Richard Haynes

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Richard  Haynes, Jr. and his family were part of “the Great Migration” and moved to Harlem in 1958.  He was a first-generation student strongly encouraged by his middle school teacher to continue his education and become an artist.  After serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, he earned a BFA from Lehman College and an MFA from Pratt Institute. Formerly an art and photography professor at McIntosh College, he is now Director of Admissions for Diversity at the University of New Hampshire. Through his art, he is a culture keeper and visual storyteller.

Richard is nationally recognized for his paintings and photographs. His work is part of the permanent collections of the Currier Museum of Art, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Center, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library, Avery Art Institute, Bronx Museum of Arts, Houghton and Mifflin, Historic New England, the University of New Hampshire, and many other public and private collections.  He has also been an artist-in-residence for many of these organizations and New Hampshire public schools. 

Richard is cited in and has contributed to Regalia: Native American Dance, Strawbery Banke: A Seaport Museum 400 Years in the Making, Portsmouth Unabridged: New Poems for an Old City, and The Great Shape Hunt. He is the recipient of many state and national awards, including the NEACAC IDEAL Award, Baha'i Faith Vision of Race Unity Award, and New Hampshire Magazine’s Renaissance Man.

In his images, Richard recreates the plight of Black America. His work derives from memory and nostalgia and is brightly colored with undeniable hope, recalling the work of Jacob Lawrence.  Like Walt Whitman, Richard celebrates what it means to be an American in an era of significant national transformation. Unlike Whitman, he does not use words to tell stories but shapes and hues.  It is a style that is instantly familiar yet surprisingly new.

Our World’s Leaders in Spiritual Moral Decline

Haynes, Jr. has long used geographic forms as and within the canvass. Circularity works in several ways to share the critical message of this collection: the disparities and challenges we face today reflect the failure of our leaders to empower us and to steward through the storm. At the extreme, they avoid resolving the problems of our world as a way to empower themselves.

In one way, the circle becomes a lens, like that of a photographer or news camera, to bear witness to these challenges. Today’s economic inequities have roots in racial and gender discrimination, and wages fail to meet our costs of living and fundamental housing needs. Education is key to improving our communities, but the promise of loan forgiveness is fading. Underdeveloped by former colonial superpowers, African and other nations face ongoing resource extraction and suffer greater challenges of withstanding global warming and climate change. War and violence persist, perpetuated by those who are meant to protect us, as George Floyd and others have shown. As Haynes, Jr. says, “no mother raises a child to be a part of that”—a public service that wounds rather than uplifts.

In another way, the circle also becomes a form of connection for us to overcome and call for change. Like The Sum of Us, solidarity is a tool forged in mutual recognition and mutual aid. Dialogue among different members of our community help us to see the scale of the challenge, and that some bear the greater brunt of our leaders’ failures. Once we stand together, from within the circle, we can sound the call for change, and like a beacon column of light… we can rise. 

--Casey Golomski, SAACC Board Member and Curator 

Africana & African American Studies Program Chair,

University of New Hampshire

Photographic Artist Statement 

There is a moment when the photographer trips the shutter. Before that, there is a pursuit of technical excellence – in the studio or the wild. Some of us are inspired to go further. In my case, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Lee Boltin showed me how craft becomes art.

For the photographs in this exhibition, my role is one of creating space for possibility. My process is as much about letting my mind drift as it is about showing up with a camera. I wander and wait. Locations and subjects vary. Mentally, I grapple with familiar themes—struggle, aging, loss, gratitude, beauty, blessings, and spirituality.

At some point, a glint draws my eye. I notice light playing over surfaces. I sense an invitation. I am drawn in.  As I investigate, I feel seen. There is a sense of connection, of dialog, of receiving. There is an atmosphere of presence around me – of eminence. I am compelled to photograph these moments and share them.

Now, I welcome you to wander the exhibition. If you sense an invitation, pause. Notice the light and your thoughts. Should you feel space for connection and reflection, linger. Such moments fulfill my intent for this exhibition.