Dear Friend,

Thank you for your loyal support of UNCF, its students and colleges. We would not be able to provide the education our students need without your help. Your gifts and your outpouring of support are greatly appreciated. Please accept my best wishes for a safe holiday season and a prosperous new year.

Sincerely,

From the Mountain Top, 1999
Artist: Benny Andrews (1930 - 2006)
© Estate of Benny Andrews, Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Oil and collage on paper, 22.5” x 15”

Benny Andrews (1930-2006) was an African American artist, author, activist, philanthropist and teacher. One of ten children in a family of sharecroppers, he was born in Plainview, GA. His mother, Viola, instilled in all her children the importance of education, religion and freedom of expression. His father, George, a self-taught artist, encouraged his children’s creativity with drawings and illustrations of his own. Benny Andrews worked in representational style using collage, drawing inspiration from realist artists and from memories of his youth. He was once quoted in the New Visions magazine, "Where I am from, the people are very austere. We have big hands. We have ruddy faces. We wear rough fabrics. We actually used the burlap bagging sacks that seed came in to make our shirts. These are my textures."

From the Mountain Top captures the feeling of exhilaration we get from mountain top experiences. These are moments of transcendence when we know that something has changed in our lives, when we renew our strength, when we run and are not weary, when we walk and are not faint. In the lives of our students, graduating from college may be the first real mountain-top experience and it is all the more memorable because it occurred with your help and is shared by family, friends and the entire community.