American painter Sam Gilliam studied art at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. A member of the Washington Color School, from the late 1960s Gilliam created the large draped canvases that hang without stretcher bars for which he is best known. He has taught in Washington public schools, at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the University of Maryland and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Gilliam is the recipient of many Honorary Doctorates and in 2007 was awarded the Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts.