Silent auction of Jean Berry artwork to benefit African American Museum of Iowa, UI scholarship

Award-winning independent filmmaker S. Torriano Berry will host a retrospective exhibit featuring his work as an independent filmmaker and a silent auction of art by his mother, Jean Berry, at 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 27, at CSPS Hall.

Proceeds from the silent auction of Jean Berry’s works will benefit the African American Museum of Iowa and the Toni Berry Memorial Scholarship fund at the University of Iowa.

S. Torriano Berry has created and executive produced the anthology series “Black Independent Showcase,” and “Black Visions/Silver Screen: Howard University Student Film Showcase” for WHUT-TV 32 in Washington, D.C. His two, half-hour made-for-television movies “The Light” and “When It’s Your Turn” were produced through the Minority Advisory Board of WPVI-TV 6 in Philadelphia. His documentary, “Racialism and the Media,” 2024, explores the research developed by his sister, Dr. Venise Berry, in her scholarly publication of the same title.

S. Torriano Berry is professor emeritus at Howard University’s Department of Media, Journalism, and Film. He received his bachelor’s in art/photography from Arizona State University and earned his master’s in motion picture production from the University of California, Los Angeles. He lives in Coralville, Iowa.

Jeanette (Jean) Berry was born Aug. 22, 1938, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She began studying art as a teenager and took instruction in art at the Kansas City Art Institute. The death of her youngest child, Toni, was a watershed for Berry, after which she threw herself into her art to fill the void. In spring 1987, she enrolled as a student of art at Drake University in Des Moines. There, she completed a bachelor’s in May 1989.

Berry’s work was exhibited regionally and nationally after she received her degree and was included in a Smithsonian Institution exhibition. A career highlight was her 1998 exhibit at Rand Afrikaans University’s Gencor Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa. Other notable exhibits include Philadelphia’s October Gallery, The Waterloo Museum of Art and The Sumner School Gallery in Washington, D.C. Her work is currently being represented by Hudson River Gallery in Iowa City, and can be seen in numerous permanent and personal collections around the world.

The retrospective and silent auction are free and open to the public. CSPS Hall is located at 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For questions and comments, contact S. Torriano Berry at torrianob1958@icloud.com.