Coleman talks about his immediate family and their move from Massachusetts to California when he was an infant
- Johnny Coleman talks about his grandparents
- Johnny Coleman talks about his parent's siblings
- Johnny Coleman shares early memories of his childhood in Redlands, California
- Johnny Coleman recalls his early school days
- Johnny Coleman describes his exposure to art as a young child
- Johnny Coleman recalls the music in his childhood home and neighborhood
- Johnny Coleman describes the smells of his childhood in Redlands, California
- Johnny Coleman remembers the smells of foods his mother cooked
- Johnny Coleman talks about organizations his family participated in
- Johnny Coleman remembers his time at Redlands High School in Redlands, California and his disinterest in school
- Johnny Coleman describes the house and neighborhood he grew up in
- Johnny Coleman recalls working at Redlands Community Hospital in Redlands, California and taking community college courses
- Johnny Coleman talks about his career with Thrifty Drug Store
- Johnny Coleman recalls influential courses and professors from his time at University of California at Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California
- Johnny Coleman remembers learning about black artists
- Johnny Coleman describes HistoryMaker Samella Lewis' encapsulation of black aesthetics
- Johnny Coleman talks about the roots of the black aesthetic in the Harlem Renaissance
- Johnny Coleman talks about sculptor Augusta Savage
- Johnny Coleman comments on the relationship between black artists, white patronage and the term "black art"
- Johnny Coleman recalls the impact of the Black Arts Movement in his youth
- Johnny Coleman talks about HistoryMaker Dick Gregory and other black cultural leaders
- Johnny Coleman describes finding his artistic voice
- Johnny Coleman remembers his experiences at Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design and the University of California, San Diego
- Johnny Coleman remembers early recognition for his artwork while earning his M.F.A. degree from University of California, San Diego
- Johnny Coleman describes his use of Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' in his installation piece, 'Rememory: a Response to "Beloved"'
- Johnny Coleman explains how materials from his installation piece, 'Rememory: a Response to "Beloved"' were to be reused after the show's closing
- Johnny Coleman describes works he made for Toni Morrison
- Johnny Coleman describes his trilogy of installation pieces inspired by Toni Morrison's 'Beloved'
- Johnny Coleman describes the use of sound in his installations and his goal of creating ritual space
- Johnny Coleman describes an installation telling the story of his brother being slapped by a white teacher
- Johnny Coleman talks about his Maroon ancestry
- Johnny Coleman describes an ancestor's escape from slavery and an installation piece created from the story
- Johnny Coleman talks about his past and future installation work and exhibitions
- Johnny Coleman talks about his teaching career at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio
- Johnny Coleman describes his studio class, Something from Something, and his seminar, Blues Aesthetic, at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio
- Johnny Coleman talks about his wife and children
- Johnny Coleman shares his future plans
- Johnny Coleman talks about his indirect route to becoming an artist
- Johnny Coleman reflects upon his legacy
- Johnny Coleman reflects upon his hopes for his children's futures