Betty Blayton

Betty Jean Blayton-Taylor
Born	Betty Jean Blayton (1937-07-10)July 10, 1937 Newport News, Virginia, United States
Died	October 2, 2016(2016-10-02) (aged 79) Bronx, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Education	Syracuse University
Known for	Painting and art education
Spouse	Ivanhoe Anthony (Rheet) Taylor (d. 1998)

Betty Blayton-Taylor (July 10, 1937 – October 2, 2016) was an American activist, advocate, artist, arts administrator and educator, and lecturer.

As an artist, Blanton-Taylor was an illustrator, painter, printmaker, and sculptor. She is best known for her works often described as "spiritual abstractions". Blayton-Taylor was a co-founder and the board secretary of the Studio Museum in Harlem, co-founder and executive director of Harlem Children's Art Carnival (CAC), and a co-founder of Harlem Textile Works. She was also an advisor, consultant and board member to a variety of other arts and community-based service organizations and programs.

Family and early life

Betty Blayton was born in Newport News, Virginia at Whittaker Hospital, the second of the four children of Alleyne Houser-Blayton and Dr. James Blaine "Jim" Blayton. Whittaker Hospital was the closest hospital for African Americans, thirty-five miles from the Blayton's home in James City County, where, at the time, Dr. Blayton was the community's only black physician. His personal and professional experiences in these times of segregation influenced him to establish a 14-bed acute care hospital with an emergency room and maternity ward for African Americans and later in 1961 was a principal participant in establishing the first fully integrated medical facility in Williamsburg Williamsburg Community Hospital. Alleyne Houser-Blayton was also a founding member of the Williamsburg Chapter of the National Black Child Developmental Institute and the Williamsburg Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

From as early as Blayton could remember she declared herself an artist and demonstrated this fact at the age of four by repeatedly crayoning murals up the steps in her home to the point that her mother declared to her father that she was convinced that they must have brought the wrong baby home from the hospital. Before Betty was of school age her mother would often substitute teach for the first grade. There was an art and play activity area next to the regular classroom, so Betty's mother would leave her there with paint and easel and know that she did not have to worry about her daughter for hours.

Her three siblings are Barbara Blayton Richardson, who has a Ph.D. in education; James II (Jimmy), who has won many awards for his work in metal sculpture and the restoration of classic Corvettes; and Oscar, a civil rights lawyer.

Education

In 1943 Blayton was enrolled in the segregated Bruton Heights Public School, which she attended through the 7th grade. In 1950 she entered Palmer Memorial Institute in the 8th grade, a boarding school for African American students in Sedalia, North Carolina.

Blayton received Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University and continued her education at the Art Students League and the Brooklyn Museum School. There was never a question as to what her college major would be; and while she was not accepted at the Pratt Institute, which was her first choice, she was admitted to Syracuse University, which she also believed to be one of the best art schools in the nation. In 1955 when Betty set off for college, Virginia did not allow African Americans to attend any of its segregated all-white universities due to its Jim Crow laws and no public black college in the state offered an accredited degree her chosen major, so Virginia had to pay her full tuition throughout the four years of her college career in order to comply with the federally mandated "separate but equal" requirements for education. This allowed her to attend the school of her choice tuition-free. Blayton chose a double major in painting and illustration. Illustration put her mother's mind somewhat at ease as to the potential of her daughter's future ability to be self-sufficient. While at Syracuse, her professors who all wanted her to paint like them. She decided to ignore them all and create her own expression. She graduated in 1959 with a BFA degree with honors.

Career

Blayton was a founding member of the Studio Museum in Harlem and served on its board from 1965 to 1977.

Exhibitions

"Magnetic Fields" Museum of Fine Art, Saint Petersburg, FL (May 5 – August 5, 2018)

"Surface Work" Victoria Miro - Mayfair, London (11 April - 16 June 2018)

"Magnetic Fields" National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC (October 13, 2017 – January 21, 2018)

"Magnetic Fields" Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MI (June 8 - September 17, 2017)

"Looking Both Ways" Peninsula Fine Arts Center, NEWPORT NEWS, VA (January 17-March 22, 2015) Curated by Diana Blanchard Gross. Included: Robert Colescott, Betty Blayton-Taylor, Beverly Buchanan, Faith Ringgold, Clayton Singleton, James Vanderzee, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Buddy Norris, and others.

