Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Fund, New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund, and the Nellita E. Walker Fund for KNME-TV at the Albuquerque Community Foundation... ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts... and Viewers Like You.

THIS TIME, ON COLORES!

INSPIRED BY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, CONTEMPORARY LIFE, AND PLACE, FOR OVER 40 YEARS HOLLY ROBERTS FINDS COMBINING THE REALITY OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE NON-REALITY OF PAINTING - VERY POWERFUL.

THE DOCTOR CARTER G. WOODSON AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM IN SAINT PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, PRESERVES AFRICAN- AMERICAN HISTORY AND SHINES A LIGHT ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EQUALITY AND INCLUSIVITY.

AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR OF "JAYCE THE BEE" CHILDREN'S BOOKS, CALVIN REYNOLDS ENCOURAGES KIDS TO BE CREATIVE, EXPLORE THEIR INTERESTS, AND FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS.

IT'S ALL AHEAD ON COLORES!

BLENDING REALITIES [Music] >> Jeff Proctor: Holly, I would like to begin with what we have here on set today, um, and let's start with that one.

What is that and how did you make it?

>> Holly Roberts: Well, that is a mixed media piece.

It's called Awkward Rider, and it's the accumulation of about, I guess, almost 40 years of the way that I work, of putting together material.

I start with paint, and then I bring in other materials and I form basically a story.

And when I start out, I don't know where the story is going to go.

I just start.

I have over 200,000 photo files that I can use as information.

Plus, I'm always taking, uh, photographs.

And, this is about my starting to horseback ride again about 5 years ago.

'Cause I'd always been around horses, I always had horses, but then as an adult, I gave it up.

And then when I started riding again, it wasn't the same fluid easy thing it had been when I was young.

And so, as an awkward rider, um, this was, this is what I felt like when I got on these huge horses.

And it seemed dangerous and sort of scary, and, but at the same time, thrilling.

>> Jeff Proctor: Titling a piece of art.

How important is that to you and do you think it matters to the people who see your art?

>> Holly Roberts: Oh, absolutely it matters.

I don't come up with a title usually until I'm about 2/3rds or done with a piece, and then it will come to me.

But, I think it's a clue, um, for people to find out more about it.

I think that people need to have some sort of inroad into what you're doing.

>> Jeff Proctor: The title could almost be thought of like a door then so, (>>HR: ...absolutely), what is the door for this piece?

>> Holly Roberts: Well, this is called Supplicant.

Um, this was done around 2017.

These are fairly, fairly recent.

And in this case, it was just had this beautiful blue background.

And then the body of the chair and the legs of the horse are all made from things that I painted.

But supplicant is about petitioning something, for something important.

And so I think that horses have always been these kind of mysterious big animals, that, they do things for you.

>> Jeff Proctor: It made me think about being of service to each other.

So, can titles and perception of your work, is that sort of up to the viewer?

>> Holly Roberts: Well, I think if, it's good, I think you should be able to bring your own agenda to it.

>> Jeff Proctor: Um, let's talk about one more piece.

I understand this one's called Making Rain.

>> Holly Roberts: It just seems like living in the southwest, and especially now in the last 10, 15 years, our extreme weather is drought.

And so, I think it's something that's always on my mind.

And then, uh, my husband and I lived in Zuni for eight years.

And of course, they have these rain dances.

And they were just beautiful and powerful.

So, I think in my art, there's this asking for rain.

And that's what, this is called Making Rain, this piece.

And it's really about petitioning the gods to give us some rain.

And uh, like the Zuni had their dances, I have my paintings.

And they come up every year or so.

I'll do a rain painting.

>> Jeff Proctor: Does it make it rain?

>> Holly Roberts: No.

[Music] >> Jeff Proctor: You are known for combining photography and painting.

What makes those things go together?

>> Holly Roberts: I think what happened was, I was one of the first people to kind of do that.

To take photography, which was just becoming accepted as a fine art media, and then take paint, which the photographers were just terrified of paint.

It was like "Ahhh."

But I wasn't.

I was too dumb.

I first started painting over photographs, and then changed to putting photographs on top of the paintings.

But there's something about the reality and the non-reality that's very powerful.

You have the reality of the photo with the non- reality of the marks of the paint, or the things that I make up and put in.

>> Holly Roberts: When I start out, I had the idea of a horse.

