20 Facts About Nelson Stevens

Nelson Stevens was an artist known for his involvement with Chicago-based Black art collective AfriCOBRA.

Nelson Stevens began attending weekend classes at the Museum of Modern Art after winning a spot in the fourth grade; his winning piece was inspired by Picasso's Guernica.

In 1956 Nelson Stevens began painting murals at jazz nightclubs in Utica, New York; in return, the businesses provided Nelson Stevens with free meals.

Nelson Stevens joined AfriCOBRA in 1969 after meeting co-founder Jeff Donaldson at the College Art Association Conference in Boston.

In 1971, Nelson Stevens designed posters for a project at Northern Illinois University called Color Rappers, which aimed to raise scholarship money for Black students through selling art.

In 1992 Nelson Stevens began the Art in the Service of the Lord project, which commissioned African-American artists to create biblical art featuring Black individuals.

The project was inspired by an experience in which a Black-owned funeral home approached Nelson Stevens and asked to commission him for a painting to replace their work of a blonde and blue-eyed Mary and Jesus.

Nelson Stevens viewed the creation of art as "for the sake of people" rather than "for art's sake".

Nelson Stevens largely focused on two-dimensional paintings, although his body of work does include some collages.

In 1973, Nelson Stevens began a program to create public murals in Springfield, Massachusetts, with the aid of his students from University of Massachusetts Amherst.

In 1973, Nelson Stevens created a mural in Boston, entitled Work to Unify African People, which was intended to parallel Dana Chandler's mural, Knowledge is power so Stay in School.

In 1980, Nelson Stevens created a mural, entitled Centennial Vision, for the Tuskegee University to celebrate their 100th anniversary.

Nelson Stevens' work has appeared in exhibitions showcasing art from various AfriCOBRA members.

Nelson Stevens's work has been displayed among other Black artists, including at UMass Amherst and Springfield Technical Community College in February 1992, at the Jamaica Plain Art Center in 1994, and at the Northampton Center for the Arts in 1995.

Nelson Stevens curated a 1991 exhibition of African American art entitled "Rhythming".

In 2009 a collection of Nelson Stevens' work was shown at UMass Amherst.

In September 2019, Nelson Stevens had a solo exhibition titled "Work from the 60s to the Present" at the Kravets Wehby Gallery in New York City.

In September 2022, a retrospective of Stevens' work, entitled "Nelson Stevens' Color Rapping", opened at the University of Maryland Global Campus, where it remained on view until January 2023.

Nelson Stevens was an assistant professor at Northern Illinois University from 1969 until 1971, during which he taught a course on African-American art history.

Nelson Stevens was a professor of art in the African-American Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1972 until 2003.