One of the oldest, largest and most complete holdings of African-American art in the world-- the 1,000 piece Paul R. Jones Collection--has a new home at the University of Delaware.

The collection, now showcased in Jones' Atlanta home and in exhibitions across the country, includes works by such noted artists as Charles White, Herman "Kofi" Bailey, David Driskell, Elizabeth Catlett, Earl Hooks, Leo Twiggs, Stanley White, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, P.H. Polk and Selma Burke, who created the image of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that appears on the dime.

"The University of Delaware is truly privileged to enjoy the friendship and support of Paul Jones, whose collection is magnificent," President David P. Roselle said at a news conference Feb. 14 in the Bob Conference Center before an audience of students, faculty, administrators and reporters, which also included Audrey Manley, president of Spelman College of Atlanta.

"We are so very pleased and honored that, in the University's outstanding programs in art, art history, art conservation, black American studies and museum studies, as well as its leading-edge technologies, Paul Jones has seen an appropriate home for his collection," Roselle said. "Mr. Jones believes art should be made widely available for the purposes of education and enjoyment, and we share and are committed to implementing his vision.

"We particularly look forward to using it to foster relationships with a wider public, to include our colleagues and students at historically black institutions, including Spelman and Morehouse colleges in Atlanta."

"I am excited to have my collection at the University of Delaware," Jones said, citing the institution's resources to professionally conserve and exhibit the vast array of paintings, drawings, photographs, lithographs and sculpture.

"I have wanted to find a way to keep the collection together so that it will have the greatest possible impact on artists, scholars and students," Jones said. "For the last five years, I have been looking for the ideal home where the collection would be wanted and woven into the fabric of an institution, where it would be used for teaching and exhibitions.

"What I have found in Delaware are all of the ingredients that I've looked around the country for, in searching for a home for the Paul Jones Collection," Jones said.

"The collection that I have put my life into developing I wanted the public to be able to access; I wanted scholars to have it for research; I wanted students to have access to it to use it as a teaching model," he said. "And, that was the commitment I got from the president here, from faculty here, from department heads here, and I've been pleased with that kind of response."

"I applaud the University of Delaware for embracing this because it is a very sensitively compiled collection," Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, chief curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, said. "Paul Jones is a passionate collector with a very good eye. He has sought out very good examples of excellent artists who have played prominent roles in American art.

"He is very interested in educational outreach, and the University of Delaware is a very good teaching institution," she added.

Cataloging and appraisal have begun in preparation for the collection's move to the Newark campus over the course of the next several years. Amalia Amaki, an artist and art historian from Atlanta, has been hired to work with University Gallery staff on this effort and to teach at the University. A major exhibition highlighting the collection will be mounted in the future at the University Gallery at Old College on the Newark campus. This show is expected to travel.

"This collection will become a truly wonderful resource for students and faculty here and from other institutions as well, enriching not only the study of art, art history and art conservation but American culture as well," Provost Mel Schiavelli said. "The many academic programs related to the Paul R. Jones Collection will promote the study of African-American insights and influences across a broad spectrum of culture in this country, reflecting the University's commitment to providing its students with exposure to the rich and diverse culture of our world."

Thomas M. DiLorenzo, dean of the College of Arts and Science, said UD is committed to putting into action Jones' vision "to enrich the lives of UD students and staff, Delaware schoolchildren and the general public, among many." He noted that the collection will be the centerpiece of the University's new Center for American Material Culture Studies, which encompasses the world of objects and images that people make and use. "The goal of the center is to bring scholars and students from many different disciplines together to spark a dynamic collaboration. The Paul R. Jones Collection will provide an excellent opportunity to do just that."

Belena S. Chapp, director of museums at UD, said, "We are excited by the countless possibilities for study, exhibition development and educational programming afforded by the addition of this wonderful treasure."

"I am pleased that I have chosen the very best home in the country that I could find for the collection," Jones said. "I feel good about where it will be, its care and its use. But, I also feel very good that Delaware wants it and will give it a home. For me, the art will not be losing a home, but I will be gaining a second home, which I intend to be visiting often and contributing to. What better circumstance could you want?"

The gift of the Paul R. Jones Collection, as well as an earlier acquisition of Inuit art from the Frederick and Lucy S. Herman Native American Art Collection, are unique additions to the University of Delaware's acquisitions.

The Hermans' Inuit drawings, which number nearly 200, portray the everyday lives and traditions of these Native Americans over the span of three generations. Both collections are integral parts of the new Center for American Material Culture Studies.