Willis "Bing" Davis__ was born in G_reer, South Carolina but grew
up in Dayton, Ohio where he lives today. He attended DePauw
University in Greencastle, Indiana, graduating in 1959. He
attended the School of the Dayton Art Institute and received
his M.Ed in 1967 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Davis
also pursued graduate study at Indiana State University from
1975–1976. His career as an educator includes: teaching in the
Dayton Public School System; Teaching at DePauw and Miami
Universities; and twenty years at Central State University in
Wilberforce, Ohio. While at CSU, Mr. Davis was also chair of the
Art Department and Director of the Paul Robeson Cultural and
Performing Arts Center. He has also served as an artist-in-
residence for the School of Educationat the University of Dayton,
andvisiting scholar at Wright State University. He is currently
President of the Board of Directors of the National Conference
of Artists.
Davis' record as an artist and a curator is equally illustrious,
including exhibitions at Studio Museum of Harlem, American
Craft Museum, Renwick Gallery, Maryland Institute College of
Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, Anacostia Museum,
National Museum of Art of Senegal West Africa, U.S. Embassy
Accra, Ghana, and Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Museum
of Applied Arts), Frankfurt, Germany. He participated in the
recent Stop Asking: We Exsist exhibition of African-American
craft at the Societyfor Contemporary Crafts in Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania and curated the popular and groundbreaking
exhibition, Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy
of African American Craft Art, which toured the United States
in the mid 1990's.
up in Dayton, Ohio where he lives today. He attended DePauw
University in Greencastle, Indiana, graduating in 1959. He
attended the School of the Dayton Art Institute and received
his M.Ed in 1967 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Davis
also pursued graduate study at Indiana State University from
1975–1976. His career as an educator includes: teaching in the
Dayton Public School System; Teaching at DePauw and Miami
Universities; and twenty years at Central State University in
Wilberforce, Ohio. While at CSU, Mr. Davis was also chair of the
Art Department and Director of the Paul Robeson Cultural and
Performing Arts Center. He has also served as an artist-in-
residence for the School of Educationat the University of Dayton,
andvisiting scholar at Wright State University. He is currently
President of the Board of Directors of the National Conference
of Artists.
Davis' record as an artist and a curator is equally illustrious,
including exhibitions at Studio Museum of Harlem, American
Craft Museum, Renwick Gallery, Maryland Institute College of
Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, Anacostia Museum,
National Museum of Art of Senegal West Africa, U.S. Embassy
Accra, Ghana, and Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Museum
of Applied Arts), Frankfurt, Germany. He participated in the
recent Stop Asking: We Exsist exhibition of African-American
craft at the Societyfor Contemporary Crafts in Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania and curated the popular and groundbreaking
exhibition, Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy
of African American Craft Art, which toured the United States
in the mid 1990's.