![[Mosaika.jpg]](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ev4ahhlEL5Y/ScK0RfWf3UI/AAAAAAAAB6o/ZxCdgjNvnTk/s1600/Mosaika.jpg)
Ms. Faith Ringgold, center, continues to work hard at being an artist! She has been awarded 52 commissions (see below for details).
Faith Ringgold was in the forefront, fighting for equity for women artists, in the 1970's. We still have a ways to go, but she and other artists in New York City raised their voices to complain that women were not in exhibitions at the major institutions such as the Whitney Annual.
The Hatch-Billops website presents an amusing clip of Ringgold (preceded by an intro to the collection...it's worth looking at this). In the video done by the archivists, she comments about conditions for women in the 1970's and the satisfaction some women were feeling about their progress. I paraphrase:
"The white women were getting into shows, and showing with the guys and selling their work. But I wasn't!"
But she kept pressing forward. She found a way to make her large scale work portable and mailable at affordable costs, by creating paintings that were decorated using quilting on the edges that did not need framing (her mom, Willi Posey Jones, a clothing designer showed her how). And by the way, through this process of solving a problem, she invented her signature style.
She made soft sculpture, and wrote successful books, another great way to have her art seen by a large part of the population.
My personal connection to Ms. Ringgold is that she juried a show I submitted to in Chicago at Woman Made Gallery in 2005. I won First Prize out of about 1200 pieces submitted by international artists, to the surprise of the gallery folks! I will always be grateful for that stamp of approval!
The gallery may or may not have thought it a fluke that I won until I repeated a win when I was awarded First Prize from ArtNews correspondent Margaret Hawkins a few years later!
I have been following Faith Ringgold for years.
![Faith Ringgold in front of her quilt, Tar Beach, 1993.
[Credits : AP]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com//eb-media/19/21519-004-B44AB78D.jpg "Faith Ringgold in front of her quilt, Tar Beach, 1993.
[Credits : AP]")
Faith Ringgold in front of her quilt, Tar Beach, 1993.
She is an inspiration. She is an arts advocate, a supporter of women artists and a very generous and nurturing woman who teaches and encourages. And she works harder than many people I know who complain that they are not getting their share! Work like Faith Ringgold and then complain! After you produce a TON of work, write a few books.
About the commissions; here is information sent by Grace Matthews:
Faith Ringgold received a commission to design 52 mosaics for the Civic Center Metro Subway Station in Los Angeles, California. Mosaika, the fabulous company in Montreal is fabricating the designs. Here are photos of Faith's recent visit to check on the progress of the mosaic panels.
May 17 - June 26, 2009
Dorian Bergen 212 206-8080 529 West 20th street, 5th floor NYC 10011
(201) 816-1374
Web site: www.faithringgold.com
I did a review of Ms Ringgold's autobiography, We Flew Over the Bridge. See an excerpt below
from my down-to-earth review for the Journal of African American History in red...notice the other writers! I first saw this today as I wrote this post!
"Faith Ringgold has already won my heart as an
artist, as a woman, as an African American and now with her entry into
the world of autobiography (where I dwell), she has taken my heart
again. She writes so beautifully."--Maya Angelou "Faith Ringgold has
created a rich and highly informative work not only of her own life as
an American in general but as an African American in particular. These
memoirs are a part of American history--of what it means to be an
artist, a writer, and a philosopher in our society."--Jacob Lawrence
"In words that are as direct, honest, full of color and life as her
paintings, Ringgold gives each reader the greatest gift of all--courage
to be one's own unique and universal self."--Gloria Steinem "The story
of Ringgold's triumph--achieved through sheer determination, savvy, and
self-conviction--is both accessible and inspiring."--Lowery Stokes
Sims, Executive Director, The Studio Museum in Harlem "Faith Ringgold's
exuberant and original art has made her one of America's more important
artists and a feminist heroine. Now her wonderfully honest memoirs will
resonate with all political and creative women who are still fighting
the battles Ringgold has won."--Lucy Lippard, author of The Pink Glass
Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art "Bridging is the major motif of
Ringgold's life ... She is a bridge between the Harlem Renaissance and
the civil rights era. She is a bridge between her mother's applied art
of fashion design and her own fine art of painting and story quilts.
She is a bridge between the black power movement and the women's
movement. And she is a bridge between the abstract art that dominated
the '60s and the issue-oriented art that connected with viewers'
hearts--and lives."--Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer "A memoir
is revealing on two levels: since it's selective remembering, what the
author chooses to tell us about herself ends up telling us something
additional. WE FLEW OVER THE BRIDGE is candid, sometimes humorous,
sometimes bordering on bitter, and almost quilt-like as she pieces
together a wide range of topics, from the intensely personal to
political and professional. Harlem at the close of the Renaissance, the
art world's resistance to nonwhite artists, Black Power's resistance to
feminism, combining marital life and parenthood with a career - all are
viewed through her unique lens." --Gerri Gribi,
www.AfroAmericanHeritage.com "Part cultural history, part coming-of-age
story, part romance and part portrait of perseverance..."--Diane
McKinney-Whetstone, Essence "One of the country's most preeminent
African-American artists and award-winning children's book authors,
shares the fascinating story of her life, complete with family
pictures."--Ebony "This story told in numerous engaging family photos,
art work reproductions and lore, is now getting a much-deserved,
broader distribution. The story artist Faith Ringgold tells is one of
warm family relations, sustaining friendships, and the challenge of
overcoming prejudices. The book also is a visual chronicle of African
American fashion and style."--The International Review of African
American Art 
"Ringgold provides juicy autobiographical stories,
supplemented with personal photographs as well as ample illustrations
and descriptions of her work. It is a memoir every artist should
read... The book is informative, forthright, and fun, and is a great
teaching tool for both emerging and established artists."--Joyce Owens
Anderson*, The Journal of African American History
*I am also known as Joyce Owens Anderson.
