older souls
Drawing.......................................................................................................................................................
The effort that goes into portraiture is substantial and complex. According to Pablo, an artist should truly capture the spirit of the subject, not just reproduce a photographic image. This portrait was revised several times until he felt it genuinely captured the essence of this little girl's personality. (See Pablo's essay regarding painting the portrait of Megan on the web journal page of this website for an in-depth opinion on the essence of portrait work.)
telephone: 313-361-6377
e-mail: bridgingcommunities@hotmail.com
web-site: bridgingcommunities.org
Pictured left to right: Scott Goryl, Adam Sally, Pablo Davis, Rick Kemsuzian and Jean Wharton.
A VISIT TO THE STATE CAPITOL IN LANSING, May 24, 2006
In the process of filming a documentary about Pablo's life and career, Madonna University contacted the State Historian, Kerry Chartkoff, to obtain permission to film the portrait of Gov. John Swainson, which hangs in the Capitol Rotunda. Ms. Chartkoff was delighted to make a connection with Pablo so that she could learn more about the history of the painting she states is "always the most intriguing to every group that views the governors' portraits." As a result, Pablo met with Ms. Chartkoff and her staff, and had a wonderful exchange of information. He was also invited by his friend and State Representative, Steve Tobocman, to visit the House of Representatives and was given an honorary introduction on the floor of the House that he will never forget.
ART LEGEND RECREATES THE PAST BY MENTORING THE FUTURE (Press Release)
This has happened before. 1932, a young boy – then known as Paul Kleinbordt – has the great fortune of meeting world-renowned muralist Diego Rivera. Their meeting, and Kleinbordt’s talent, leads Rivera to ask the 16-year-old boy to assist him on the famous “Detroit Industry” murals that still grace the walls of the Detroit Institute of Art today. That boy soon became the man who now goes by the name Pablo Davis.
Now world-renowned himself, as well as a supporter of several causes – chief among them, Unity – Davis has dedicated his life to bridging the gaps that exist in our society, whether they are racial, age, or gender-based. Tireless in his quest, Davis holds to the motto that he will “work until [his] last breath,” because “that is the only way to live.”
At 89 years old, Davis has shown that legacy of diversity in a way that has completed a circle begun with Rivera, 73 years ago. Over the last six months, Davis has mentored Adam Sally, a remarkably talented sophomore at Lake Orion High School. Working together, they have created artwork for a project that is currently on display at Beaumont Hospital in Troy.
When Beaumont, Troy, decided to expand its Emergency Center to better accommodate the growing community, Davis and Sally agreed to help decorate the walls while the construction was being done. Davis then had the idea of expanding his mentorship with Sally to create an “intergenerational” art project, and so invited the participation of Rick Kemsuzian, a detailed and imaginative artist in his 50’s, Scott Goryl, an abstract painter in his 30’s, Frank English, a multi-genre painter and instructor at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts, who is also in his 30’s, and Jean Wharton, a nurse, teacher, and painter, who is “forty-something.” Combined with Sally, 14, and Davis, 89, “We grasped the human life-span!” Davis exclaimed.
The idea of an intergenerational collaboration particularly interested Davis as his main project these days is raising funds for an intergenerational center in Southwest Detroit. His dream is that this center will help to reverse social isolation among the aged, expose preschoolers to the solid values and caring hearts of the elderly, and address the frightening 70% high school drop-out rate among teens in his Detroit community. Beaumont, Troy, made a generous donation to Davis’ intergenerational center fund and the five other artists donated their time, talent and materials to this project without charge.
Davis’ intergenerational celebration of art at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, currently hangs on display near the Emergency Center entrance, where it will remain until construction is complete. “My hope is that the paintings ease the pain and anxiety of those that come to the hospital to be cared for,” said Scott Goryl, who is also an Emergency Center employee at the hospital.
