"...For Richard Mayhew, the result of his experience is that beauty has become one of the primary aims of his art, and a means for us to understand ourselves and our place in the world.  The timeless questions “who am I?” and “what is my purpose?” consciously guide Mayhew to a stream of unconscious creativity that becomes a gateway for self-discovery and results in a colorfield or landscape painting. These questions, moreover, lie at the heart of culture, which is in stark contrast with the aims of science. Some would say that artworks are products of the human spirit and imagination that cannot be mechanically produced. Richard Mayhew infuses his artmaking process with an experience-enriched aesthetic that is empirically inspired by what he is feeling at the time." 

- Halima Taha

Simmie Knox painter. Born in 1935 in Aliceville, Alabama. The son of black sharecroppers, Knox received both his bachelors and masters degrees in Fine Art from Temple University. After graduation, he exhibited abstract works and taught at various universities and public schools on the East Coast.

Knox has specialized in oil portraiture. Everyone from U.S. Supreme Court Justices to sports figures have commissioned him. In June 2004, he unveiled portraits of Bill and Hillary Clinton at the White House, becoming the first black artist to paint an official presidential portrait.