Offroute's weekly Artist Inspiration is Faith Ringgold! Faith is a painter, mixed media sculptor, writer, performance artist, teacher, and lecturer. Born in 1930, Harlem, New York, Ringgold went on to earn her B.S. and M.A. degrees in visual art from the City College of New York from 1955 to 1959. In the early 1960's, Ringgold traveled Europe- her travels and return home inspired her first political paintings titled The American People Series from 1963 to 1967. In the early 1970's, Faith began creating tankas (a Tibetan art form of paintings framed in richly brocaded fabrics), sculptures, and masks. Originally, Ringgold's art was inspired by African art forms- it wasn't until she traveled to Nigeria and Ghana in the late 70's that her creations with masks really began to unfold and become her greatest inspiration. In 1980, Ringgold partnered with her mother to create her first quilt titled Echoes of Harlem. Her first story quilt Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima? was published in 1983. Her first book Tar Beach was published in 1991. It won over 20 awards, including the Coretta Scott King award for best-illustrated children's book of 1991 and the Caldecott Honor. In 2010, an animated version voiced by Natalie Cole was produced and premiered on HBO. The book was based on the story quilt of the same name that was showcased in The Woman on a Bridge series, 1988. The original story quilt, Tar Beach, is in the permanent collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Faith Ringgold continues to create today- her most recent art inspired books are the Harlem Renaissance Party (Harper Collins 2015) and We Came to America (Alfred A. Knopf 2016). #offrouteart #art #artinspiration #arthistory #faithringgold #womenartists #womeninart #supportartists #supportlocalartists #supportyoungartists #womenownedbusiness https://www.instagram.com/p/CHdokeMpxdg/?igshid=1o8wcrhtwizp5
