Amazing Grace Is Yellow Honors Beauford Delaney in France

PARIS - Oct. 6, 2019 - PRLog -- The French non-profit association, Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, is undertaking an ambitious project in its latest quest to honor painter Beauford Delaney.  The 10-year-old organization is supporting the production of Amazing Grace is Yellow, a fourteen-character, three-act play that presents the artist's life from the time he left his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee in 1923 to his death in Paris, France in 1979.

Les Amis president, Dr. Monique Y. Wells, good-naturedly challenged playwright Silver Wainhouse to write the script after Wainhouse said a play should be written about Delaney.

Recognizing Dr. Wells as a Beauford Delaney specialist, Wainhouse was intrigued by the prospect and began researching the artist's life.  She visited the Delaney gravesite at Thiais Cemetery near Paris with Dr. Wells.  Afterward, she was moved to complete the project, saying the following:

"Beauford Delaney has an infectious power. Start reading about him and looking at his work and he will infuse you, captivate you, get into your blood …

"I am living proof of this experience. I was already drawn in by his story when I went to visit his grave. From that moment on, I have been under his continuing spell."

She completed the script for Amazing Grace Is Yellow in May 2019.

Journalist Jake Cigainero was so intrigued by Delaney's story that he wrote an article about the artist that was published by the New York Times on September 8, 2016:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/arts/international/beauford-delaney-returns-to-the-scene.html

In support of a full stage production, Les Amis de Beauford Delaney has organized a reading performance of Wainhouse's play at Columbia Global Centers | Paris at Reid Hall on October 16, 2019.  The association is raising funds to support the production.

Amazing Grace is Yellow is a unique opportunity for persons wishing to support expanded awareness of the historical/cultural significance of the African-American presence in Paris as well as Delaney's artistic genius and exceptional humanity.

To give to support this project, click on the following link:

https://lesamisdebeauforddelaney.blogspot.com/p/give-to-support-amazing-grace-is-yellow.html

All donations will be publicly acknowledged at the reading and in the Les Amis de Beauford Delaney blog.

The goals of Les Amis de Beauford Delaney are:

1) Placement and maintenance of a tombstone for the grave of painter Beauford Delaney, who is buried at the Parisian Cemetery of Thiais.

2) Payment of the renewal fees for his grave.

3) Organization of commemorative or educational events in his honor.

4) Informing the press and the media of his life and accomplishments.