The “Dear God” Series

Beverly McIver’s Dear God series began in 2008, shortly after it was announced that Barack Obama was going to be a candidate for the presidential nomination.

Thinking back to Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s unsuccessful 1972 run for the presidency, Beverly never thought she would see a Black person as president in her lifetime. She created a series of paintings, initially using a portrait from 2004 for inspiration. Combining text with portraiture, Beverly expressed how she felt, using the canvas as a personal journal that began by focusing on Barack Obama’s successul run for the presidency, but evolving over the years into sharing other thoughts about life that read much like conversations with God.