Ed Terrell holds court in his gallery on the 2nd floor of the GoggleWorks in Reading, Pennsylvania. The GoggleWorks is an institution that showcases art exhibitions and independent movies as well as art and cultural events. Ed, as head of ACOR presides over an ever-changing display of local artists’ work. Recently, Rosie Skomitz, Ron Stouffer and Chuck Brown journeyed to The GoggleWorks to chat with Ed about his art and the art he showcases at The GoggleWorks.

Chuck: Ed, I want to thank you for giving us this time to talk about your exhibit. Can you tell us who you are and a little something about your background?

Ed: I’m Ed Terrell. I’m a local artist, meaning I’m from this area (Reading, Pennsylvania). I was born in Philadelphia. I came to Reading when I was six years old. I went to elementary school right up the street from here Lauers Park. Art has been a big part of my life ever since I can remember even going back to the sixth grade. Even in school I was entering in contests and stuff like that. The reason I mention Lauers Park is that recently we had a dedication of a piece of my artwork there. We donated it to the school. I was there for that dedication, and it was so emotional for me because I started out there in that school and never thought a piece of my art work would be there in that lobby. I left Reading in 1970 and went out west to California. From there I went to Europe. I stayed over in Europe and then to Asia and Africa for about thirty years. I just recently came back about ten years ago. I’ve lived off my art all my life. It was painting, sculpture, or crafts whatever I felt like doing and marketing myself. I’ve lived off my creativity. I owe that to my perseverance. Art is not an easy profession, but I felt I needed to stick with it because it made me feel good. It was something coming from me. It was something I could control. Even with the ups and downs of the so-called starving artist I’ve stayed with this and till this day I’m very thankful that I did. I’m the President of this organization and I’m the art director of this organization (ACOR).

Chuck: Can you tell us something about ACOR-the African-American Coalition of Reading, PA.?

Ed: Our organization’s mission statement is Education for the Arts. Our main subject matter is that we’re trying to inspire and encourage the African-American artist with the visual arts: poetry, writing, theater, entertainment, music, to kind of pursue this type of profession or talent. We want to aid them so that they can become more professional in their field. I’ve been at this for thirty years and there was never any stepping-stone for me. I had to kind of pioneer myself to do this. So when I came back ten years ago, I came back from a tragedy. My son’s mother gave birth and died. There I am in India doing murals for three years and she passed away giving birth and I decided to go back to where I came from. So I came back here. This organization was just starting. They had their first showing over at the museum. I was not a member then. One of the people from ACOR called me and asked if I was still painting and drawing.

Rosie: You mean the Reading Public Museum?

Ed: Yes. They were having a Black History Month celebration and the organization ACOR was their main attraction. It was, as it is today, a collective group of artists coming together to show their work. I joined and put some pieces in that show. They usually let you put four or five pieces in. When you go to one of these shows there’s usually about thirty pieces of art and about six or seven artists. I joined and through my joining some of my specialties in trade became very valuable to the organization. I gained the position of who I am today through that. Some of the other artists aren’t so dedicated to their art. What we do is promote them. We’ll have a show each month with different themes, show the art, promote it, and sell it.

Chuck: So you’re actually doing for artists what wasn’t done for you?

Ed: Yes.

Chuck: You’re setting up a platform to have their artwork seen.

Ed: Yes. And we also do projects with kids. We do murals. We do anything we can to fulfill their artistic needs.

Chuck: According to your bio here you’ve lived all over the world. Can you tell us how life is different for an artist in Reading, PA than it is in other areas of the world? Is it different or tougher? Are there more obstacles here?

Ed: Yes. It’s tougher here I would say, but also a little more fruitful. Financially, you can turn over money from your art a lot quicker here. In Europe, Northern Europe, around England and France, art is more exposed to you in the public. You’ll find people in the countryside, the streets and cafés just painting casually. It’s socially accepted as a form of passing your time, like reading a novel or something. I’ve found that by being in America I turn a little more money and I have more clients for the product that I’m selling.

Chuck: What about government’s approach to the arts? In comparison, do they put more money into the arts in some of these countries than they do here? Or is that not a factor?

