The David C. Driskell Center
Opening September 11, 2026
Jubilee is on view at The David C. Driskell Center in College Park, Maryland, presenting over seventy works from the collection, including works by Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, David Driskell, Sam Gilliam, James Phillips, and Alma Thomas.
Jubilee: Celebrating 25 Years of The Driskell Center marks a quarter century of collecting, documenting, exhibiting, and nourishing African American artistry. The Center was established in the name of the eminent scholar, collector, and artist David C. Driskell (1931–2020) and continues to operate in honor of his passion and purpose. Driskell's family collection established the core of the Center's holdings when it was founded in 2001; since then, those holdings have grown to encompass hundreds of works across media — a microcosm of more than 150 years of Black art making.
Jubilee features over seventy artworks from the Center's historic collection spotlighting the subjects, aesthetic concerns, and creative energies African American artists have engaged with from the early twentieth century to the contemporary moment. The exhibition moves across the many languages of abstraction, the centrality of portraiture in Black visual practice, art as spiritual work, the deep relationship between Black art and music, the mediation of history and memory, and the role of nature as muse and metaphor. Over twenty-five years, the Center has drawn together a devoted community of supporters, donors, and visitors whose commitment has made this work possible. In the spirit of freedom, endurance, and the hard-won right to express beauty and joy, we proudly present Jubilee — honoring the Center's first quarter century while joyfully anticipating the bright future of this essential American cultural institution.
This exhibition was curated by Dr. Adrienne L. Childs, with additional support from The Driskell Center staff.
The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora
1214 Cole Student Activities Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742