Richard J. Watson (born 1946) is an American artist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He attended the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the 1970s, he collaborated with Walter Edmonds to create murals for the
Church of the Advocate
The George W. South Memorial Church of the Advocate, also known as the George W. South Memorial Protestant Episcopal Church, is a historic church at 18th and Diamond Street in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
History
The church was built ...
in Philadelphia, which was a center of activity for the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
in North Philadelphia. The church commissioned them to paint murals for the interior. They were requested to portray a combination of Black history and themes from the Bible. They were active in the Church of the Advocate and they donated their time to create the murals. 14 murals were completed from 1973 to 1976. Titles include "Creation", "I Have a Dream", "The Lord smote the firstborn in the land of Egypt" and "God has chosen the weak to confound the strong".
Watson's work was included in the 2015 exhibition '' We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s–1970s'' at the
Woodmere Art Museum
Woodmere Art Museum, located in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a collection of paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs focusing on artists from the Delaware Valley and includes works by Thomas Pollock Anshutz, S ...
. In 2021, the
African American Museum in Philadelphia
The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans. Opened during the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, th ...
held an exhibition of his work entitled ''Portals+Revelations – Richard J. Watson Beyond Realities''.
His work is in the