CONWAY, Ark. (April 26, 2016) – Hendrix College alumni Rebekah Beal ’78 and Hendrix theatre professor Danny Grace ’77 recently donated two original works of art by their classmate and friend David Jones ’76 to the Hendrix College Permanent Art Collection.
Jones passed away in fall 2015 after a battle with lung cancer.
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The works include Did
You Know? Little Known Facts About
Military Life and The “Good Old Daze.” The two cartoon panels were drawn in pencil, pen, and ink for a United States Army military base newspaper at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, in 1977-1978. They are now on display in the Student Life and Technology Center.
“Becky gave me these and a few other pieces soon after David passed away this past November. I was also very fortunate to be given a good number of 45 rpm records (The Davy Jones 45 Collection) and one of David's guitars he played in the many of his music projects, including The Ideals, The
Hickoids, The Diamond Smugglers, Bigfoot Chester, The Next, The Dicks, The Mighty Souls, and I am sure I am leaving something out,” said Grace, adding that, although he did not complete his degree, Jones was very attached to the College. “So I just thought he would have been pleased to have a little piece
of himself back on campus, and Becky was all for it. I really thank her for her generosity.”
“David, along with Mark McCalman ’75 were some of the first people I met when I came to campus in the fall of 1973,” he said. “They were both very involved in the startup of [Hendrix campus radio station] KHDX, which had gone on the air on a limited basis in spring 1973.”
McCalman was the KHDX station manager and Grace’s roommate. Jones was an original KHDX DJ.
“David shepherded me on the equipment, and I was on the air soon after classes began. We became life-long friends through our mutual love of listening to music. That eventually evolved into playing music in bands. David was a great guitarist and had a very distinctive vocal style and was a
great pop tune song writer,” Grace said. “Along with my brother David Grace ’73, I brought The Hickoids and The Ideals to Little Rock for the first time around 1985-86. That began a long and very fun series of repeat visits by David and his pals. My bands The Rockin' Guys and The Frontier Circus were lucky enough to open for
most of those shows.”
“Besides listening to music during our Hendrix days, I rarely saw David without a sketch pad, pencil and his pen and ink. He would draw for hours and sometimes it seemed like days,” Grace said.
Robert Hill ’76 met Jones in 1973-74 and said by then Jones had already developed a very sophisticated and unique cartooning style, calling Jones “just brilliant."
“And he was. He never stopped drawing and doing his art,” Grace said. “Everything about David was a work of art, from his famous painted outfits to a shopping list to Kroger! Our friend Jeff Smith of The Hickoids, who has taken it upon himself to manage the huge collection of David Jones Art
and other artifacts, told me David left over 3,000 individual pieces of art. Some of these were sold a few weeks ago at a benefit for Health Alliance for Austin Music in honor of David. They raised over $7,000.”
“I would like to think that Hendrix played a big part in the shaping of Davy Jones, so I feel it very appropriate for him to have a place in our Permanent Collection,” Grace said. “David was just a great guy and a great friend. I want to thank [Hendrix art professor] Matt Lopas for helping to make
that happen and being so enthusiastic about these two cartoons.”
“David was such a unique multitalented man. After meeting him in college, along with Robert, Danny, and others, I joined the radio station as a DJ. They were playing this great music I had not heard before, and there started a lifelong friendship,” said Beal.
“I reconnected with him in 2012, and began the first of many trips to Austin, finally moving there in 2013,” she said. “Friendship turned into love, and those were some of the best days of my life. But before long he was diagnosed with cancer. We lost him way too soon,
and he was loved by many.”
“He was kind, colorful, and extremely creative. One of the things he wanted near the end was for his art and music to go to people who would truly appreciate them,” she said. “I found the cartoons from when he was in the Army, and Danny and I thought he would
appreciate having them on display at Hendrix where they could be shared with others.”
About Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges That Change Lives:
40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.