In the fall of 2005 Reynolda House inaugurated a new dedicated Works on Paper Gallery with a selection of masterworks by African American artists in the collection. African American artists of the twentieth century frequently explored the potential of materials as both subject and medium. Jacob Lawrence, for example, believed that an engagement with craft and work ennobled people. In his image of builders, the rhythmic arrangement of tools at the top of the picture plane lends the painting an optimistic liveliness. In contrast, Betye Saar's handkerchief-collage of found objects and images looks to the past, calling to mind the domestic quilting and scrapbook traditions of earlier generations of women. In Romare Bearden's brightly-colored assemblages, the artist draws attention to his modest materials - paper, glue, and wood - by allowing the edges of the paper to show through the design. The tabletops Horace Pippin scavenged from antique stores to serve as panels for his paintings and the used shoe leather Lloyd Toone collects to fashion his sculptures share a kind of junk-into-art aesthetic that illustrates the resourcefulness of many of these artists. Lorna Simpson's small, exquisitely crafted sculptural objects communicate complex ideas about black culture and identity. Perhaps more than any other artist in the exhibition, Martin Puryear places himself in the artisanal tradition of stonemasons, carpenters, and printers. Although Puryear is primarily a sculptor, his woodblock prints demonstrate a strong interest in working with natural materials and age-old tools. As Puryear says, "Craft means thinking with (not just about) material."