In the late 1960s, during America’s civil rights era and turbulent time of change, Johanne attended West Virginia University where her social consciousness and imagination expanded. An avid reader, she became keenly aware of the absence of African American Literature and Black History courses in the University’s curriculum. She discovered the power of protest and joined a group of students in targeting the president of the University, holding him in his office, until all their core programming demands were met. The realization that a voice in concert with others’ can precipitate change was revelatory. When she moved to New York City in the late 1970s to begin working for Merrill Lynch, Johanne employed her organizing skills by using her spare time to volunteer at a women’s center, helping to raise money for battered women through the sale of art by artists such as Nanette Carter, Emma Amos, and  Carole Byard. The idea that Johanne was drawn to was “women helping women” — a potent catalyst.

Romare Bearden, “Mrs. Sleet and Her Niece Aryell, watercolor, 14” x 11”, unknown date.

Heeding Romare Bearden’s advice from years ago, Johanne purchased art, filling her elegant home with a distinctive taste: a totemic sculpture by Roy Crosse residing on a corner wall exuding a magical presence, an amalgam of contemporary materials and a bewitching past. A drawing by Bearden himself (above), fresh and vibrant with a handwritten inscription melding the specific with the universal. A Charles Alston drawing of a seated young boy conveying the awkwardness of youth — fingers intertwined, fidgeting with restless energy. Johanne collected many phases of Norman Lewis’ work from an early realistic watercolor, to an ink nude study, to an abstraction conveying the movement of time rushing by.

Johanne  recalled that when she attended high school, she “didn’t even know there were any African American writers.” This disturbing absence was etched into her sensibility and generated a resolve in her to make African American books and art available to larger audiences. Eventually, wedding her love of prose and poetry with art, she organized a Merrill Lynch event for John Biggers’ lithographic illustrations and Maya Angelou’s poem “Our Grandmothers,” which was published in a book by The Limited Editions Club in 1994.

Elizabeth Catlett, “Sharecropper,” linocut, 19” x 20.” Ed.#56/60, 1970.

As I was leaving our tour, Johanne generously gave me a copy of another stunning book, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” She proudly shared that she owns every Elizabeth Catlett linocut print illustrating James Weldon Johnson’s iconic song, “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” regarded as the African American “National Anthem.”

Johanne Bryant-Reid is an extraordinary woman who has devoted her life to the arts, knowing with certainty that it is a glorious path to enriching one’s being.

“These artists had a profound effect on me and  changed my life,” she says of her collection. “Taking nothing and creating something is a phenomenal thing.”