So, I was basically looking at the body first.

And I had lots of different uh, material that I used to try and form the body of the horse.

And this is... >> Jeff Proctor: Early on, your work was described as abusing the photograph.

Um, how did you take to sort of that label, or that phrase being applied to what you did?

>> Holly Roberts: I actually gave it to myself.

(>>JP: Okay.)

I just love it because, because again, I think I was sort of the darling of the photography world for a while.

Because I think they were all so excited that I was just beating the heck out of these photos.

I mean, I was cutting them up.

I was taking them apart.

And, I'm really not a great photographer.

Um, but I was able to take these photographs and make them be something else.

By cutting them up, by transfiguring them, and transposing them, they become something that was more powerful.

>> Jeff Proctor: I'm interested in how you begin.

Is it a theme?

Is it the mediums?

Is it looking around your collection of paints and photographs?

How do you start?

>> Holly Roberts: I think I'm a looker.

I start with a painting.

I take paint and I just throw it around.

I paint outside 'cause it's so messy.

Um, and it's like, there's a fairy tale of a little, of a little girl.

And she puts on these ballet shoes and they're magical.

And she dances and dances.

But then she can't stop dancing and she has to cut her feet off.

And, I sort of feel like that when I paint.

I just can't stop.

I just and go and go.

I won't go to the bathroom.

I won't get anything to eat.

I get paint everywhere.

So that's what starts.

I make these, I make maybe 20, 30 background paintings.

And, then I'll come in and I have all these photographs that, I have too many almost.

I mean they're so deep, but, I'll begin to take them and lay them out and cut them up and put them down and see what happens.

And then I'll begin to follow a story line, that it will begin to make sense.

And I'll maybe work on, maybe five at a time.

And I'll put them up on the wall.

They may take a couple of months to finish, but I'll be constantly adding or taking away.

And then at some point, they're done.

>> Jeff Proctor: How do you know when you're finished?

>> Holly Roberts: Your stomach stops hurting.

>> Jeff Proctor: How have your concerns or fears or anxieties about the world influenced what you make?

>> Holly Roberts: I think I'm a naturally anxious person.

Um, and so I think that's what comes through.

I'm not someone who does happy joyful work.

I do work that that connects with that deeper darker side.

Um, although I think its often funny stuff too.

I mean, I think there's humor to it.

But, that's how I approach the world.

That's how I see it.

I'm a glass half-empty kind of person.

And so that's what I connect with.

>> Jeff Proctor: Has that changed over time?

In other words, has the world gotten crazier and you've gotten calmer?

>> Holly Roberts: I've gotten calmer.

I've gotten saner.

I've gotten psychologically healthier.

But the world has gotten crazier and crazier, to the point that you just don't even want to watch the news because it's so bad.

So, I'm a much happier person.

When I look back at some of my earlier paintings, I think, "...wow, you know, that's pretty intense."

But so yeah, it's flipped.

The world's worse.

I mean maybe the world was bad all along and I just didn't see it, but.

[Music] >> Jeff Proctor: So, in 30-plus years of doing this, what have you discovered?

>> Holly Roberts: God.

I think it's an ongoing discovery.

I don't think it's an end.

I don't think you go through the door and there you have it.

I think you're always opening doors.

Opening doors, opening doors.

And, every time I do a piece, I think I can never do another good piece again.

You know, I'm done that's it.

So, I think it's as simple as that.

There's no big, big "A-ha!"

moment.

>> Jeff Proctor: I want to know more about that.

You think you're done at the end of every piece.

How do you start anew?

>> Holly Roberts: In your hands.

I think your hands get going.

They do whatever.

Write or make.

You know, I think that's why painting is so important for me.

'Cuz it makes my, once my hands take over, then my head can go out and you know, like smoke a cigarette or whatever.

But my hands are in charge.

That's my creative self.

It's letting my unconscious take over.

Because mostly, our consciouses are in control.

So, that allows me to have this more powerful thing take charge.

>> Jeff Proctor: So, I do not feel comfortable when I look at your art.

I wonder if that is a common response from folks who talk to you about what you've made.

What is the feedback for the most part?

>> Holly Roberts: Well, mostly I'll get it sideways.

Um, uh, people will, "Oh, that one was really scary."

And I'll think, "what?"

But mostly people are too polite to say that to you.

And usually when I have a review written, it's positive.