"The Female Aesthetic," Dwyer Cultural Center, NEW YORK NY, (April 19-May 31, 2012) Group exhibition of 11 New York artists. Curated by MLJ Johnson. Included: Beryl Benbow, Betty Blayton Taylor, Cecil Chong, Diane Davis, Linda Hiwot, Jamillah Jennings, Charlotte Ka, Dindga McCannon, Gina Sampson, Deborah Singletary, Ava Tomlinson

Solo Exhibition: "BETTY BLAYTON: Jewels of Thought - Major Work and Concept Studies 1970-2010", Burgess Fine Arts Collection, New York, NY (2010)

Solo Exhibition: Essie Green Galleries, New York, NY (September 2009)

Solo exhibition: Strivers Gardens Gallery, New York, NY, (July 2009)

“Seeing Jazz: A Tribute to the Masters and Pittsburgh Jazz Legends,” Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Pittsburgh PA (January 26-April 3, 2009) Group exhibition. Included: O'Neal Abel, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Sharif Bey, Betty Blayton Taylor, Tina Williams Brewer, Fred Brown, Bisa Butler, Lauren Camp, Nora Mae Carmichael, Sadikisha Collier, Robert Daniels, Tafa Fiadzigbe, Frank Frazier, Eric Girault, Verna Hart, Rene Hinds, Jamillah Jennings, MLJ Johnson, Larry Joseph, Charlotte Ka, Eli Kince, Dindga McCannon, Evangeline J. Montgomery, Richard Mayhew, Steve Mayo, Omowale Morgan, Otto Neals, Ademola Olugebefola, Eric Pryor, Faith Ringgold, Senghor Reid, Maurice D. Robertson, Ernani Silva, Danny Simmons, Alexandria Smith, George Smith, Chuck Stewart, Allen Stringfellow, Ann Tanksley, Habib Tiwoni, Osman Tyner, Manny Vega, Richard Waters, Douglas J. Webster, Emmett Wigglesworth, and Shirley Woodson.

"So It Is With Us: BETTY BLAYTON, 40 Years of Selected Works" - Solo Exhibition at three venues: Canvas Paper and Stone Gallery, Essie Green Galleries, Strivers Gardens Gallery, New York NY (October 2-November 22, 2008)

"BETTY BLAYTON-TAYLOR: Souls/Spirit Journeys" - Solo Exhibition: Smithfield Cultural Arts Center, Smithfield VA (October 2005)

Group exhibition, National Museum of Ghana, Accra, Ghana - Restoring Our Spiritual Connections: National Conference of Artists International Exhibition (2002)

Solo Exhibition: Pace College, New York, NY (1994)

Solo Exhibition: Lubin House Gallery, Syracuse, NY (1993)

Solo exhibition: Isobel Neal Gallery, Chicago, IL (1990)

Solo exhibition: Skylight Gallery, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Brooklyn, NY) (1989)

The Wild Art Show, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (January 17 – March 14, 1982)

Solo exhibition: Caravan House Gallery, New York, NY (April 1975)

"TWO - Tonnie Jones and Betty Blayton" - The Studio Museum In Harlem. New York City (March 31 May 12, 1974) [Betty Blayton's portion of the exhibit was titled: "BETTY BLAYTON: Prints, Paintings and Sculpture"

Group Exhibition, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI "Contemporary Black Artists" (July 1-31, 1969)

"Counterpoints 23" (March 16 - 30 1969)

"8x8", Riverside Museum, New York City (1968)

"Six Painters", MARC, New York City (1968)

Three Women Exhibition, Capricorn Gallery, New York' City (September 10-28, 1968) [Betty Blayton, Freda Mulcahy, Nathalie Van Buren]

Group Exhibition, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota "30 Contemporary Black Artists." (October 17-November 24, 1968)

"Fifteen New Voices", American Greeting Card Gallery, New York City. (March 12 - May 3, 1968) Group exhibition. Included Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Betty Blayton, Emilio Cruz, Avel DeKnight, Melvin Edwards, Reginald Gammon, Alvin C. Hollingsworth, Tom Lloyd, William Majors, Earl Miller, Mahler Ryder, Raymond Saunders, Jack H. White, Jack Whitten. [Co-sponsored by Ruder and Finn Fine Arts, Inc. and the Studio Museum in Harlem.]

Group Exhibition, Lever House, New York City - "Counterpoints 23" (1967) [Included: Betty Blayton, Alvin C. Hollingsworth, Earl Miller, Faith Ringgold, Mahler Ryder, Jack H. White.]

Group Exhibition, Harlem Cultural Council, New York City - "The Art of the American Negro" (1966) Curated by Romare Bearden. [Included: Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Betty Blayton, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith, Richard Nugent, Simon B. Outlaw, Faith Ringgold, Vincent D. Smith, Charles White, et al.]

Solo Exhibition, Capricorn Gallery, New York City (May 4-20, 1966)

Solo Exhibition, Adair Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia (1963)

Solo Exhibition, St. Thomas Gallery, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands (1960)

Collectors Corner Gallery, Washington, D.C. (1959)

External links

• Betty Blayton-Taylor Professional Website
• Interview with Betty Blayton Taylor and Susan Shapiro at the WNYC Archives
• Remembrances of Betty Blayton-Taylor, Studio Museum Co-Founder and Harlem Arts Activist
• Remembering Betty Blayton
• Segment of the film "FIVE" focusing on Betty Blayton
• Entire film "FIVE" with Romare Bearden, Betty Blayton, Barbara Chase Riboud, Richard Hunt and Charles White
• journey of a soul: the life and work of betty blayton-taylor
• Art Break: Celebrate Harlem Artist and Activist Betty Blayton at Elizabeth Dee
• Yes, Black Women Made Abstract Art Too, as a Resounding New Show Makes Clear
• Betty Blayton Sample Paintings