User talk:2601:145:4300:52C2:8C33:E5F3:BCAF:7CA

Hello, I was just invited to an event featuring the work of Sam Gilliam, member of the Washington Color School. He is still alive at age 85 and working with children in the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation programs in Washington, DC.

I remember studying the work of Mr. Gilliam in college and through the years have seen his work in galleries in Washington and other art centers around the country, so I am thrilled that he us still part of my community and working with an organization that I support.

When I looked for information on Mr. Gilliam and the "Washington Color School," one of the top "hits" on my Google search was (of course) the Wikipedia pages on both Sam Gilliam and on the Washington Color School, which includes him as one of the artists described as part of that group of painters in Washington, DC, in the 1960s. I clicked on each of them to see if any others are still alive, and was surprised to see on the page about Paul Reed, that "At the time of his death in 2015 Reed was the last living member of the Washington Color School." Though that statement is sourced to the New York Times obituary for Mr. Reed, the phrase "Washington Color School" is also hyperlinked to the Wikipedia page that lists Sam Gilliam as a member. I do not like to dispute the usually well researched and well edited obituaries in the New York Times, but I thought I should point out that the line contradicts the information in the hyperlinked page of Wikipedia.

I understand that people can have different ideas about which artists fit in a particular "school" of painting, but in this case Mr. Gilliam was included in the initial exhibition of "Washington Color Painters" in Washington June 25 to September 5, 1965, which was central to creating the concept and the moniker of "Washington Color School." Perhaps the sentence could be modified to say "Other than Sam Gilliam, Reed was the last living member . . ." or "The New York Times wrote that at the time of his death in 2015 he was the last living member of the Washington Color School, though Sam Gilliam, also included in the initial Washington Color Painters exhibit in 1965, is still living." While Mr. Gilliam is still alive, I do not want anything to be taken away from him or his contribution as a notable "color painter" in that same "school" (especially because, in a twist of irony I could not help noticing, he was the one Washington Color Painter of color).