Visual Arts Opening: The John Lewis Series is a collection of 17 paintings by renowned artist and activist Benny Andrews chronicling the early life of John Lewis before he became Congressman.

The John Lewis Series will open for viewing on Sunday, October 29 from 2 - 5pm. Join us at 5pm for special program in the MMCC Auditorium, reception to follow.

The John Lewis Series is a companion exhibit to the October 29 Grand Opening of the Andrews Family Legacy Gallery, a permanent exhibit honoring members of the Andrews family on the MMCC’s second floor.

Benny Andrews & John Lewis

“When Benny Andrews died in 2007, civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis came to Morgan County and spoke at his Life Celebration at Plainview Baptist Church. Congressman Lewis also attended a Benny Andrews exhibit titled “Benny Andrews: A Georgia Artist Comes Home” on the same day and heard the Center open the exhibit with a rendition of “Georgia on My Mind,” the song Benny used as a ringtone on his phone.” except from People of Note article, by Patrick Yost.

Benny Andrews and John Lewis were longtime friends. Andrews produced the 17 paintings included in the “John Lewis Series” exhibit, but he also produced collages and ink drawings for 2006 publication of “John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement” by Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson.

In 2013, Lewis wrote a foreword for the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition Benny Andrews: There Must Be a Heaven at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York City. His words about Benny capture the ethical compass of their lives as civil rights activists.

“You see, for Benny, like all of us who were involved in non-violent direct action, protest is an act of love, not one of anger. Through all the jailings, beatings, protests, and prayers of the Civil Rights Movement, we always had ‘this basic idea,’ as Benny so appropriately put it, ‘that good would overcome evil.’ And it is from that place that we offered our complaint. Our desire was not to condemn, but to appeal to the better angels of all humanity.”