The Artist's Party by Joseph Delaney
I was in New York for an annual symposium on American art in the spring of 2003. I went even though the IMA was still contemplating the purchase of a work that I had strongly advocated for the museum’s African American collection. The symposium was important, but so was the purchase, so I kept an open communication with the IMA via cell phone. The decision to purchase this painting was difficult because Joseph Delaney is not a well known African American artist.
