“An Exuberant Spirit” is a display at the Reece Museum through December. It features works from the collection of Sammie L. Nicely.

“I see my collection as a vehicle to empower me as an African American artist. It is important to me to see images that are the same color as me. Through the sharing of my art collection I hope you sense who I am as a person and how I live my life as an artist” -Sammie Nicely (2015).

Sammie L. Nicely was an artist and educator who embraced his cultural heritage as an African American man from Appalachia. Just before he passed, Nicely was in the process of curating a show titled “From an African American Perspective,” which included art from his personal collection, as well as the collections of his two colleagues. Due to a medical emergency, Nicely was never able to bring his idea to life. He passed in 2015. However, in 2020, 50 of Nicely’s personal collection was bequeathed to the Reece Museum and has more than doubled since then. This inspired Spenser Budder, exhibition coordinator, to pass on Nicely’s legacy.

Photo of “An Exuberant Spirit” exhibit. (Contributed/Reece Museum)

When asked how the exhibit title “An Exuberant Spirit” came to be, Spencer Brenner said, “I came to the Museum in 2013 and Sammie’s show was one of the first, big things I got to do. Now, ten years later, essentially, I’m doing this other exhibit, and I wanted to connect the two. But also, he was a very spiritual person, and there’s a lot of familial and spiritual connections in the gallery.”

“An Exuberant Spirit” is a call to the work of Sammie L. Nicely, a man who dedicated his career to advancing cultural awareness and promoting arts and arts education in his native Hamblen County, as well as internationally. It features 81 artworks from Nicely’s collection, including his own artwork, artwork of friends and family like Bessy Harvey, Carlton Wilkinson, Aundra McCoy, Lydia Wilson, Lisa Whittington and works he collected from Africa.

“We painted it and designed it all to express what Sammie was and who he is as an artist, which channels his description as a gentle guru and a champion of the less-seen or underserved communities,” said Brenner.

The Reece Museum has “An Exuberant Spirit” on display through December, transitioning through a refresh in the next few weeks. For updates on upcoming exhibits or events, the Reece Museum can be found on Instagram: @etsureecemuseum.

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