Spiral

The name taken by a group of Black artists who gathered in Romare Bearden’s New York City studio in 1963, originally to discuss how they might support that year’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Participants included Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Calvin Douglass, Perry Ferguson, Reginald Gammon Jr., Felrath Hines, Alvin Hollingsworth, Norman Lewis, William Majors, Richard Mayhew, Earl Miller, Merton D. Simpson, Hale Woodruff, and James Yeargans. Members, who worked in a wide range of styles and mediums, rented a meeting space on Christopher Street in Lower Manhattan. Among the topics of discussion and debate was artists’ responsibility to promote civil rights. In 1965, prior to losing their lease, they organized a single group exhibition at the space.