Collector's Salon with Larry and Brenda Thomas, and Tina Dunkley

Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson have been collecting fine art for over four decades, cementing a legacy of patronage of and community with Black artists. Starting their collection in the 1980s, The Thompsons have curated a formative collection of Black art, initially starting with only Georgia artists and eventually expanding their philosophy to include African American artists across the U.S.

The Thompson's collection has been exhibited in several exhbitions including: Expanding Tradition: Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art (2005) at the Georgia Museum of Art, Selections from the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Collection (2008) at the David C. Driskell Center in Maryland, and “With Passion and Purpose: Gifts from the Collection of Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson" (2025) at the National Gallery of Art. They have also donated a significant amount of their collection to various art institutions.

The Thompsons will be in conversation with Tina Dunkley, artist, art historian, and former director of the CAU Art Galleries.

A Georgia native born in 1944, Freddie Styles remembers the racial divide of the Jim Crow South, when poverty and racial inequality defined his early life. His experiences working and being in nature fueled his artistic creativity, and his passion for gardening now serves as inspiration for his paintings.

Styles's abstract works conjure impressions of organic vegetation and the natural environment.

His unique process of layering crinkled fax paper and metallic inks creates texture, depth, and luminosity in his abstract landscapes.

For six decades, Styles has been engaged in the visual arts as both an abstract artist and an art curator. His works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions. They are held in numerous private and public collections, including those of the National Gallery of Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

The Clark Atlanta University Art Museum has been collecting African American art and art of the African Diaspora since the Atlanta University Art Annuals competition began in 1942. Since then, the collection has continued to evolve and grow; it has become a representation of a comprehensive African American art history. As the museum continues to develop exhibitions, the permanent collection will remain the priority. Rediscovery emphasizes the importance and relevance of the collection within the American art historical narrative. It also acknowledges that the permanent collection has never been seen in its entirety but will exhibit works that have remained unseen or exhibited in recent years, new acquisitions, pieces that have undergone conservation, and pieces that travel. This exhibition includes works by Samella Sanders Lewis, Henri Linton, Radcliffe Bailey, John Rhoden, and John Woodrow Wilson, among others.

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