2008 Woodie Awards
San Antonio painter exhibits his work at St. Philip's College
By Sami Parman
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: Premiere
Originally published: 1/31/08 at 4:45 PM CSTLast update: 1/31/08 at 4:53 PM CST
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His work will be on display noon - 2 p.m. Feb. 13 at the St. Philip's Catholic Student Center, 525 S. Mittman.
A native of the small rural town of Saluda, S.C., Coleman came to San Antonio in 1963 after leaving the Army. He did not begin painting when he first arrived, but was encouraged by his wife, whom he married in 1965, to pick up his hobby again.
"San Antonio is where I really got going as a painter," he said.
In 1978, he graduated from St. Philip's College with an associate degree in art, but mostly he was self-taught.
His artwork uses a lot of black images because it inspires him when he paints his own culture and is able to share that with other people.
"There is a need for recording history on canvas, and I think through painting, people can see what was in the past, and a lot of our young people today may not understand that," he said.
He did not always paint his well-known popular black images.
He shifted from wildlife to African-American life when he saw that the people who came to his exhibits responded very well to that style, and it inspired him to continue those images.
"When I did switch and I devoted myself to it, I seemed to accelerate better in my work, and I settled into a groove that I liked."
For a brief period, he experimented in a cubist-Picasso style of painting and created an exhibition along with his other folk-art style of works that was shown at the San Antonio Central Library through August.
His work also has been in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and several books, including the Harmon and Harriet Kelly Collection of African American Art and Something All Our Own; The Grant Hill collection of African American Art.
Fans of his work also include former San Antonio Mayor Lila Cockrell who owns one of his paintings.
He created a poster for Jazz'SAlive, an annual San Antonio jazz festival, and was the first African-American to do so. The original painting adapted for the poster is on display in the San Antonio Museum of Art.
He has an exhibition in the Carver Cultural Community Center along with participating artists Edward Jackson, Jonas Perkins, Gracie Poe and Howard Rhoder.
In 1984, he co-founded the San Antonio Ethnic Arts Society. The society helps local artists and supports them in their community.
"Artists of today have to continue feeding this monster called art. I didn't invent it; you didn't invent it; Picasso didn't invent it, but all these people keep feeding it; and when I'm gone, all these people will still be feeding this thing called art.
It'll just keep growing in all different directions and it is bigger than all of us, and I think that's what makes the community of art so wonderful."
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