Benny Andrews: Artist, Activist and Teacher
Benny Andrews (1930-2006) was an artist, activist, and educator. Born in Plainview, Ga., Andrews is best known for his drawings and paintings. The artist figuratively captured moments in Black lifestyle and culture. He is known for his expressive, figurative paintings that often incorporate collaged fabric and other materials.
As founder of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC), Andrews centered the narratives of the Black artists and curators he worked with while living in Harlem, N.Y. Through his creative work in making art, initiating art activism, philanthropy, and education, Andrews taught demonstrations at colleges and universities and created a prison art program to teach art to people at the Manhattan Detention Complex.
The son of sharecroppers, Andrews was the first in his family to graduate high school. His father, George Andrews, was a self-taught artist known as The Dot Man. Using the G.I. Bill, Benny Andrews attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was trained as an abstract expressionist and received his BFA. Andrews also worked as an illustrator for record companies and created advertisements for various Chicago theater companies. He also created and sold sketches of Chicago’s jazz scene. He moved to New York after graduation.
His 1987 drawing Exit, which depicts a farmer leading a mule through a clipped barbwire fence, is in the AMA permanent collection.
We honor and highlight Andrews for his groundbreaking work by presenting his work and likeness on Thursday evening, Feb 27, 2025, in the annual Lift Every Voice concert that uplifts the work of Black artists, writers, and musicians who have left a meaningful legacy
