“The Risk Worth Taking” a visual art exhibition by NIU School of Art and Design alumnus Kevin Cole will run in the Jack Olson Gallery in NIU’s Jack Arends Hall from August 24 through October 16.
“The Risk Worth Taking” draws a personal narrative arc beginning with Jim Crow era stories told to Kevin by his grandfather, through early mentors at Historically Black University, Arkansas at Pine Bluff, AfriCOBRA artists, through the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles in 1993, the national stage with the 1996 Olympics Mural in Atlanta, the 9/11 attacks, and the current attacks on voting rights and gerrymandering.
Cole will conduct a lecture to accompany the exhibition on Thursday, October 15 at 5 p.m. in Jack Arends Hall. That will be followed by an exhibition reception from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Jack Olson Gallery.
Cole, who earned his Master of Fine Arts in drawing from NIU as a Rhoten A. Smith Scholar in 1984, says that the exhibition works strive to celebrate and call attention to the work yet to be done in fulfilling the promise of democracy, an experiment in process for 250 years.
“Created equally for all in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness; however you choose to pursue this, the system of governance, with many safeguards to maintain the condition of a government by and from the governed, has inspired groups of people around the world to hope to be their best selves as one and the many at the same time,” Cole said.
“When I turned eighteen years old, my grandfather told me about a tree on his property where African American men had been lynched by their neckties on their way to vote. The experience left a profound impression. I am personally tethered to this inescapable memory.
“Since 1992, my art has been based on the relationship between sight sound and color which deals with music from the African American community such as jazz, rap, hip hop, gospel, and blues. Thus, my work is rooted in a place of targeted tragedy. The tragedy denied being the basic rights of life, freedom, security, and opportunity.”
Cole is an internationally renowned artist-educator. Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he holds his bachelor of science in art education from the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff and his master of arts in art education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In his more than 30 years as an artist, Cole has received 31 grants, 66 art awards and 51 teaching honors. Recent honors include the 2025 Outstanding Retired Art Educator of the Year by the Georgia Art Education Association, the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from Salem Bible Church and 2023’s Most Notable Georgian from Georgia Trend.
Featured in more than 500 exhibitions and 141 publications (Forbes, Washington Post, The Guardian, Sculpture), Cole has created 47 public works, notably a 15-story 1996 Olympic mural. His work resides in more than 4,800 collections, including the Smithsonian NMAAHC, National Gallery of Art, High Museum, Phillips Collection, Yale University Art Gallery, Detroit Institute of Arts, Clinton Library, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Georgia Museum, Ogden Museum, Driskell Center, Columbus Museum, Dayton Art Institute, Arts & Science Center (Pine Bluff), and IBM. Private collectors include Michael Jordan, Monica Pearson, and Terry McMillan
Exhibitions in the Jack Olson Gallery are free and open to the public. When hosting exhibitions, the gallery is open Mondays through Thursdays from 10 a.m,. through 4 p.m. and for special events.
Photo copyright 2026 Kevin Cole. All rights reserved.
