Jackie Merritt – Preserving The Blues Through Art
Written By: Lamont Jack Pearley Sr. There are many ways to express and preserve culture and traditions. Some convey it through literature, some through spoken word, and others through the various arts, ei—painting, music, performance, and dance. Jackie Merritt uses the arts to tell the story of the blues people. The art of painting, singer/songwriting, and performance. Merritt is a cultural bearer extraordinaire whose roots in painting and the love of acoustic guitar galvanized her on a journey to becoming one of the premier Black Traditional Music practitioners who works to make sure the people of the music and experience live.
Jackie received a Master's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin at 23 and immediately began teaching. However, her story does not start there. An artist since a young age, Merritt developed a mentor, mentee relationship with African American painter A.B. Jackson. Jackson, a graduate from Yale, would encourage and prepare Jackie for the long haul. Jackie says about A.B., "he was putting me in different drawing classes outside of the campus, because on campus, you could only draw the model with clothes. [He directed me] to private sessions and different schools that were just the opposite [of my college program]. He was trying to prepare me for graduate study."
At the time, Jackie painted in the style of Giorgio Morandi as she developed her skill. Those drawing landed her a full fellowship from the Richmond Museum of Fine Arts for graduate school. Her two choices were Yale, where her mentor graduated from, and the University of Wisconsin rated 2nd in the nation for its art program.
Jackie’s interview at Yale is both memorable and telling. "I go up to Yale for this interview, and you walk in some huge warehouse. There were paintings all around the walls of all the students that were accepted. [There are] different instructors in front of the tables, and I sat at this table, and I get a real ass****. We were talking about art and then at the end, he goes, 'Well, you know, we are not going to accept you into this program, because all you are going to do once we spend our time teaching you, you know how to be an artist, blah, blah, blah, all you are going to do is get married and have babies.' So yeah, and I thought I was ready for everything. But that? [I] left there in tears. Nevertheless, my next interview was at the University of Wisconsin, which was the number two art department in the country at the time. Man, I went, and I was ready for anything."
Jackie says her focus was on drawing and painting before the performance aspect of her journey. Eventually, Merritt incorporates her songwriting into her paintings, and her paintings inspire her songwriting. However, the connection would come after a ten-year hiatus from painting. Merritt was into abstract paintings, but when she connected with Blues Music, it activated her musicianship and the voice and style of her paintings.
Jackie says, "When I got into the music. I started realizing [as] I am out there looking around, I would see images and drawings or paintings of a blues musician or just a musician, 99 percent of the times it would be a male musician. Very seldom would I see an image of a woman in a drawing or painting, so then I decided to do this blue series of women blues musicians. "
That series led to Jackie's exhibition at the Chrysler Museum for the Blues Women Painting series, accompanied by a Blues concert featuring Merritt and the band she performed with called M.S.G. Acoustic Blues Trio. "It was a nice way to bring all of that together. It was called Mean Mamas. Then after that, I just kept developing and drawing … I think of myself as a storyteller," says Jackie.
Recently, Jackie had an exhibit in Lynchburg, Virginia, which culminated in selling a few paintings. Merritt continues to paint, write songs and perform, making sure the story, culture, traditions, and experience of the Blues People continue.
