Faith Ringgold (born Faith Willi Jones; October 8, 1930 – April 13, 2024) was an American painter, author, mixed media sculptor, performance artist, and intersectional activist, perhaps best known for her narrative quilts. Her parents, Andrew Louis Jones and Willi Posey Jones, were descendants of working-class families displaced by the Great Migration. Ringgold's mother was a fashion designer and her father, as well as working a range of jobs, was an avid storyteller. They raised her in an environment that encouraged her creativity. After the Harlem Renaissance, Ringgold's childhood home in Harlem became surrounded by a thriving arts scene—where figures such as Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes lived just around the corner. Ringgold maintained that despite her upbringing in Great Depression–era Harlem, 'this did not mean [she] was poor and oppressed'—she was 'protected from oppression and surrounded by a loving family.' due to pressure from her family, Ringgold enrolled at the City College of New York to major in art, but was forced to major in art education instead, as City College only allowed women to be enrolled in certain majors. In 1950, she married a jazz pianist named Robert Earl Wallace and had two children, Michele and Barbara Faith Wallace, in 1952. In the meantime, she studied with artists Robert Gwathmey and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. She was also introduced to printmaker Robert Blackburn, with whom she would collaborate on a series of prints 30 years later. In 1959, she received her master's degree from City College and left with her mother and daughters on her first trip to Europe.

Artwork

Ringgold's artistic practice was extremely varied—from painting to quilts, from sculptures and performance art to children's books. As an educator, she taught in both the New York City Public school system and at college level. In 1973, she quit teaching public school to devote herself to creating art full-time. In 1995, she was approached by ACA Galleries for exclusive representation and was represented by them for the rest of her life.

Painting

Ringgold began her painting career in the 1950s after receiving her degree. which made sales difficult, and disquieted galleries and collectors.

Taking inspiration from artist Jacob Lawrence and writer James Baldwin, Ringgold painted her first political collection named the American People Series in 1963, which portrays the American lifestyle in relation to the Civil Rights Movement. American People Series illustrates these racial interactions from a female point of view, and calls basic racial issues in the United States of America into question. This revelation stemmed from her work being rejected by Ruth White, a gallery owner in New York. in the Women's Facility on Rikers Island. The large-scale mural is an anti-carceral work, composed of depictions of women in professional and civil servant roles, representing positive alternatives to incarceration. The women portrayed are inspired by extensive interviews Ringgold conducted with women inmates, and the design divides the portraits into triangular sections—referencing Kuba textiles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was her first public commission and widely regarded as her first feminist work. Subsequently, the work inspired the creation of Art Without Walls, an organization that brings art to prisons. U.S. Postage Stamp Commemorating the Advent of Black Power People, and Die. These murals lent her a fresher and stronger prospective to her future artwork.

Her piece, Black Light Series #10: Flag for the Moon: Die Nigger, 1969—which was created in response to the first image of the Apollo 11 Moon landing—was to be purchased by the Chase Manhattan Bank, after Ringgold's work caught the attention of David Rockefeller, the chief executive of the bank. He sent a couple of representatives to buy a piece, and they realized, only after the artist suggested they actually read the text on her work, that the stars and stripes of the American flag as depicted also optically incorporated the phrase "DIE NIGGER". The representatives instead purchased Black Light #9: American Spectrum. The piece Black Light #1: Big Black, from 1967, is included in the permanent collection of Pérez Art Museum Miami.

During the 1970s she also made a "Free Angela" poster design for the Black Panthers.

In terms of the place of painting in her practice as whole, the artist considered it her "primary means of expression," as she noted in an interview on the occasion of a retrospective at the New Museum in New York City, from 2022. She went on to note: "My work is always autobiographical—it's about what is happening at the time. I always do what is honest to me. I think all artists should try to be knowledgeable about the world and express feelings about what they're observing, what's important to them. My advice is: Find your voice and don't worry about what other people think."

Quilts and other textiles

thumb|right|alt=Tar Beach 2 (1990), by Ringgold. This painted story quilt tells the story of Cassie Louise Lightfoot, an eight-year-old girl who dreams of flying over her family's Harlem apartment building and throughout the rest of New York City. Photo taken at the Delaware Art Museum in 2017.|Tar Beach 2 (1990), by Ringgold. This painted story quilt tells the story of Cassie Louise Lightfoot, an 8-year-old girl who dreams of flying over her family's Harlem apartment building and throughout the rest of New York City. Photo taken at the [[Delaware Art Museum in 2017.]]