Ed: In my time over in Europe I was never really involved in like France, working in the arts. I was an independent artist. Now here in America I’m familiar with grants to promote the arts. Our organization is a non-profit organization. We do grants to sustain ourselves. That’s about all I know about Europe and the government involvement. In Europe, they do have a lot of museums and a lot of showcases that are probably maintained by the cities and the counties. They’re very proud of them and it’s beautiful, with some very old pieces.

Chuck: Here 200 years is considered old.

Ed: Yeah (laughs). Huge pieces that people have painted by candlelight.

Chuck: Many of our readers live in the Berks County area. Can you tell them why they should come to the GoggleWorks and what would they expect to see in your display here?

Ed: They can expect to see a variety of artwork from our collective of artists. Let me introduce you to some of the work that we are showing now. (Here we begin a short tour of the display). Right now we’re in transition. This show was for Black History Month called A Way Out of No Way. So our theme here is mostly trying to project the artwork of the African American artist. Marlene Book paints oil on canvas. We are showing work by this accomplished artist. Next is Making A Way Out of No Way also by Marlene Book. Although she’s taken some classes, Marlene is a self-taught artist. Her art comes directly out of her imagination. It’s quite nice.

Next is my art which is a theme of Black History Month. The next month (March) is Women’s History Month. That is the art leaning up against the walls which will be replacing what’s on the walls. My first piece here I call The Tree of Life. It’s in the concept of a totem pole with father, mother and child. It’s like a fertility type of thing. These masks are made out of papier-mache and put on a surface. And all this is recycled. Cardboard and various materials that I found.

Chuck: Is this from your imagination or are you using a real totem pole as your model?

Ed: No, this is from my imagination. Each one was made individually and then put on there. That’s called The Tree of Life.

Next is another one of my recent pieces, and it’s called Africa Before Time. I like the medium of black and white and I like the way it takes on this sort of zebra shapes and effect.

Moving on to another artist. This goes along with the story I was telling you about helping artists. About two weeks ago a young man came in here with his mother. He said & I quote “I heard about you” meaning me. He says to me, “I have my art out in the car. Can I show you my art?” He came inside with these two pieces I am showing here. I told him about our Black History Month exhibit and I told him about what our commission was. He came back with all his art work and we hung it. One Saturday while he was here with me, a gentleman came in and said that these pictures should have some words about what these pictures mean. So he went home and typed all these descriptions up, put them in frames. It has been a great help in allowing me to display them. Generally, I don’t let the artist help me display them because generally there’s always a lot of talk. “I don’t want that one there, I want this one here etc.” That’s my job. I’d rather shut the doors and do it myself. I’m out of here in maybe four hours instead of ten. When you get a lot of artists in a room with 30 pictures, it will take a long time to decide where they’re going. Everybody has their own type of perspective of where they want things. But in this case, Lorenzo and I hung these together and in this instance he was very helpful. His medium is acrylic on canvas and he’s very good a young man with a future.

We also have a TV show called ACOR. We bring these artists onto the show and try to give them more self-esteem. It gives them self-esteem and confidence in themselves. Like I was saying to you back in the office, when I first started out in this I was inexperienced and I knew I liked art very much, but I was nervous.

Chuck: Boy, I’d like to get this New Orleans one here for my son (Katrina). (Moving to another painting I ask) What’s this beautiful piece?

Ed: That’s Red Passion by Lorenzo White. Katrina is also by Lorenzo White.

Ron: His son lives in New Orleans.

Ed: Yes. Like I said, each picture has a little bio and explanation attached. Lorenzo is a guy who goes deep into what he’s painting when he comes to a realization that he’s going to paint something. Over the years I’ve lost that. Now I paint but I don’t really get deep. You saw the names on my pictures. If I move these to another gallery or another show, I may totally change the names.

Chuck: What about the painting itself? When you start a painting do you have the finished product in your mind?

Ed: Yes, I do.

Chuck: It’s not something that changes as you go?

Ed: No. The finished product is in my mind as well as all the materials and paints I’ll need to complete it. Right up to the point when it’s ready to put the wire on to hang it. It’s all planned out. There’s a picture that I’m working on tonight, (I’ve been working on it for four days), and it’s for The Berks Jazz Fest. It’s called The Frankie Scott Art Awards. The deadline is March 1. The show is going to be in this other gallery here. I’ve participated in that for about four years now, and I’ve won first place, second place at different time. It’s a cash award type thing. This particular piece I’m working on now is very, very complicated. It’s not doing what I want (laughs).

