UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lonnie Graham, professor of visual art, has been named a distinguished professor by Penn State’s Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
The title of distinguished professor at Penn State recognizes the academic contributions of current, full-time faculty members who hold the rank of professor. Distinguished professors are acknowledged leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; demonstrate significant leadership in raising the University’s standards in teaching, research or creative activity, and service; and exhibit excellent teaching skills.
Graham is an artist, photographer and cultural activist whose work addresses the integral role of the artist in society and seeks to re-establish artists as creative problem solvers. He has been teaching at Penn State since 2003.
“For almost 20 years, we have greatly benefited from Professor Graham’s contributions, as a community of learners, as well as creative artists whose work impacts both the world and populations that surround us,” said nominator Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead, director of Penn State’s School of Visual Arts. “He is an inspiring educational leader. His courses are always filled, and students are actively engaged with the learning material — I can attest to this firsthand, as his classes are taught in a room adjacent to my office. It is quite inspiring to see that level of care and engagement with students, one that builds their confidence and independence, while forging their personal expressive voice.”
A Pew Fellow, Graham previously served as acting associate director of the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia and as director of photography at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Pittsburgh, an urban arts organization dedicated to arts and education for at-risk youth. There, he developed innovative pilot projects merging arts and academics, which were ultimately cited by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton as a National Model for Arts Education and were later used in a Harvard case study. Graham also served as an instructor of special projects and oral historian for the original Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. He was named Pennsylvania Artist of the Year in 2005.
According to Graham, we must acknowledge that the arts are an indelible part of our common humanity.
“It is necessary, as creative and organic problem-solving serves as a balance to linear thought. In the field of education, we must continue to innovate creative educational solutions as we evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our society," said Graham.
In 1986, Graham authored the project, “A Conversation with the World,” which has been commissioned in various iterations in more than 50 countries on six continents. He photographs and interviews random people that he meets on eight subjects: family origins, family, life, death, traditional values and western culture. The project was recently published in the form of a book by Datz Press, in Seoul, South Korea.
Graham has been involved in and won a number of major commissions concerning social and political issues, including the African/American Garden Project, a physical and cultural exchange facilitating interaction among disadvantaged urban single mothers, an elderly African American community and farmers from the small village of Muguga, Kenya; a 1997 commission to travel to Papua New Guinea to document the harvest of the Woowoosi tree used to produce tapa cloth by the Maisin, a people who successfully blocked the efforts of foreign logging companies to win over their property rights and have chosen to support themselves by maintaining traditional values rooted in an ancient lifestyle; and a commission from Philadelphia's Fairmont Park Art Association to address the needs of a blighted urban community with revitalization through the arts, cultural activities and various entrepreneurial ventures.
In 2009, Graham received funding from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in conjunction with Penn State to conduct a project titled “A Change in the Making.” That project explored social and economic issues in Cape Town, South Africa, and allowed Graham to establish a relationship with Monkey Biz, an organization lending support to women of the Cape Town townships of Gugulethu and Kaylisha. Monkey Biz breaks societal boundaries and helps women establish economic independence.
“As an academic institution, we [at Penn State] must continue to model behavior for the society at large,” said Graham. “Embedded in the cultivation of a relevant educational experience must be a commitment to support the arts, as they are a tool that can be used to activate insight, advance enlightenment and foster understanding.”