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Mr. Dial Has Something to Say
US, 60 minutes, English

“I think that it would not be a controversial thing to say that there has been racism in the art world,” Dr. Jacquelyn Serwer, chief curator of the Corcoran Galley of Art, says. Mr. Dial Has Something to Say investigates classism and racism in the American art world through the dramatic, disturbing story of Thornton Dial, a 79-year-old American-African artist from Alabama's Black Belt. Southern African-American visual art is the unrecognized 'sibling' of jazz and the blues. Like the music, this improvisational form influenced many famous white American artists. But unlike the musicians, the visual artists have not received recognition for their impact on American history. Featuring IMA Director and Mel and Bren Simon CEO Maxwell L. Anderson, this film asks the fundamental question: who decides what is great art?

Director: Celia Carey
Cast: Thornton Dial, Maxwell L. Anderson
Format: Video
Genre: Documentary, Art / Artists, African-American

Shows with: Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story