Faith Ringgold speaks on the experiences that shaped her as an artist
Posted November 18, 2011
Faith Ringgold
Cambridge, Mass. - Through lively tales and images of her artwork, Faith Ringgold brought to life her evolution as an artist - from the early years as a painter struggling to get noticed, to a career as an accomplished and world-renowned artist and author who dined in the White House Rose Garden.
Ringgold relayed her story to a packed house in the Marran Theater at Lesley University on Thursday evening, where The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley welcomed her to the Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series. Ringgold was introduced by Dean of The Art Institute of Boston Stan Trecker, and by Lesley University President Joseph Moore.
Born in Harlem in 1930, Ringgold reflected on her journey as a black woman in America, and the way that her experiences continuously shaped her as an artist. She is best known for her painted story quilts and as a children’s book author and illustrator, and her artwork has been exhibited and collected by major museums around the world including the National Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
“In 1948, art was something to do, not to be,” Ringgold reflected. “It wasn’t until I started college that I realized I wanted to be an artist.”
She described her growth from a conservatively-trained painter to an artist who found her own voice, beginning in the 1960s with her “American People” series, including “The Flag is Bleeding,” a provocative work of an American flag with bleeding stripes and images of people in the background, which she projected onto a screen during the lecture.
“The whole idea was to find my way,” said Ringgold, author of Tar Beach and professor Emeritus at the University of California in San Diego. “This was the series in which I looked at America and made some decisions about my experience here and how I fit into it.”
Ringgold outlined the arc of her career, and her use of various art media including canvas, quilts, dolls, mosaics and masks. She talked about her travels and the artists who inspired her; about becoming a feminist in the 1970s; about connecting to her roots in African art; and about finding commercial success as an artist and the satisfaction of being commissioned to create artwork.
Lesley University Presents Artist Faith Ringgold from Lesley University Alumni on Vimeo.
Infusing her lecture with anecdotes, poignancy and humor, Ringgold drew a standing ovation from the audience at the close of the lecture.
Trecker, the Dean of AIB, praised Ringgold as an “activist and teacher of exceptional talent,” whose commitment to the creative act mirrors Lesley University’s values. He lauded Ringgold’s widely known artwork and books, as well as her deep, lifelong commitment to women and Civil Rights.
Ringgold has written and illustrated 15 children’s books, the first of which, Tar Beach, won the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and was a Caldecott Honor Book. She has received more than 75 awards, fellowships, citations and honors, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Fellowship for painting, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards, and 22 honorary doctorates.
The Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series is sponsored by the Strauch-Mosse Endowed Fund for Visiting Artists, established through a gift from Lesley University trustee Hans D. Strauch, who attended Ringgold’s lecture.