Chuck: It’s fighting you?

Ed: (laughs) Yeah. So you wonder if you’re going to meet the deadline and sometimes you wait a couple of hours and have a thought about how to go about it…

Chuck: It’s like writer’s block.

Ed: Yeah!

Rosie: Or maybe you’re going to have to do what it tells you.

Ed: Yeah. Whatever it’s telling me.

Now I want to turn your attention to this one here because it is really special to me. The art you see in this corner here is a collection of 42 pieces by an artist named John Vincent Halstead. I grew up with John. He is a very close friend of mine. We left here together when we were teenagers. I would draw pictures and John would paint them with colors. Over the years we lost track of each other. I came back here about ten years ago, and I ran into John. He hadn’t been painting or doing anything with art. He was a custodian at a graphic center. I told him I was running a gallery, and he started painting. At the graphic place he worked at, they throw away canvasses like this (shows us one). They throw them away because they have defects. So John would take them and with them he created this (pointing to the tile-like paintings on the wall. We sell them for 50 bucks. I’m quite happy with them. He does it just as a pastime. This is the first time he’s ever had his art shown in his whole life.

Ron: They look like they would smear.

Ed: It does, but they won’t smear or smudge. He won’t tell me his secret.

Rosie: What’s this one called ( she’s interested in buying one)?

Ed: It’s called Behind My Eyes by John. When we had the collection out in the hall it covered the whole wall and looked like tile.

Chuck: How long will these particular works be on this wall?

Ed: This is all coming down tomorrow, and the next show goes up.

Also in this gallery we feature elementary schools. The elementary schools we feature are Reading School District Elementary Schools. Each month we feature this wall of the works of one or two elementary schools. Next month we’ll feature one or two more in the district. I got this idea from my son. He was drawing a lot at school, and he would bring his art work home. Sometimes it would just end up on the refrigerator or stuffed in his backpack someplace. I thought of putting them in frames and putting it around his room, the bathroom, the hallway and everywhere in the house. But only a few would see it. By putting them here it gives the students encouragement to pursue art. So I got hold of the teachers by sending a letter out that I wanted to do this and all they had to do was supply 8¹/2 x11 copy paper. We supply the frames. Teachers bring the papers and we frame them for them. Every second Sunday we have a reception along with the big people and we give these ribbons for first, second and third. Every child will get a certificate of merit for participating, and at the end of the month each school gets the whole collection back framed. I remember the first show when the GoggleWorks opened and one of the kids painted a pumpkin and came into the gallery and demanded to know why there was no price tag on his piece (everyone laughs). I’ve spoken to the teachers to encourage the kids to cherish them and not think about selling them. But I have to say that little boy was pretty smart.

Here’s more of John Vincent Halstead’s tiles. I put them hanging on hooks in order to save space in the gallery.

Ron: Where will he put these tiles when you remove them. Does he have a place where he shows them?

Ed: No. But we will be showing these again after women’s month in April.

Chuck: Where do you put yours?

Ed: I have a studio at home. I do all my work inside my studio. I have four exhibits throughout the city right now. One is at The Abraham Lincoln Hotel in the restaurant on the 2nd floor.

Chuck: It seems like presentation is very important.

Ed: Very. Even for the second graders. A painting like this that’s just on a piece of paper you look at it and say so? But when you put it in a frame and you mount it, it becomes something that draws you right to it. It’s good for the kids to see this. Because at home the parents see it on a piece of paper and say, “Ah that’s nothing, throw that away.” But when framed they say, “What is this?”

Chuck: This looks like you (pointing at a piece).

Ed: Yeah, how did you know?

Chuck: It looks like some of the work you showed us before on the other side.

Ed: Yeah it’s a piece of art that I put together for a raffle. We have a raffle each year for our anniversary. (At this point in our tour a school class arrives with their teachers and Ed explains the gallery and answers questions).

After the school children leave Ed picks up the tour.

Chuck: Is this you?

