Faith Ringgold, an award-winning artist and author known for her vibrant quilts that combined painting, textiles, and storytelling, has passed away at the age of 93. Despite facing barriers as a Black female artist in a predominantly white male-dominated art world, Ringgold’s work can be found in collections across the country and around the world, from the Smithsonian to the Museum of Modern Art. She was a founder of the Where We At artists collective for Black women and was an outspoken advocate for representation of Black and female artists in museums.
Ringgold’s art often focused on issues of race and gender, with a folk-like style that was optimistic and lighthearted. Her first illustrated children’s book, “Tar Beach,” featured a spirited heroine flying over the George Washington Bridge as a symbol of self-realization and freedom. The story was based on a narrative quilt of the same name in the collection of the Guggenheim Museum. She introduced quilting into her work in the 1970s inspired by Tibetan thangkas, creating patchwork fabric borders with handwritten narratives around her paintings.
In her 1982 story quilt, “Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemina,” Ringgold challenged the stereotype of the Black “mammy” figure by portraying a successful African American businesswoman. She also created a series of quilt paintings called “The French Collection,” which blended narrative, biographical, and cultural references with Western art. Ringgold’s socially conscious works include a 9/11 Peace Story Quilt created with New York City students and displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as public works like the glass mosaics “People Portraits” in Los Angeles and the mural “Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines” in a Harlem subway station.
For Ringgold, art was a medium for social and political activism, as she used her work to address issues of representation, race, and gender. Her motto, “If one can, anyone can, all you gotta do is try,” emphasizes her belief in the power of art to inspire and effect change. Ringgold’s legacy as a groundbreaking Black female artist will continue to inspire future generations of artists and activists alike as they strive to make their voices heard and their stories told.
