Bill Traylor’s and My World, the first curated exhibition of student artwork at Kress on Dexter, celebrates one of the most important artists in American history.  Bill Traylor lived and worked just outside this building near the corner of Monroe and Lawrence Streets.  He sat creating amidst a bustling business and entertainment hub of Montgomery and its African-American community.  On discarded cardboard he largely found at a nearby drug store, Traylor produced over a thousand drawings on cardboard, thirty of which are held at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.  

 

The student work in this exhibition captures the essence of Traylor’s work, from spirited animals to the agricultural rhythms of our state the he knew well as a formerly enslaved person who labored much of his life.  You will also find representations of buildings of downtown Montgomery and stylish figures such as those that interested Traylor. There are impersonations of the artist’s style, and reflections of his interest in the color and motion of everyday life.  There is even a likeness of Traylor himself included in one of the works.   

The students observed their own worlds as he did, reflecting them in diverse media from ceramics to photography and collage.  Each piece is explained in the artist’s own words.  Most of all the students (first grade – adult) in this exhibition celebrate the expressive power of creativity at every stage of life’s journey - a wonderful testament to Traylor, who began drawing in his eighties.