Southwestern Magazine | Fall 2019

ONFRIDAY,MAY 10, 2019, Southwestern students, faculty, sta”, andalumni gathered in theJesseH. and MaryGibbs Jones Foyer at Celebrating 50Years of Black Excellence, an event hosted by the O«ce of Diversity Education. Commemorating the culture and accomplishments of SU’s former and current Black students, the festivities included a recogni- tion ceremony for SU’s first Black graduate, Ernest Clark ’69; a high-energy reception; and a collabora- tive quilt-making activity. Among the Black students who have helped shape the landscape of Southwestern University andwhose notable achievements were recognized at the event was the quiet, unassuming Norma Clark ’97 (no relation toErnest). A local artist, Clark attended SU fromfall 1970 through spring 1972 and then returned to theUniversity as a nontraditional student in 1992 to complete her degree. She special- izes in abstract art, and attendees were invited to view her expressive, intuitive, and spontaneous paintings during a solo exhibition at the Sarofim School of Fine Arts. Clark, a first-generation college student, did not particularly relish the idea of going to collegewhen shewas first accepted toSU. But her parentswanted her to go, and because her father was a cook at the University—he would end up working here for 45 years—she was able to attend for free. Of her first stint at Southwestern, Clark recalls, “There were a few Black students there, which was fun, and I really enjoyed the art and art history classes, which I did well in. My two art professors”—the late Gus Farmer, professor of art, and the late Robert (Bob) L. Lancaster, whowas then chair of theDepartment of Art—“were really supportive.” Clarksheepishlyadmits that shewasnot soenam- ored of her other classes. So after getting married after her sophomore year, she left theUniversity in good standing to focus on family andwork. Twenty years later, she returned to finish what she started and did so successfully—a lesson she has passed on to her three children. “I wanted that degree. I didn’t want to live a life of what if? or if only . Iwent back to school because I knewwhat a di”erence that would make for me,” she reflects. Driven and focused andwith thementorship and encouragement of Professor of Art Victoria Star Varner, Clark blossomed during the second stage of her higher education. In a project assigned by Varner, Clark discovered abstract art. She and her classmates were required to transform a single work by an “old master” (i.e., one of the renowned Europeanpainterswhoworkedbetween theRenais- sance and 1800) into 10 di”erent abstract pieces. She found it fun and exciting—somuch so thatwhen she was asked to return to traditional representa- tional work, she knew she couldn’t go back. “The thing I really enjoy about abstract art is that you don’t know what the finished product is going to be,” she comments. “It’s like what Forrest Gump says about life being like a box of chocolates: ‘You never knowwhat you’re gonna get.’” A L U M N I S P O T L I G H T The Abstract Art of Evolving Painting allows Norma Clark ’97 to express her “personal journey of transformation.” byMeilee Bridges 38 SOUTHWESTERN