Atlanta museum ADAMA celebrates the art of Dr. Pellom McDaniels III

When Dr. Pellom McDaniels III died in 2020, Emory University and the Atlanta community lost an extraordinary scholar, professor and curator.

He was a former professional football player, as well as a poet and author. Even admirers and students of the late Dr. McDaniels may know little of his other pursuit, visual art.

A new exhibition at the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta, or ADAMA, celebrates the art of Pellom McDaniels, which represents his reflections on memory, race, neocolonialism and spirituality. “A Shield Against the Darkness: the Art and Scholarship of Pellom McDaniels III” is on view through June 28.