FAAAC presents Conversations with Collectors: The Joys of Collecting Black Art

Join the Friends of African American Art and Culture (FAAAC) for Conversations with Collectors: The Joys of Collecting Black Art, featuring collectors Patrick Diamond, Dr. Philip Toussaint, and Marjorie Hammock. These collectors share stories about acquiring works by Black artists and following that passion over many years. Moderated by Waltene Whitmire, a founding and current member of the FAAAC board of directors.  

This event is also FAAAC’s annual meeting and includes a reception featuring charcuterie boards from Clarissa’s Kitchen and Catering. Attendees are encouraged to start or add to their personal art collections through a silent art auction featuring original pieces by local and national Black artists. Throughout the evening, Columbia artist Ija Charles creates a work of art on canvas, which auctioneer William Roberts III presents for sale during a live auction at the end of the program. Free. Registration is preferred.

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This program is supported in part by a general operating and support grant from Central Carolina Community Foundation.  

For nearly 50 years, Patrick Diamond and his wife, Judy, have collected more than 120 pieces by African American artists. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is a former development director of the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture. The CMA recently exhibited works from the Judy and Patrick Diamond collection, including a remarkable selection of works by some of the most significant African American artists of the last century: Benny Andrews, Radcliffe Bailey, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Sargent Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Leo Twiggs.

Dr. Philip Toussaint is a neurologist with the Lexington Medical Center, a member of the FAAAC board of directors, and a longtime collector of Southern art, including works of many African American artists. A favorite among Toussaint’s acquisitions is a fairly extensive collection of Dave Pottery. David Drake was an enslaved artist who worked in the Edgefield, South Carolina pottery-making district in the early 1800s when Edgefield was a hub for the manufacturing of ceramic stoneware. Dave, who was also a poet, specialized in large storage jars with horizontal slab handles used for large-scale plantation food preservation.  

Marjorie Hammock’s art collection is an extension of what she once referred to as “an exploration of her Blackness.” As a retired social worker, civil rights activist, and college professor, Hammock has collected works by Black artists as a source of inspiration and a foundational representation of her essence.