Faith Ringgold, a versatile artist known for her exploration of race and identity through multimedia creations, passed away at the age of 93 on Saturday at her home in New Jersey, according to her daughter’s statement to The New York Times.
Faith Ringgold became renowned for her intricately designed quilts, which vividly portrayed the everyday experiences of African American women. In addition to being a formally trained painter and sculptor, she explored various other artistic mediums, often merging her creative expressions with her activism by creating politically charged works that captured the racial struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. Ringgold actively protested alongside fellow artists who called for greater representation of Black and women artists in prestigious art institutions, and she fearlessly criticized museums that excluded them from their exhibitions.
“In 1992, she shared with the Orlando Sentinel her belief that art is a realm where everyone has the ability to express themselves and take action, even in a world where such opportunities are scarce.”
Ringgold transformed her acclaimed design, the “Tar Beach” story quilt from 1988, into a beloved children’s picture book that won the prestigious Caldecott Award. This marked the start of her journey as a storybook illustrator. In this new endeavor, she remained dedicated to sharing the narratives and experiences of Black women. Ringgold crafted captivating artwork and compelling text for picture books that celebrated the lives of influential figures such as Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman, aimed at young readers.
Growing up in Harlem, Faith Ringgold was immersed in a vibrant community of influential Black artists. Surrounded by the likes of James Baldwin and inspired by the sounds of jazz, she developed a unique artistic perspective. Born in 1930, Ringgold had the privilege of having Duke Ellington and Dinah Washington as her childhood neighbors. In her twenties, she earned two art degrees from the City College of New York. Reflecting on her journey in 1990, Ringgold spoke about breaking free from the constraints of a Eurocentric art world and forging her own distinctive style.
“We copied Greek busts, we copied Degas, we copied everything,” she went on to say. “It was generally thought that we weren’t experienced enough to be original, and if we were original, we were sometimes up for ridicule.”
Some of the world’s most prestigious art collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, include Ringgold’s work. She exhibited all around the world, including the White House, and taught at schools ranging from the University of California, San Diego, to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
Her breakthrough work, “Die,” is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art—the same institution where she once petitioned for greater representation of female artists.
