Betty Blayton

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

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 park 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 the 2nd (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 BFA 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 she studied painting and drawing with Van der Sluse in her first year, an excellent drawing instructor. She was not allowed to take painting until Second year and had three different teachers who all wanted her to paint like them. She decided to ignore them all and create her own expression. Van der Sluse ended up giving her a C and said that he could not understand how she could draw so well and paint so badly. She graduated in 1959 with a BFA degree with honors.

Studion Museum In Harlem

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

At its website, the Studio Museum acknowledges Blayton's contribution with the following words:

"Not long after her move to New York, Blayton-Taylor became part of the Association Community Team of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited, a program that provided classes in art and other skills to teenagers. Blayton-Taylor encouraged her students to travel to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to further their art education, but upon arrival they were not allowed inside the institution. She reached out to her contacts at MoMA to make sure the students weren’t turned away again, and also began conversations with Frank Donnelly, a member of the MoMA Junior Council, about the potential of creating a museum for her students in their own community.1 Thus began the initial stages of the Studio Museum. Blayton-Taylor went on to serve as the secretary of the Museum Board from 1965 to 1977. Her voice and insight remain present in the curatorial and educational programming at the Museum today."

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)

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

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)

"TWO" - Tonnie Jones and Betty Blayton - The Studio Museum In Harlem. New York City (March 31 May 12, 1974)

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