David Driskell, one of the nation's foremost authorities on African-American art, will exhibit his work at the Colby Museum of Art in Waterville from August 11 to October 17. "Echoes: The Art of David C. Driskell" comprises 34 pieces of his wide-ranging art and is the first retrospective exhibition to cover Driskell's work over the last half century.

Driskell has worked in a variety of materials and styles. In addition to painting and collage, his primary media, he works in printmaking, drawing and sculpture. Driskell's art revisits the themes of nature, humanity and spirituality with a bold and masterful use of color, texture and form. "Echoes" is the companion exhibit to "Narratives of African-American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection," currently on display at the Colby Museum of Art through October 17. Both exhibitions were organized and are being circulated by the Art Gallery at the University of Maryland at College Park.

"Narratives of African-American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection" documents the contributions made by African Americans to the nation's cultural landscape. The exhibition's 100 works come from Driskell's own 450-piece collection, considered among the finest private African-American art collections in the world. The show includes paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures.

For more than 40 years Driskell has taught art, and he has been on the faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park, since 1977. He has served as a visiting art professor at numerous institutions nationally and internationally, including the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he was a student in 1953, and at the Smithsonian Institution. Since the 1960s Driskell has had a residence and studio in Falmouth, Maine, where his gardens often serve as the starting point for his abstract paintings. His art has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Africa.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The public is invited and admission is free. The museum is accessible to people with disabilities. For additional information, call 872-3228.