The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati organized Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott, the first comprehensive retrospective of the artist. The painting Knowledge of the Past is the Key to the Future: The Other Washingtons, loaned from Sheldon for the exhibition, was selected for the cover of the 252-page catalogue that accompanies it.
It makes sense that this work would be selected to represent Colescott's perspectives on race, historical heritage, and lived experience. The painting depicts individuals—famous, infamous, and unsung—who share the well-established surname. The fact that Washington was the name most frequently chosen by former slaves to assert their rightful freedom is underscored by the inclusion of the profile of George Washington.
Robert Colescott Oakland, CA 1925–Tucson, AZ 2009 Knowledge of the Past is the Key to the Future: The Other Washingtons Oil on canvas, 1987 90 x 114 inches Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Olga N. Sheldon Acquisition Trust, U-6463.2015
A comprehensive catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott.
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