4:49 p.m., Sept. 30, 2008----During October, several special events will be held to coincide with “Discursive Acts: African American Art at UD and Beyond,” an art exhibition in the Mechanical Hall galleries that will run Oct. 1-Dec 7. The exhibition, as well as all the programs running in conjunction with it, are free and open to the public.

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The exhibition will feature works that are on loan from artists and other institutions, as well as works from UD's Paul R. Jones Collection. Among the artists who are represented are Romare Bearden, Charles White, David Driskell, Keith Morrison, Joyce Scott, Lorna Simpson, Jack Whitten and Kevin Cole.

From 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 1, an opening reception for the show will give gallery visitors an opportunity to meet Julie McGee, UD's new curator of African American Art, who will speak at 5:30 p.m.

McGee has written and lectured extensively on African American art and on contemporary art in South Africa. She has curated exhibitions at Bowdoin College, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey and in Cape Town, South Africa. Her publications include a recent biography of artist, collector and educator, David C. Driskell, as well as articles addressing issues of primitivism, canons and apartheid.

Future events that will coincide with the show include the following.

UD's annual Paul R. Jones Lecture, “Paintings by Keith Morrison,” by the noted African-American artist, art educator, curator, art critic and administrator, Keith Morrison, is set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 7, in 112 McDowell Hall.

Morrison, who was born in Jamaica, received bachelor's and master's degrees of fine arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He served as dean and is now a professor at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. He has exhibited his paintings and prints across the U.S. and abroad, and was selected to represent Jamaica at the 2001 Venice Biennale. He has works on view in the “Discursive Acts” exhibition and will discuss and illustrate his most recent works of art. The Mechanical Hall Galleries will remain open until 9 p.m.

A gallery talk, “Curatorial Acts,” by McGee, is set for 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17, in Mechanical Hall.

An artist talk, “Straight from the Soul,” by artist and educator Kevin Cole, is set for 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23, in 112 McDowell Hall.

Cole, who was born in Arkansas and is based in Atlanta, will discuss his recent artwork. Cole recalls, “When I turned 18 years old, my grandfather stressed the importance of voting by taking me to a tree where he was told that African Americans were lynched by their neckties on their way to vote. The experience left a profound impression in my mind.” Cole's work, inspired by the human condition and the communicative power of color and form is on view in “Discursive Acts.” The Mechanical Hall Galleries will be open until 9 p.m. on the night of his lecture.

For more information on the exhibition or on any of the lectures, visit [www.udel.edu/museums] or call (302) 831-8073.