Out of the Darkness, the Lord Gave us Light (2003)
Thornton Dial was an African-American artist who was born in rural Alabama in 1928. He was untrained, and his art was not discovered by the public until he was in his late fifties.
As a child, he grew up in poverty and dropped out of school when his teachers discouraged him from learning because of his race. He worked on farms and as a machinist, all the while creating art as a hobby in his house and in his backyard using found objects and found. In 1980, an art collector saw his sculptures outside and helped him start his career. Now, his work is in the collections of many major museums.
“All my pictures somehow be mostly about freedom. The black race of people have freedom now. That’s true. And we have the opportunity to look back at what we have did and be proud. Martin Luther King helped us to get that, with what he told us about the freedom of life. He said these things will happen, that we will join hands together...My art talks about that freedom. People have fought for freedom all over the world. I try to show that struggle. It is a war to be fought. We’re trying to win it.”
-Thornton Dial (1928-2016)
Third graders learned about Dial's art and life. They created paintings inspired by his work, using found objects such as beads, CDs, pencils, and sticks.
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