In Love with the Pajauds

My association with the California African American Museum has brought me great joy and wonderful experiences in the last six years. One of those most treasured is meeting William Pajaud, the most imminent living black watercolor painter. These days I often go to the home Bill shares with his ball of energy--the lovely June. We sit around like folks of a certain age and talk about life as we know it and have seen it. When you hear stories like the one about Bill's mother who graduated from a university in Louisiana, but couldn't get a higher degree because the state didn't let Black people do that back then, you shake your head. They were a big family, roots sunk deep in Louisiana soil and so many of them turned out to be significant politicians, musicians, and of course some had to go away, like Bill's elegant, strong-willed mother. She went to GA, got her next degree and became involved with the Civil Rights movement there. Then there's Bill. If he never put brilliant brush to paper, he would still deserve a place in art history because he was the curator of the Golden State archives. If you never went into that magnificent building on the corner of Western and Adams, you missed something. That place is a repository of Black History, with works from the major artists of our time. Breathtaking murals and art hung everywhere. Right now there is a strange dance being done with the insurance commission, building owners and others to figure out what will happen with the art work left. I think about half of it has been sold off, auctioned away. The fate of these amazing works troubles the art loving heart of Ruth Adkins Robinson