Calvin B. Jones

Calvin Bell Jones (January 7, 1934 – August 21, 2010) Jones' initial 17-year career was in advertising. He was Hallmark Cards' first African American Art Director and worked for the first black-owned ad agency, Vince Cullers Advertising (founded in 1956). Additionally, Jones worked with his own company, Sales Graphics Advertising.

Beginning in 1976, he became a community mural leader in Chicago and collaborated with Mitchell Caton on six Chicago murals. Additionally, Jones' mural portfolio includes a mural in Detroit and Atlanta. In its first year, "The Art of Good Taste" program generated 89.5 million impressions nationally through advertising, promotion, events, publicity and consumer offers. It was also acclaimed as "one of the most dramatic and well executed marketing promotional campaigns ever seen in the beverage industry." The program earned five awards from Beverage Dynamics, along with the PRAME Award for best ethnic campaign from the National Association of Market Developers and the National Black Public Relations Society.*"

Olivia Guide and Jeff Hueber credit Jones and Caton for their innovated nonuniform mural contours which create a dynamic sense of vibrancy and movement as the composition was not confined by the paint and the building's surface. Jones and Caton's murals used strong colors and were technically finely executed because of their strong draftsmanship.

Jones stated in 1994 that he did not use preliminary drawings or the grid method for his murals. He felt that it was a waste of his time.

Solo exhibits 1971, 1972 and 1973 South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL 1970 – 1976 AFAM Gallery and Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 1978 Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago, IL 1979 Martin/Caraway Galleries, Dallas, TX 1987 South Shore Bank, Chicago, IL 1992 African World Festival, Detroit, MI 1992 Apollo Theater, Harlem Week, New York, NY 1992 National Conference of Artists, Michigan Chapter Gallery, Detroit, MI 1992 ETA Creative Art Foundation, Chicago, IL 1992 Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1992 Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois 1993 African World Festival, Detroit, MI 1993 Howard University, Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 1998 Isobel Neal Gallery Ltd., Chicago, IL, "Calvin Jones in Living Color" 2002 Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL 2012 Left of Center Art Gallery, Las Vegas, NV, "In Retrospective: Calvin B. Jones"

Selected group exhibits 1955, 1973 Art Institute of Chicago, IL 1974 World's Fair, Black Art Pavilion, Spokane, WA 1975 Malcolm X Community College, Chicago, IL 1977 International Festac, Lagos, Nigeria 1980 Chicago International Art Exposition, Chicago, IL 1980 Martin Luther King Regional Library, Washington, D.C. 1989 Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL 1989 ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL 1989 Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, VA 1990 Harold Washington Library Center, Permanent Art Collection 1990 Chicago International Art Exposition 1992 National NAACP Convention, Nashville, TN 1992 National Urban League Convention, San Diego, CA 1992 U.S. Congressional Black Caucus Convention, Washington, D.C. 1992 Africamicas Festival, Philadelphia, PA 1993 The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, "I Remember...Thirty Years After the March on Washington: Images of the Civil Rights Movement 1963-1993.” 2001 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY, "Art of the Masters: A Survey of African American Images, 1980-2000", 2014 Left of Center Art Gallery, Las Vegas, NV, "Rhythms of Africa" exhibit, a component of "The Museum Collection of African Art"

Commissions

"The Art of Good Taste", an artistic celebration of African American culture sponsored by the Hiram Walker Foundation. "Five Memorable Moments in Motorola History", for Motorola's 50th anniversary exhibition. Five large montages depicting Motorola's rise from a small Chicago based company to a leading multi-national corporation. The exhibit toured 38 cities in the U.S., Europe, Mexico, Canada and Africa. It is permanently housed in Motorola's corporate offices in Schaumburg, IL; Scottsdale, AZ and Phoenix, AZ. "Historic Black Leaders of America" was in celebration of Coca-Cola Company's Bicentennial and to show their commitment to the accomplishments of famous Black Americans. Two paintings appeared on commemorative trays. Sixth Annual National Convention of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1992.

Murals 1976 "Time to Unite", 41st Street and Drexel Boulevard, Chicago, IL, Artists: Calvin B. Jones, Mitchell Caton, Justine DeVan and assistants 1977 "In Defense of Ignorance", 8350 South Ashland, Chicago, IL, Artists: Calvin B. Jones and Mitchell Cato 1979 "Another Times Voice Remembers My Passion's Humanity", Elliot Donnelley Youth Center, Chicago, IL, Artists: Calvin B. Jones and Mitchell Caton 1979 "Continuity: Our Heritage Great, Our Destiny Even Greater:, Campbell Elementary School, Detroit, MI, Artist: Calvin B. Jones, in association with the National Conference of Artists: Kwasi Asante, Nelson Stevens, Napoleon Henderson Jones, Al Peterson, Dana Chandler, Ibn Pori Pitts with researcher and coordinator Edsel Reid 1980 "Ceremonies for Heritage Now", 3600 W. Ogden Avenue, Chicago, IL, Artists: Calvin B. Jones and Mitchell Caton 1981 "Builders of the Cultural Present", 71st Street and Jeffery Boulevard, Chicago, IL, Artists: Calvin B. Jones and Mitchell Caton 1985 "Untitled", 63rd and Wallace, Chicago, IL 1987 "Bright Moments - Memories of the Future", New Regal Theatre, Chicago, IL, Artists: Calvin B. Jones and Mitchell Caton 1990 "Triumphant Celebration", National Black Arts Festival Commission, 321 Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA, Artist: Calvin B. Jones

Awards

1980 Black Studies Collection 1981 South Shore Cultural Counsel Award for "Most Significant Community Contribution" 1981 National Black Studies Conference Muralist Award 1982 Artist-in-Residence, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana 1979 and 1983 The National Conference of Artists' First Aaron Douglas Muralist Award 1984 – 1985 The Directory of Distinguished American 1988 Kappa Alpha Psi Achievement Award in the Arts 1986 – 1989 Who's Who Among Blacks in America 1981 – 1992 Who's Who in American Art 1991 Atlanta Urban Design Commission Award of Excellence for Public Art 1992 ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Our Epic Men of the 20th Century