Dr. Peggy Blood has been a renowned artist for over 30 years and a distinguished professor of Liberal Arts at Savannah State University since 1998. Her artwork has been shown in Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia, Addis Ababa, AU, Ethiopia, Georgetown, Guyana, and Austria and throughout the United States. She has spent most of her career in northern California before moving down south to Savannah, Ga.
Dr. Blood has made history as she is the first African American to receive a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She has several paintings in the United Nations, one of which was seen on a popular television show “The View”. Dr. Blood is the president of the National Alliance of Artists from Historical Black Colleges and Universities (NAAHBCU).
During an interview with The Savannah Tribune Intern and Savannah State University student, Toyin Williams, Dr. Blood sits down to speak about her life as an artist, teacher, and world traveler. Q: How does your lifelong work/ journey as an artist play into your teaching? A: “Well, I would say artist before a teacher,” she says with a smile. “The experiences I’ve had in my life integrate with how I look at teaching and learning. I would say the students have someone who has traveled all over the world. So a lot of images that we see in books that we use, I can tell them about personally. My experiences throughout my career for the past 40 years or more contribute to how I think learning should be, what people should know, and the dynamics that are important to the subject matter.” Q: Is this your 1st time having a painting shown on television? A: “No, because I’m an active artist, I am in a lot of exhibitions and the exhibitions get media coverage by television channels and newspapers that cover a lot of events that are happening.” Q: Why are you so humble about your artwork considering the fact that you’re a very accomplished artist?
A: “I understand that a lot of professors brag about who they are. But I found years ago that students will google you anyway and I feel that if they are interested, they will tell you. But I wouldn’t consider myself humble; it’s just something that I’ve done throughout my career. I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, not what I want to do. As a university professor, I’m expected to exhibit my art. Some of my students have joined the organization that I’m president of (NAAHBCU). I don’t see it as humble since I’m teaching the subject, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time on myself.”
Q: What or who first sparked your interest in art? A: “I’ve been painting since before kindergarten. . In my day they didn’t teach art in school but when I was in high school, I entered the national competition for Sears Roebuck and won an honorable mention. John Howard, art department chair from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff sought me out and talked to me every Saturday from my junior to senior year in high school and offered me a full ride to the university So I guess you could say he is the first person that really influenced me.”
Q: Did you always want to teach?
A: “No, my professor John Howard persuaded me to go into teaching. I just wanted to paint and he told me that may not be fulfilling and if I go into teaching, I could always do art on the side. When I went into teaching, I found out that I loved it.”
Q: What led you to Savannah State University?
A: “I accepted the department chair position at Savannah State University. It had to be an HBCU, or I wouldn’t have moved. I went to undergrad at an HBCU and my first job after graduation was at an HBCU and everything after that was a predominantly white university. I wanted my final years in teaching at HBCU…because my best experiences were at my HBCU the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. I wanted to come to Savannah State because I always wanted to be close to the water.
Q: How easy or hard was it to get your art put in places like the United Nations?
A: “Well, you can’t give up and you must do things because you love them. If you love what you do, then you’ll continue doing it. The first time my art went abroad was during the U.S. Embassy program. The US government owns one of my paintings that has been to Costa Rica, Columbia, and
a lot of other places through that program. I’ve also entered contests and exhibitions and gotten denied plenty of times. It’s good to get denied because you’re competing with people from all over the world and if you only stay at the local level like Savannah then you’ll never be able to grow and broaden your art.”
Q: Were vibrant bright hues and muted darks always your painting style or has your style as an artist changed over the years?
A: “Well, my art controls me, like Picasso I’ve had periods, blue, red, and all different periods. If I’m going through an emotional or rough time my color hues may darken a bit but I’m happy now so lately it’s been yellows and reds.”
Q: Do you plan on relocating anywhere else or have you found a permanent home in Savannah?
A: “Right here, I like Savannah. It’s quiet, you can be a part of the events and it’s not like the outskirts of Atlanta where everything is busy. I live on the outskirts of Savannah and it’s not busy. I designed my house to make it comfortable for me. I wouldn’t say I would never move but if I ever did it would be Fort Washington, Maryland.”
