A Well-Framed Career for Driskell Center Staffer

During one of his first art classes at the University of Maryland, Korey Richardson ’16 was tasked with creating a print inspired by David Driskell’s iconic 2004 artwork “African Women/Windows.” Richardson was captivated as he learned about the African American artist and UMD art historian, whose extensive collection is housed at the campus center bearing his name and where he actively worked.

Richardson’s resulting print, “Windows,” dazzled the center’s then director Curlee Holton, who offered him a scholarship and acquired the piece for the center’s collection. From then on, the center became to Richardson a source of community and inspiration—a place where he first saw a space for himself in the art world.

Nearly a decade later, Richardson works at the Driskell Center and the UMD Art Gallery as their preparator, a role in which he installs and cares for the collections, while building on the inspiration he found as a student. His 2021 print of Driskell will be featured in the Spring 2025 exhibition, “Future Histories: New Acquisitions at the Driskell Center.”

“I never imagined in a million years that I would be here installing works, meeting artists, being part of this,” said Richardson, whose position is funded by Arts for All. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Richardson grew up in Prince George’s County and was drawn to painting and drawing from a young age. In high school, he channeled his creativity into designing and selling T-shirts to friends. After two years at Prince George’s Community College, where he won first place in painting at the Fall Student Show in 2013, he transferred to UMD on a scholarship and enrolled as a double major in art and business.

“I came in wide open, wanting to learn and practice art in all its many forms,” he said. “Once the Driskell Center acquired my print, that really encouraged me to continue on.”

Richardson began to find his artistic voice through painting and printmaking, creating works deeply rooted in African American history, culture and identity, as well as Afrofuturism, a movement blending science fiction and African mythology. Many of his works also incorporate elements of street art.

At UMD, he was admitted to the art honors program and served on the 2014–15 Contemporary Art Purchasing Program Committee, where he helped select works for the Stamp Gallery’s permanent collection. He also received the Stephanie E. Pogue Memorial Award from the Driskell Center, named after the protégé of Driskell and former chair of the art department.

Since graduating, Richardson has exhibited his prints and paintings around the Washington, D.C., area, painted murals and worked as a printmaking associate at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in nearby Hyattsville, where he also teaches art classes. He also served as an art handler for multiple companies and an exhibit specialist at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

After Driskell died of COVID-19 in 2020 at age 88, Richardson was inspired to create a work depicting the artist as part of a series of portraits of leading figures in African American history. His piece, which incorporates elements of one of Driskell’s artworks in the background, will be featured alongside nearly 45 other works the center acquired between 2018 and 2024.

Richardson said he is honored to be part of the center’s mission to put Black artists at the center and hopes students will continue to find the same sense of safety and belonging there as he once did. 

“I hope to continue the legacy—as an artist, a preparator, in everything I do,” he said.