Mr. Dial Has Something to Say

Thornton Dial was a self-taught artist that didn't begin his work until after his retirement from decades of building Pullman cars. His work was universally hailed as brilliant but he labored largely in obscurity for most of his art career. This award-winning film explores Dial's work along with the challenges and biases of a larger art world that wasn't ready for his innate genius.

[@jeffreycollins7297]

Such a great artist and only three comments. Should be all kinds of people enjoying this amazing work. Don’t let others decide for you.

[@victoriak6768]

Play it in schools - public schools, art schools! thanks!!

[@lelatenor7854]

he's an artist for all ages and all peoples The best

[@liammcooper]

awesome, i just wish it focused more on the art itself and not the controversy surrounding it

[@cecemeyer]

As the director of the film, and a journalist, I can comment on why I made this choice. This film examined the history of racism and classism in the elite art world through the experiences of Mr. Dial. While it did focus a great deal on his artwork, I had already made a short film focusing on this. This film was meant to look at the “why” origin story-the history, which impacted a great many artists, and was by and large unknown by many, and critical to tell. Thank you for watching. -Celia Carey