Ed: No. Let me tell you about this artist. His name is Aladine Vargas. He trained at the Barnstone Studios in Coplay, PA. He’s young, and he’s from Puerto Rico. He doesn’t have time really for art. He’s doing another profession. But you can see he has perfected this one. He’s very good at what he does. This is called Quiet Face. Allen Dean was promoting himself about two years ago. He has an organization Out of Africa. Oprah was promoting his organization that would help these women in Africa who were getting circumcised.

Rosie: Oh yeah!

Ed: He wanted to donate these pictures to the foundation in Africa, and they told him they really didn’t have walls for them. He decided to have a fundraiser. He did a whole thing two years ago with more paintings than this. That’s how I got to know him. The proceeds from those pictures went to that foundation.

Chuck: Can you tell us what hours you’re open here to the public?

Ed: I’m here every day from nine to three. On the weekends from one to four. There’s no admission. Free to the public. GoggleWorks is a center for the arts. Prior to the GoggleWorks we had to run around to restaurants and stores to find places to hang our art, but now we have a home for it.

Chuck: We thank you for your time and we’re going to hang around and spend some time looking at your fine collection. We hope our article inspires some to come see your gallery because we’re sure they won’t be disappointed.

Ed: Thank you so much.

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At this point those great world-renowned art connoisseurs Ron, Rosie, and Chuck picked out our favorites from the exhibit:

Cousin Janet- by Marlene Book “Family reunions have always been a big part of the African-American culture. In many instances the only way to pass on our history from generation to generation. The painting of Cousin Janet was conceived on such an occasion. A strong belief in herself and with support of her family, she knew there is a way out of no way. Janet Jordan-Singer. Janet was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York. She attended the High School of Music and Art and was accepted by the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. There she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. She earned her Master’s at The Manhattan School of Music. Janet has performed on many stages worldwide, including performing in Carnegie Hall. She appeared on Broadway in the King and I with Yul Brynner.”

Dr. King- by Lorenzo White Jr. Lorenzo was born and raised in Philadelphia, a city that is well known for it’s diversity in the arts. “That could have been one of the reasons as a child I was inspired to be an artist. My family plays a huge role in my artistic life. My Mom and Dad knew early on that I had a gift in the arts and would encourage me to continue drawing. My art, in a sense , was always something I thought of as being undistinguished. I became aware of my unique gift by the time I started school. I noticed I was able to draw things with ease while others had trouble drawing a straight line. Drawing was always an escape for me. It allowed me to disconnect myself away from all the complications in my life. Life seemed so peaceful in those moments. My favorite thing to draw has always been faces. It is the most expressive part of our bodies.” Lorenzo didn’t take a big interest in painting until he moved to Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The high school there had wonderful art teachers and facilities, something that he wasn’t used to in Philadelphia. He loves to do murals. ” I enjoy using acrylic paint. It is a forgiving medium. My love is for oil paint. I continue to experiment with oils and hope to produce many works of art.”

Sunshine- (also called Fall From Africa) by Lorenzo White Jr. Sunshine can be described as brightness or radiance. Cheerfulness or Happiness. Sunshine also reminds us that life on earth depends on its brilliance. Sunshine can also remind us that there is a new day and we are bringing new life into the world. “In this piece I wanted to project the correlation between sunshine and African-American heritage. Even though we are a long way from Africa we take pride in knowing where it all began. Our journey to America brought forth a new day. Our ancestors have weathered many storms in order to assure that we can go on living in the brilliance of the sun. As we continue to grow with every generation, our roots grow deeper and we are becoming more aware of who we are. African-Americans are just men and women with a rich history trying to grow to their full potential. I hope to display our deepest emotions through the masks I paint.”

Katrina by Lorenzo White Jr. “This piece I made in commemoration of the people of New Orleans. I wanted this piece to remind us of the people that lived there and the people that died. Men and women just like you and me, who were neglected and left to fend for themselves. Many of us extend our helping hands out to the victims of Katrina. But what we all really wanted was for this tragedy never to happen. We all know that this could have been prevented. We are all surprised that something like this could happen in such a great country as America. The images of people standing on their rooftops and bodies of loved ones floating…” These haunt all of our memories. What a huge disappointment to see such negligence in our own country. Let us not forget them.