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91_HR0930
LRB9114881KBkbA
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Ramon
4 Bertell Price, Chief Curator of the DuSable Museum of African
5 American History in Chicago, Illinois; and
6 WHEREAS, Ramon Price was born in Chicago on July 18,
7 1930; his parents were Ernest Oliver and Bertha Josephine
8 Price; he became interested in art while learning at the
9 South Side Community Art Center and while he was a student at
10 DuSable High School, where he was influenced by the teaching
11 of Dr. Margaret Goss Burroughs; and
12 WHEREAS, Ramon Price was a veteran of the United States
13 Marine Corps; he earned his Bachelor's degree in Art
14 Education from the School of the Art Institute; he received
15 his Master's degree at Indiana University; he was working
16 towards a Ph.D in Art History at the time of his passing; and
17 WHEREAS, Before joining the DuSable Museum, Mr. Price
18 taught at DuSable High School, where he served as Art
19 Department Chairman and Human Relations Coordinator; he was
20 the Art Program Director for American Friends Service
21 Committee Summer Institute; he served as the Program Director
22 at the South Side Community Arts Center; he taught at George
23 Williams College, where he introduced a course in African and
24 African-American Art History; he taught Art History at
25 Indiana University and was guest curator at the University of
26 Illinois at Chicago; and
27 WHEREAS, In 1973 Ramon Price arrived at the DuSable
28 Museum to begin his career as Chief Curator; he was
29 co-founder of the Afro-American Artist Round-Table (AVAR); he
30 was co-founder of The Artists for Senhora Vadete's Settlement
31 House in Salvador de Behai, Brazil; he was a member of the
32 Illinois Arts Council; he was a member of the Chicago Public
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1 Library's Harold Washington Archives and Collections
2 Committee; and he was a board member of the Harold Washington
3 Institute for Research and Public Policy; and
4 WHEREAS, Ramon Price received the Simon Ludwigh Award for
5 portraiture while he was an undergraduate student at the
6 School of the Art Institute; his works can be viewed at the
7 State of Illinois collection in Springfield, Illinois, at
8 Indiana University at Bloomington, at the South Side
9 Community Art Center, and the Hilton and Towers in downtown
10 Chicago; and
11 WHEREAS, Ramon Price was commissioned to do a portrait of
12 Congressman Harold Washington in 1980; "Monument to Black
13 Pride," a bronze work in celebration of the election of three
14 Black Congressional Representatives was commissioned by the
15 Chicago Caucus and a part of the collection at DuSable Museum
16 was also completed by Mr. Price; "Spirit of DuSable",
17 commissioned by the City of Chicago, was also a work by Mr.
18 Price; and
19 WHEREAS, Mr. Price illustrated the children's book,
20 "Singing Black"; he also wrote "A Salute to Margaret
21 Burroughs: We Salute", "Five Works, Four Artists", "Black
22 Art", "Folklore as Source for African-American Art", and a
23 prize winning work for the Negro Digest entitled "Sue"; and
24 WHEREAS, Mr. Price traveled for the DuSable Museum,
25 including a recent trip to the Festival del Caribe in
26 Santiago, Cuba; he traveled to Bahia, Brazil and Africa as a
27 part of his work; and
28 WHEREAS, Ramon Price leaves an important mark on the City
29 of Chicago and on the DuSable Museum and will be greatly
30 missed; he was preceded in death by his brother, the late
31 Mayor Harold Washington; and
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1 WHEREAS, He leaves behind to mourn him Gwendolyn Price,
2 Elaine Lake, Patricia Price-Tillmon, Geneva
3 Washington-Watson, and many nieces, nephews, and other family
4 members and friends; therefore, be it
5 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7 we mourn, along with all who knew and were touched by this
8 man, the death of Ramon Bertell Price; and be it further
9 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10 presented to the DuSable Museum.