- Origin & Active: Morristown (Hamblen County)
- Region: East
- Mediums: Glass
Calvin Nicely
Tennessee General Assembly is proud that our state is the home of some of the most gifted and accomplished artists in the country. Calvin Nicely of Morristown is one such highly respected artist, who recently has had his inspirational work featured in the prestigious Africa to Appalachia celebration.
Calvin Nicely was born in Morristown, Tennessee, the son of James Nicely, Jr., one of the city’s first African American over-the-road truck drivers, and Dorris Chapman Nicely, one of the first African American beauticians in Morristown and the owner of the ‘Ebony House of Beauty.’ As a child, he evidenced an interest in art and spent many years as a member of the Boys Club making plaster molds, painting and learning other art techniques. Calvin graduated from Morristown West High School in 1974; while in school, he started writing poems, an avocation he still continues. After military service, Calvin spent time in Texas and New Mexico, working in the aircraft industry as an oil field laborer, and as a painter. He then returned to East Tennessee where he worked at the Knoxville airport for a limousine service while pursuing his true vocation as a professional painter.
In 1993, he was hired by world-renowned glass artist Richard Jolley as a studio assistant working 60 to 70 hours a week in the studio; Calvin has learned much through watching and helping and now creates his own artwork. In 1997, Calvin had three of his pieces included in the popular Tennessee State Museum exhibit entitled ‘Visions of My People: African American Art in Tennessee,” also in that year, he worked with Richard Jolley in a program sponsored by the Knoxville Institute of Arts in which they shared their expertise and friendship with inner city students. Calvin regularly assists Richard Jolley in demonstrations at conferences and exhibitions. He worked as a teaching assistant at the Penland School of Crafts; it is fitting that we pause to recognize and commemorate this respected artist.
That we recognize and honor Calvin Nicely for sharing the vision and beautiful imagery of his art with their fellow Tennesseans and wish him much continued success.
Source: Excerpt from https://capitol.tn.gov/bills/100/Bill/SJR0699.pdf
CRAFTING BLACKNESS 
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