You know, it's talking about the complicated things that it's saying.

So, I don't really hear that that much.

But I think it is a common thing and mostly I think people don't look at it and feel comfortable.

But the ones, the people that do, not only do they not feel comfortable, but they're also laughing, or they're also feeling excited and intrigued and interested, I hope.

I mean, that's what I would hope.

>> Jeff Proctor: It's a little bit that moment of laughing at the wrong moment during the movie.

In cruising your catalog, I think I did that a couple of times.

So, what do you want people in the end to take from what you've made?

>> Holly Roberts: Well, I want them to love the work.

I don't want them to feel separated or anxious or you know, afraid or uncomfortable.

But it's what it is, and I can't control that.

I mean, that's the thing.

I'm not in control.

I'm only the hands that do the bidding of the unconscious directive.

And, so if we're going to do something that's scary, okay, well we'll do that, so.

One time a gallery director told me that snakes and red never sold.

So, for about six months, I just did snakes and red, you know.

>> Jeff Proctor: So, art not as an act of manipulation, but potentially at least, as an act of rebellion.

>> Holly Roberts: A little bit, yeah.

Or somehow, that creative self-saying "I'm going to do exactly what I want to do," so.

BLACK HISTORY MATTERS - The Woodson African American museum is housed in what was once Jordan Park Community Center.

Residents of Jordan Park decided late in the 1990s that they would forgo their community center so that we might have a space in the city of St. Petersburg that we're calling an African American museum.

- Where can we go to celebrate the great scholar.

- Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a native of Virginia, was the second African American to graduate from Harvard University.

He was a historian whose passion drove him to preserve African American history.

In 1926, he started what was Negro History Week, and it wasn't until 1976 that we began celebrating Black History Month.

- He was a profound revolutionary educator, and he was one of those Black educators who was willing to stand up for the belief of social justice within an educational arena, to teach for liberation, and that's exactly what he did within an academic context.

I admire him so much to where the whole idea of naming a museum after him was about an archival representation.

Hold on to those Black folks who have changed your life and educated you to believe in African American Black history.

- There's so many talented African American artists who have very few places to showcase their extraordinary works.

We currently have on display the works of Dr. Gary Lemons, and we are excited to host this fabulous array of work.

- As an undergraduate student many, many years ago, I was a studio art and English major, so I combined my study of literature with my practice of art.

And even though I was trained as a realist, I started to think about painting from a graphic design standpoint and my connection to African ancestry.

And from an abstractionist standpoint, I use patterns of African designs and colors and intermingle those together in the representation of whatever the thematics are that I want to focus on in my paintings.

- A body of work created by Dr. Lemons that he introduced me to, I found extraordinary.

The missing element of the human touch during the time of COVID, and he came up with this body of work where we are reaching out and we're touching, but more importantly in his works of art, they're mirrors so that we see ourselves and become a reflection of that spirit of love and the need and the desire to touch.

- It came to my mind, even though we have to be supportive of each other health-wise in the pandemic separated, but what about in a spiritually rich context of love where these hands could be still reaching to touch each other in the spirit of love?

- This magnificent moment... -Since 2016, the city of St. Petersburg has rose a flag in honor of Dr. Carter Jean Woodson, celebrating Black History Month in a way that it's not celebrated anywhere else in the country.

-...City Hall for the entire month of February.

- Okay, we'll raise the flag now.

- The Carter G. Woodson Museum is a center place for gathering not only the Black community, but the entire community of St. Petersburg as we seek to uplift the history and learn from it so that we can go and do better and create a beloved community.

- This is an inclusive city.

We are St. Pete, so that acknowledgement is important on an ongoing basis.

- African American museums are locations that represent more than spaces where art is displayed.

They become hubs for community and sharing the stories and passion of the voiceless so often.

We continue to embrace our space and elevating Black history and its culture 365 days out of the year.

BEE INSPIRED - The development of my character Jayce came about from coming home, just kind of seeing how my kids struggles in school were kind of lining up with my struggles in corporate and in my professional life.

And not just that but you know just seeing that correlation between kids and adults and we kind of share the same stories.

Jayce really just came about from just being creative and wanting to find something that is kind of always defining the odds.

So Jayce is a bee.

What other character can you use that can be the staple of believing in yourself.

And so the whole development process about Jayce came about with just going back to my sketching, R&D, things of that nature.

