CHAPPELL HILL MUSEUM TO UNVEIL SWEARINGEN EXHIBIT

  

The Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum is inviting the public to a reception honoring the works of folk artist, Reverend Johnnie Swearingen.

The Chappell Hill Historical Society owns the largest collection of Swearingen’s paintings, and for the first time, they are displaying the entire collection of more than 60 works, plus some from local collectors, for public view.

The reception is this Saturday from 3-6pm at the Museum, which is located at 9220 Poplar Street in Chappell Hill.

In addition to the exhibit, there will be remarks from the curator.  Drinks and light food will also be served.

Reverend Swearingen was born on August 27, 1908 in the nearby African American community of Campground Church. 

For many years, he divided his time between painting and cotton farming, selling his paintings from his front yard as well as from his pickup truck.

Swearingen painted both the physical and spiritual worlds in which he lived, making the Chappell Hill Collection a valuable historical document.

He is now widely recognized as an important Texas Folk artist, and according to the museum, the paintings are a vivid document of his early artistic development.

The paintings that form the Swearingen Collection were purchased from Swearingen by Mr. and Mrs. Don Austin of Chappell Hill.

After Mr. Austin died, his wife donated them to the Historical Society in 1990.