Producer’s Blog: The Kinetic Legacy of Bing Davis

As a co-producer of Willis “Bing” Davis: Reach High and Reach Back, the waves of responses we’ve received since we released the documentary one year ago have profoundly moved me. People from all walks of life — artists, educators, civic leaders and everyday viewers — have reached out with heartfelt praise and gratitude. It’s a testament not only to Bing’s impact as an artist, educator and community activist, but also to the resonance of his story: a story of vision, perseverance and boundless generosity. From the moment we began filming, we knew we were in sacred territory, documenting a man whose life has been a continual act of community and hope.

At Think^TV, our production teams are always in motion, telling stories of transformation through series like Brick by Brick, Stephanie’s Recipe Journal, SHOWCASE with Barbara Keller, and The Art Show. As artists, we share the paradoxical discipline of multitasking with our media colleagues by balancing deadlines with inspiration, precision and intuition. Screenings of the Bing Davis documentary have become an extension of this work. They are gatherings where art and audience meet in real time, where storytelling becomes a communal embrace. These events offer what I cherish most: connection, immediacy and that ineffable moment when shared discovery transforms into collective understanding.

It felt both monumental and deeply personal when we received an email from DePauw University, Bing’s alma mater, inviting us to screen the documentary in conjunction with an event honoring him. The invitation humbled both producer Ann Rotolante and me. DePauw holds a special place in Bing’s journey. It was where his creative flame was first kindled, mentors like Richard E. Peeler recognized his talent and a young man from Dayton began to see the world through the lens of art and purpose. We booked our hotel rooms immediately, eager to attend and bear witness.

Driving across the familiar stretches of Ohio into Indiana, we imagined what that same road must have looked like almost 70 years ago, when Bing first traveled it. He was a young African American student entering a predominantly white institution during a pivotal era in our nation’s history. To think of him then, carrying not only his sketchbooks, but his dreams, is to understand the quiet audacity of his journey. His eventual return as DePauw’s first tenured Black faculty member wasn’t just a professional milestone, but a seismic cultural moment. It was ground zero for a life that would ripple across continents.

When we arrived on campus, we were struck by how alive the spirit of curiosity remains there. Our itinerary was filled with classroom visits with first-year media fellows, conversations about storytelling and reflections on the importance of research as the north star for truth in documentary work. These young scholars were remarkably prepared; they had researched our production process, creative backgrounds and even our philosophies on art and media. Their enthusiasm reminded me why we tell stories in the first place, as a catalyst to ignite curiosity.

That evening, the Peeler Art Center hosted the documentary screening alongside a breathtaking retrospective of Bing’s works. To stand in a gallery named after Peeler, Bing’s mentor, colleague and lifelong friend, was to stand inside a living circle of legacy. In our documentary, Bing said Peeler encouraged him to find his own voice, and that permission shaped everything that followed. Peeler’s pedagogy opened the craft door and Bing walked through it into global dialogues of identity, heritage, community arts and activism. In that studio, the forming clay of technique became the malleable vessel of voice: a fitting foundation for Bing’s lifelong calling.

The exhibition was a visual symphony of Bing’s creative journey: rhythmic ceramics, mixed-media assemblages and photo collages that spoke to ancestral memory. Many works were familiar from the filming, but others were revelations that were quieter, more introspective pieces which spoke of faith and an artist who was continually reinventing himself. As the lights dimmed for the screening, I wondered how this audience, a mix of alumni, faculty, students and community members would respond. But from the first frame, the reaction was palpable. When Bing appeared onscreen, his commanding presence filled the room. And when he took the stage afterward for the Q&A, the atmosphere shifted into something akin to a revival. His words were both sermon and song, echoing his lifelong belief that “we are all connected, brothers and sisters on this mortal coil.” Listening to him, I was transported back to those long hours Ann and I spent immersed in his archives at the University of Dayton, piecing together the mosaic of his life. Each letter, photograph and fragment of memory became part of a larger truth: to tell Bing’s story is to tell a story about us all.

After the screening, Bing led a small group of students through the exhibition, pausing before each piece like a conductor guiding an orchestra. They listened, rapt, as he spoke about clay, color and community, and about how art is not a product but a process of becoming. The air was electric, charged with something beyond admiration. You could feel transformation happening in real time. And when the tour concluded, as Bing and his beloved wife Audrey took each other’s hands and quietly made their way toward the exit, I saw the entire arc of a life in that simple gesture: talent wedded to tenderness, purpose fused with love.

At this stage in his extraordinary journey, Willis “Bing” Davis is akin to The Lion in Winter — a figure whose creative roar has not softened with age but deepened into resonance. His wisdom carries the weight of lived experience, yet there remains that unmistakable spark, that glint of curiosity and restlessness that propels him ever forward. The mark of his greatness lies not only in the sheer volume of work he has produced, but also in the lives he has touched, the generations he has mentored and the cultural ecosystems he has cultivated in Dayton and beyond. Bing’s art, like his teaching, insists on engagement with history, ancestry and the urgent beauty of the present moment. His legacy is not static; it is kinetic and generative — a living continuum of creativity and care.

In the twilight of his career, Bing does not retreat into reflection alone, but rather models how an artist ages with purpose, dignity and an unbroken commitment to creativity. As co-producers and artists ourselves, Ann and I recognize that our cameras and our questions were never neutral instruments; they were acts of reverence. Documenting Bing Davis at this moment in his life was to bear witness to a creative force still burning with conviction and clarity. Standing in his orbit, you understand that art is not simply what is made, but what is given — the generosity of spirit, the encouragement of others, the belief that imagination is a civic duty. In honoring Bing, we also affirm the enduring promise that creative forces will always find new hands to shape them. That, perhaps, is the truest legacy of all.

Like Bing’s art, this documentary will outlive us. Perhaps that is the ultimate lesson he offers: when we reach high and reach back, when we create with intention and love, our work becomes more than a record, it becomes a beacon. In these challenging times, we need such beacons. They remind us that art is not merely a reflection of the world, but an instrument for transforming it. And occasionally, if we are lucky, we meet someone like Bing Davis who embodies that truth so entirely that his light forever changes us.

Rodney Veal
CET/Think^TV Producer and Community Arts Liaison

To learn more about our locally-produced documentary, Willis “Bing” Davis: Reach High & Reach Back, and ways to watch, visit: https://www.thinktv.org/bing-davis-reach-high-reach-back/.