“I Lived Half of my Life in the Darkness, and Half in the Light.”
[Lyman T. Johnson]
54” x 72” Acrylic and Collage on canvas
2019

Collection of University of Kentucky.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Lyman T. Johnson’s lawsuit which desegregated of the University of Kentucky, the University has commissioned Imar to create his portrait to mark the occasion. The portrait will reside in a dormitory named in honor of Mr. Johnson. Johnson is not only the first African American student to enroll in the University of Kentucky after a groundbreaking lawsuit argued by Thurgood Marshall, but he is also Imar’s grandfather. Mr. Johnson’s portrait is central to Imar’s Inheritance exhibition.