Artist Profile: Jerry Butler
I grew up in Mississippi and received a BS Degree in Art Education from Jackson State University. I moved to Madison, Wisconsin as a middle school teacher and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I earned the MFA, MALA, and PhD degrees. I also attended Harvard University’s Summer Institute for Transformational Leadership in Education. Please visit my website and sign up for my newsletter, and follow me on Instagram and Facebook.
Join me on August 15th at a free fireside chat event with Dr. Anthony at the Urban League of Greater Madison’s HUB on Park Street.
— Jerry
Would you be willing to share one of your early memories relating to art?
My grandmother, upon seeing a drawing I had made in the dirt announced, “this boy is an artist.” That sounded important to me, so in my mind it was. But it didn’t stop there. I continued to clear rectangles of dirt and create drawings that would last until the next rain as people walked around them. In school, I drew all the visuals — eye charts, and ear charts. I designed the class rings for my junior and senior years. Churches commissioned me to create murals. I drew images of friends and later landscapes. So, I was the artist, validated by my school and community. I can’t remember a time when I was not an artist.
“Angel of Mercy” Handmade paper photo collage on paint board 24’ X 18” 2019. The “Angels” works are directly from my “Women I Know” works. My grandmothers encouraged me each in their own way. My teachers, most of which were women, pointed me in the right direction. And then there were my mother and my sisters, who seemed to expect more from me. So, I paint them here as angels. I will likely have several more images depicting angels because there are many more that influenced my trajectory.
How have your creative practices changed over the decades? Are there some that have remained fairly steady?
In high school, my drawings were of girls that I liked and those that my friends wanted me to draw for them. I could earn .75 cents per drawing. And for teachers who wanted me to draw images of their babies, I could get a dollar or two. If I did three drawings in a day, I could make $2.25, which was enough for lunch money for me and my siblings. It was authentication with authority to choose what I could do myself when other kids had no idea of what they wanted to do in life.
At Jackson State University, I did political figures that I saw as heroes: Dr. King, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Medgar Evers, and the like. I placed them in triumphant positions as I copied their likenesses from photos. When I presented these works in my graduate painting classes, they didn’t go over well. Nearly all the faculty was abstract-minded. So, I adopted a stylized figurative style that to a great degree has remained consistent through my work even today. I guess I’m still not exactly free.
I grew up in an interculture suppressed by an overarching culture that demanded submission in all things. This interculture had to submit when walking on the sidewalks, when drinking from the water fountain, in who we look at and how we look at them, to taxations without representation, to knowing you were being cheated and knowing you could do nothing about it, in having things taken from you — wealth transferred. In this submission, the interculture developed with the full knowledge that, without reason, the sky could fall on you at any time. All my academic studies were to make me equal, but even through self-reengineering, the world is too big to grant me equality which is freedom. I censor myself during my creative process as I approach a drawing, a painting, or writing because there is still that fear of drinking from the wrong fountain.
Regarding new freedom realizations in contrast to a long-lost time, I find myself faced with the harsh reality of relitigating the same issues my great-grandfather, grandfather and father faced. However, I do realize this feeling is not one I face alone. Many, many people face the same issues of bondage that grew up in a much different situation. I am blessed and powerful because of my challenges. Although I don’t feel free, I often act like I’m free. You see, just because you are afraid it doesn’t mean you back down.
“Angel of Empathy” Paper Photo Rag Collage on Illustration Board 24” X 18” 2020. Grandma Bertha was a woman who seemed to understand all living things. She was constantly moving, loved to fish, and was a great farmer. As a young boy, I would constantly cause a ruckus, messing up this and that. Never once did she get upset. She understood.
As a teacher and mentor, what advice do you give to someone questioning or struggling with their art practice/project/profession?
Right off the bat, I would say keep creating, working, and practicing your art/craft. This is the only path to success. To do otherwise means failure. As a teacher, I would say the greatest gift you can give your students is that — an authentic authority to reengineer themselves toward a person/career of their choice, as my teachers and community did for me. Once your students realize their learning, education, and trajectory are up to them — they are on their way. All they need is support from time to time.
What are 2 to 3 exhibitions, concerts, books and/or book talks, spoken word events and/or films you're hoping to check out this season in Wisconsin or virtually?
I have submitted a short narrative of my work progression to Sorbonne Nouvelle University, in conjunction with Paris Saint Denis University in a special issue entitled "Re-narrating Black History in Contemporary Visual Arts" for an online academic newsletter, and I am waiting to see if I’m included. I am also excited to experience the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s Convergence coming up this fall, and Myth and Migrations by William Villalogo. I am working on a book with my daughter and hope to send to publication this fall.