For more information, visit Pablo Davis’ website at www.pablodavis.com, call Bridging Communities, Inc., (Davis’ non-profit organization) at 313-361-6377, or contact Michael Marshall at Beaumont, Troy Public Relations, 248-964-1800
Beaumont’s 254-bed acute-care facility in Troy is among the nation’s leading community hospitals, ranking ninth in the nation for inpatient admissions and first for total surgeries among hospitals in its bed-size category. The Beaumont, Troy Department of Education is approved as a provider of continuing education in nursing by the Michigan Nurses Association.
October, 25, 2005
"Big Sun." Scott's paintings are vibrant, highly polished and visually fascinating. Scott works in the Beaumont, Troy, Emergency Room and volunteers as a painting instructor at Paint-a-Miracle in Rochester.
Rick creates highly imaginative drawings with thousands of minute, colored pencil strokes. The title of this work is, "Simplicity."
"Sunrise Tribute to Fairfield." Jean paints soft scenes with a richly-hued palate.
Parents got some priceless photos.
Santa's holiday wish???
Peace, freedom, justice, equity, love, beauty.
For everyone.
Sketching on a late (chilly) fall day. Pablo loved the massive, gnarled trunk on this tree and did several studies of it for use in a large painting he's doing.
Plein Air
Lecturing on the meanings of the Rivera Murals to a group of journalists from across the country
December 1, 2005
Artists' Celebration
Representative Steve Tobocman introduced Pablo to the House of Representatives and honored him for his decades of community activism in southwest Detroit, including helping to found Bridging Communities, Inc. (a non-profit community organization serving elderly, families and children), being a driving force in the building of the Pablo Davis Elder Living Center (a low-cost senior living complex), creating community-labor coalitions, etc. He was also honored for his portrait of Gov. John Swainson, which hangs only a few feet from the doorway to the House of Representatives. Pablo received a standing ovation from BOTH sides of the aisle!
Pablo was delighted and impressed with Ms. Chatkoff's knowledge of and appreciation for the many, wide-ranging accomplishments Governor Swainson was able to achieve during his brief political lifetime.
Signing the beam
One of Pablo's great honors was being asked to sign the ceiling beam at the Scarab Club,
a Detroit artists' haven built across the street from the Detroit Institute of ARts in 1928.
Pablo added his signature to those of over 200 other prominent artists including Diego Rivera,
Marcel DuChamp, Max Eastman, Norman Rockwell and Marshall Fredricks. For a full
list of signatories see
http://www.scarabclub.org/documents/Beam_Signatories_of_The_Scarab_Club_9_8_06.pdf
or visit the Scarab Club yourself for a fascinating trip through art history.
Around 1980, some of us in Southwest Detroit started to realize that our elderly were living in impossible poverty and sickness. We began to knock on doors and on one street after another we found the elderly needed support and help with food, transportation, home repairs, and companionship. We formed a community organization and named it Project S.A.V.E. (Seek And Visit the Elderly). Soon we were helping 900 seniors a month. We also realized that the community needed new housing for the elderly- incredibly, no new housing had been built in our part of the city in 50 years.
Thirteen years of struggle later, we have transformed the neighborhood eyesore - an abandoned orphanage overrun by unsavory characters and animals- into a state of the art apartment complex for seniors, called the Pablo Davis Elder Living Center. Low income seniors live here at a reduced rental rate and are supported with a variety of activities and resources. The idea has proven so successful, we have built a similar facility to the northeast called, Magnolia Place.
The Pablo Davis is the beginning of our hope to transform our surrounding city (which we have named Springwells Village) from a run-down, unsafe, blighted area into a bright, bustling place to "live, raise a family, and grow old."
Pablo Davis
YMCA Camp Echo
Thank you, Julie!
Pablo with WCCAHH Honorees, Oct. 11, 2006
(photo from Bernadine Vida)
Mrs. Moore
Their awards are beautiful blue vases from the Pewabic Pottery Studio in Detroit.
