ColorField.remix May 1, 2007

SAAM's Color Field Gallery with works by (from left to right): Paul Reed, Ann Truitt, Gene Davis, and Kenneth Noland.

When Washington-area museums and galleries celebrate in tandem the legacy of the Washington Color School during ColorField.remix, one road will be painted to honor the contributions of one of the city's favorite sons, Gene Davis. It's 8th St NW, which leads to the American Art Museum. According to the release: "In May 1987 as part of a two-day joint fundraiser for the Corcoran School of Art and the Washington Project for the Arts in honor of Gene Davis, an important artist of the color field movement and former Corcoran faculty member, the Corcoran and the American Art Museum coordinated efforts to paint a giant color stripe scheme on 8th street between D and E designed by Mokha Laget, long time studio assistant to Gene Davis." The street was so painted as an homage to Davis after his death.

The Color Field gallery at American Art features an earlier work by Gene Davis, one in which his trademark stripes are segregated on separate panels. (There are also pieces by Kenneth Noland and Helen Frankenthaler, who innovated the color-stain technique, as well as other Color School artists.)

• Gene Davis, Washington Color School, American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum