Jack Davis Lecture | Mack Williams

The Lamar Dodd School of Art and the UGA Special Collections Libraries welcome animator and director Mack Williams, UGA alum and 2024 Bulldog 100 recipient, to deliver the 2024 Jack Davis Lecture on the occasion of the centennial of Jack Davis’ birth. A renowned cartoonist and founder of MAD Magazine, Jack Davis was born in Atlanta in 1924. He has been beloved by the UGA community for decades for his quintessential illustrations of the Georgia Bulldogs and Bulldog fandom. Mack Williams, a 2003 BFA alum in digital media from the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, expresses deep admiration for Davis’ ouevre as inspiration for his twenty-year career in animation. His lecture will punctuate a three-day visit with students in graphic design and animation courses.

The lecture will be hosted in the auditorium room 271 of the UGA Special Collections Building at 6:00PM, followed by an on-site reception from 7 – 7:45 pm and a pop-up exhibition of collection highlights drawn from the Hargrett Library’s Jack Davis collection. All are welcome to attend; parking is available in the Hull Street Parking Deck.

The Jack Davis lecture is given annually by an outstanding professional illustrator in an effort to recognize Davis’ extraordinary contribution to the field of illustration. This year’s lecture is co-sponsored by the UGA Special Collections Libraries. 

This event is part of the 2024 UGA Spotlight on the Arts Festival. Spotlight on the Arts is the University of Georgia’s annual celebration of the literary, visual and performing arts. Held each November, the monthlong festival highlights the arts and humanities on campus with dozens of events and exhibitions. Find more information about the festival here.

About Mack Williams

Mack Williams is a director, animator, and illustrator from Blackshear, GA. From the first moment he picked up a crayon, he’s been drawing cartoons. With over two decades of professional experience, Mack has transitioned from ‘kid doodling in the back of class’ to a seasoned animation pro. Mack has worked on hit shows like Archer, Saturday Night Live, and the cult favorite Sealab 2021, and collaborated with industry heavyweights like Baz Luhrmann, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. As a co-founder of Pig Apple, a boutique New York City production company, Mack has expanded his expertise from cartooning to mastering comedic storytelling, eye-popping motion graphics, and seamless visual effects. His work has reached audiences worldwide, appearing on television and digital platforms for clients including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, ESPN, and Univision.

About the Jack Davis Centennial

The Society of Illustrators in New York City has marked the centenary celebration of Jack Davis’ birth by hosting a retrospective featuring original art from among his most admired works, many for the first time ever. The art on view represents every genre and every phase of Davis’ six-decade career: from EC Comics and Mad Magazine to TV Guide and Time Magazine, from Raid and McDonald’s ads to NASCAR and Super Bowl promotions, from history book illustrations to movie posters.

JACK DAVIS: A Centennial Celebration

June 12 – September 21

“Jack Davis was quite possibly the most ubiquitous American humor illustrator of all time. Davis was a master cartoonist, caricaturist, and illustrator, and his funny, fast-paced, manic, beautifully rendered work has graced the covers of countless comic books, magazines, and record albums and has also appeared on movie posters, bubble gum cards, and advertisements. A virtual mind-boggling one-man industry, Davis has been called “the fastest cartoonist alive” and “the master of the crowd scene.” It’s astonishing to realize that this quiet Southern gentleman was usually finished with assignments for the day and out on the golf course by 2:30 p.m.”

– Drew Friedman from his Fantagraphics book, Heroes of the Comics.

Further event information forthcoming