It was a grand and unforgettable evening for Pablo and he was very grateful to the many friends who were there to share in this celebration. of his lifetime of artistic endeavour.
Here is an excerpt of Pablo's remarks for this special event:
Wayne County Council for Arts, History and Humanities
October 11, 2006
Good day to you all! I’m excited about this special high honor that you are bestowing upon me today. International artist – no less! Guess what, this is not the first time I’ve been designated an international artist. I’m not bragging. I’d like to tell you what I think is an amusing story about this.
See this painting? This is Mrs. Moore, who raised four sons in Willow Village scrubbing her way through life as a domestic in order to send her boys through college. The oldest graduated from Wayne State Medical School. I painted this portrait of her in 1953 and submitted it to the annual show of the Detroit Institute of Arts that year. It was rejected even though I had won a top award the year before. And I thought this was a better painting. I knew the museum’s secretary, William Bostick, so I asked him if he could tell me why the jury had rejected my painting. He quickly answered that it was not an art decision but a political one. I was very surprised and asked why. He said the painting was accepted in the first round, but when it went around the second time an objection was raised that went something like, “in view of the rumblings and recent racial turmoil in Little Rock, Arkansas, perhaps a sympathetic black woman’s face, as depicted in this painting, could cause a disturbance in our museum.” That was the U.S.A. in 1953.
Five years later in 1958, the United Nations through their youth division, UNESCO, launched a Western Hemisphere Art Competition. Seven thousand entries from 20 countries were submitted and this painting won first prize. First prize was a one-person show in the museum of my choice. I picked the Boston Museum of Fine Art and began to prepare for the show. During this decade of my political refugee days I produced a lot of work. I had at least 90 major, large paintings stored in my brother’s estate in Bridgeton, NJ and in my mother’s house in Philadelphia. They were crated and shipped to my studio which at that time was in a building on an estate on Franklin Road, a space leased by Cranbrook Art School for my use. I was also working during that time to establish an art school in Charlevoix and on one fateful day that I’ll never forget I received a call to come back to my Franklin Road studio immediately. When I returned I saw what was left of my artwork in that studio – nothing.
Everything had been taken by what the police later concluded was a Brazilian or Argentinian art theft ring tied into two U.S. FBI agents. That was the same summer Frans Hals’ famous “Laughing Boy” and Rembrandt’s painting of Christ were stolen from the DIA and a number of other important modern paintings were stolen from the Barnes Foundation in PA. Some of the pieces from the Barnes Foundation were recovered but none of my stolen work has ever come to light since that time.
You may be wondering why I told you about all that. The reason you are able to see this painting before you today is that it was hanging in Anna Werbe’s art gallery on Livernois and 7 mile, when the rest of my artwork was taken. If it weren’t for that lucky coincidence, this international prizewinning piece of my work would have been gone too. So, from having my work recognized by UNESCO and hung in unknown locales in Argentina (or Brazil), - oh yes, and my other work with Spanish/French artist, Pablo Picasso, and Mexican artist, Diego Rivera, I guess I could call myself an international artist. Although I sometimes question whether I’ve achieved my real life’s aim, which is to produce important, universal, and NOT NATIONAL but INTERNATIONAL art for all humanity. I sincerely hope so.
Thank you for this honor. I hope to keep earning it as I soon round my hundredth birthday– and beyond.
P.S. I continue to work toward building an intergenerational center in southwest Detroit, partially through the sale of my artwork and through the work of the labor/community coalition that I helped organize in SW Detroit. This is a social experiment designed to combat age segregation and isolation between people of different generations who live in the same neighborhood and to do something for our youth to help reverse the 80 % drop-out rate in SW Detroit High Schools.
Adam, 14, is always drawing (or playing football for Lake Orion High). Pablo helped him transition from drawing to painting with wonderful results.
This stunning, 9 foot landscape is entitled, "Healthful Living," and is a very beautiful addition to a place of healing such as Beaumont, Troy.
Noel Night at The Scarab Club
December 3, 2005