Leading Through Black Excellence: Marvin Posey Jr.

Leading Through Black Excellence is a new Black History Month series, presented by the Austin Peay State University African American Employee Council. Throughout February, we will highlight examples of “Leading Through Black Excellence,” both on and off our campus. Individuals and organizations were nominated, and we are pleased to share their incredible stories through this new venture. For more information, please visit our website. www.apsu.edu/aaec.

Marvin Posey, Jr., was born Aug. 28, 1964, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His father, Marvin Posey, Sr., was a captain in the U.S. Army, and after his retirement in 1975, the Posey family returned to Clarksville. After Posey graduated from Clarksville High School in 1982, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves for one year before attending Austin Peay on a double scholarship for football and art. In 1985, he joined the U.S. Army and served a tour of duty in Korea before being discharged in 1989. When he came home, Posey began what would become a meaningful and successful career as an artist.

In the late 1990s, Posey was one of the most promising young artists to emerge from Tennessee in years, with his work appearing in galleries nationwide. Posey, who is known for his beautifully vibrant artwork, had his work displayed in exhibits from New York City to Atlanta, Chicago to Denver and from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans. Individuals including former President Bill Clinton and Louise Mandrell own private collections of his pieces. In 1997, he was named "Alumni of the Year" by APSU. He was both talented and dedicated, and he made many contributions to the art world. To this day, his sister, Angela Posey-Jeffries, is still contacted by people who have been touched by his work in some way.

Since his untimely passing in 2003, Posey’s family has donated several of his celebrated works to the University. Several of his paintings are displayed in the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center. In the 1997 APSU Alumni Magazine feature story on Posey, the artist said, “I won’t live forever, but my work will. I’m leaving a legacy, so I’ll always be here.” Our African American Alumni Chapter has a scholarship in his honor and each homecoming we focus an event that raises money for that fund. The Marvin Posey, Jr. Scholarship is just another way his legacy will live on.

Posey, or Chico as his family called him, was a kind, compassionate man with a special talent to touch others by helping them to experience, through his palette, the broad strokes of possibility in this world. His legacy will live on in the lives of the recipients of his scholarship. It will help so many deserving students in reaching their highest potential, just as he did.

During the 2021 Spring Homecoming, the University will host the Marvin Posey, Jr. Scholarship Art Exhibit at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 20 in the Art + Design Building (Painting Studio). The Posey family will be providing personal pieces from their collection.

Admission is $30 per person, and all the proceeds go to the Marvin Posey, Jr. Scholarship Endowment. For more information on Marvin Posey, Jr. and his Homecoming Art Exhibit, for more information please email leszczakto@apsu.edu.

- African American Employee Council