'Cause I wanted to create something special that we can all connect to that was fun and that could just, touch people in a different way.

- Calvin's artwork, his style is so unique, it's so different and usually when people see it, they're like they know it's a Calvin Reynolds original.

Which I love, 'cause he really has such a dynamic and unique style.

His illustrations literally jump off the pages and that's what I love the most about it is that it's so lifelike and people can see themselves in the characters.

- Again, I was like in elementary school, right?

Elementary school.

Any of you guys remember this guy?

Remember me showing you my illustrations from when I was a kid?

- [Children] Yeah, red ninja.

- Red Ninja, yep.

And so my love for drawing and writing never stopped.

And so now I'm producing artwork and stories such as "Harold's Big Dreams" and "Jayce the Bee" Series.

- His artwork really inspired them to realize, "Oh everything is possible."

Start here wherever it is that you are, third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade start right there.

And just know that whatever you're doing if you have that big dream, you can get there.

So that was also really cool that he was able to share with them "Like, this is my actual fifth grade stuff.

This the same age as you all are."

- So you can see my love of comic books, Saturday morning cartoons.

It was just a good way to stay creative.

Well for me it started when I was in like third grade and I would just draw and it got to a point where I wanted to just create my own stories and my own comic book characters.

And then when I was in high school, I had this cartoon character that I created called The Red Ninja.

And it was my art teacher, Mrs. Boring, who took me on a college trip to Sarasota, Ringling College of Art and Design, and that changed my life.

When I went to visit that school I just had that feeling like this is where I wanted to be.

And it was my guidance counselor and my parents' support.

I ended up getting accepted into Ringling, and that was where the journey started.

I had this love for sports.

I was on the high school basketball team and I wanted to try to find a way to combine sports with art and fashion.

And I was fortunate enough to land a job over in Bradenton, illustrating famous athletes such as Kobe Bryant, a lot of those great athletes from the late nineties, 2000 era.

But you know, after 25 years of doing anything you kind of want to try to find other aspects of art.

And so I wanted to create something that I felt like could resonate with everyone.

Children's books are the cornerstone to literature.

And so I think when I go into these schools and they get a chance to see me, and I can connect with these kids and they see the art and I get a chance to show them books that I created when I was in elementary school, middle school I get a chance to show them projects that I worked on on when I was in high school.

They get a chance to see the journey of what it looks like to believe in yourself and to have a craft and work at it.

And they get a chance to see how you progressively get better if you don't give up.

And so the teachers love that message.

It's a great way to connect.

I give my presentation and afterwards I have kids come up to me and say, how did you do this?

And they ask very interesting questions.

They're engaged and so I guess they see a little bit of me in them and vice versa.

- I think like Calvin is a great artist and I and inspire me like to keep going with my art too.

- Well he said to like always follow your dreams to never stop until you get what you went for.

- I used to draw like stick mans now I wish I could be like a artist and make my own company.

- "Jayce the Bee" is like inspire me, like to keep going.

- I was in the fifth grade that love- - Calvin has just been amazing to come out here and be such an approachable voice.

Our kids many times don't feel like they're represented and he is the person that looks like them, that acts like them, that's doing what they want to do.

So he's able to show them if he can do it, they can do it.

And I just love that positive message because our students need and deserve to realize that anything is possible.

- There's a art form to writing children's books.

You can't write that many words.

You can't have that many words.

So it was a process of learning how to say more with less.

And that's powerful.

- He's truly a dynamic voice, he's a dynamic illustrator, and really knows how to touch the hearts of children.

- I wanted Jayce to inject positivity into the world.

Like I wanted it to be more of a, this is my legacy and this is my way of making the world a better place.

And so Jayce is an acronym for just accepting yourself changes everything.

And so just Jayce's name is something that I think we can all resonate with.

We're all faced with difficulties.

Sometimes with, you may be stepping into a area that you're not comfortable with, and it's just about believing that you can step outta your comfort zone and follow your dreams.

The award winning arts and culture series �COLORES!

is now available on the PBS App, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and at NMPBS.org.

From classic episodes to brand new shows, �COLORES!

is everywhere.

Watch now on your favorite NMPBS platforms.

Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Fund, New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund, and the Nellita E. Walker Fund for KNME-TV at the Albuquerque Community Foundation... ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts... and Viewers Like You.