Ringgold stated she switched from painting to fabric to get away from the association of painting with Western European traditions. She turned to textile, fiber arts, and mixed media assemblages as a means of both engaging with African sources associated with the Black Arts movement and the "craft" media associated with the feminist movement. The use of textiles like quilts also gave Ringgold the autonomy advocated by the feminist movement: she could simply roll up her quilts to take to the gallery, therefore negating the need of any assistance from her husband.

Ringgold created her first thangka-inspired works with the Feminist series. Each of the vertically-oriented works in this series consisted of an unstretched painted scene, centered on an abstracted landscape, that was framed with a fabric border. Ringgold paired the landscape with a quote drawn from the anthology Black Women in White America. Statements by African-American women like Shirley Chisholm and Sojourner Truth emphasized gender prejudice as stronger than racial prejudice. and taught Ringgold how to quilt in the African-American tradition. This collaboration eventually led to their first quilt, Echoes of Harlem, in 1980. Her first quilt story Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima? (1983) depicts the story of Aunt Jemima as a matriarch restaurateur and fictionally revises "the most maligned Black female stereotype." Another piece, titled Change: Faith Ringgold's Over 100 Pounds Weight Loss Performance Story Quilt (1986), engages the topic of "a woman who wants to feel good about herself, struggling to [the] cultural norms of beauty, a person whose intelligence and political sensitivity allows her to see the inherent contradictions in her position, and someone who gets inspired to take the whole dilemma into an artwork". In other quilts from the series, Simone is shown posing nude for modernist artists Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, but also turns the tables in Picnic at Giverny (a parodic citation of Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass), in which she paints a nude Picasso while accompanied by contemporary women who, like Ringgold, were working to increase women's participation in the art world. Tar Beach, the first of Ringgold's children's books, won many awards, including the Caldecott Honor book award and the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration.

Sculpture

In 1973, Ringgold began experimenting with sculpture as a new medium to document her local community and national events. Her sculptures range from costumed masks to hanging and freestanding soft sculptures, representing both real and fictional characters from her past and present. She began making mixed-media costumed masks after hearing her students express their surprise that she did not already include masks in her artistic practice. Her soft sculptures evolved even further into life-sized "portrait masks", representing characters from her life and society, from unknown Harlem denizens to Martin Luther King Jr. She carved foam faces into likenesses that were then spray-painted—however, in her memoir she described how the faces later began to deteriorate and had to be restored. She did this by covering the faces in cloth, molding them carefully to preserve the likeness.

Performance art

As many of Ringgold's mask sculptures could also be worn as costumes, her transition from mask-making to performance art was a self-described "natural progression".

Publications

Ringgold wrote and illustrated 17 children's books. Her first was Tar Beach, published by Crown in 1991, based on her quilt story of the same name. and the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. She was also the runner-up for the Caldecott Medal, the premier American Library Association award for picture book illustration. In her picture books, Ringgold approached complex issues of racism in straightforward and hopeful ways, combining fantasy and realism to create an uplifting message for children. Around 1974, Ringgold and Wallace were founding members of the National Black Feminist Organization. Ringgold was also a founding member of the "Where We At" Black Women Artists, a New York-based women's art collective associated with the Black Arts Movement. The inaugural show of "Where We At" featured soul food rather than traditional cocktails, exhibiting an embrace of cultural roots. The show was first presented in 1971 with eight artists and had expanded to 20 by 1976.

In 1972, Ringgold discussed an upcoming WSABAL show in an interview with Doloris Holmes for the Archives of American Art, describing it as "definitely the first Black female show in New York...we have this show as a result of our insistence, and as a result of the work that WSABAL started."

Ringgold spoke about Black representation in the arts in 2004, saying:

<blockquote>When I was in elementary school I used to see reproductions of Horace Pippin's 1942 painting called John Brown Going to His Hanging in my textbooks. I didn't know Pippin was a Black person. No one ever told me that. I was much, much older before I found out that there was at least one Black artist in my history books. Only one. Now that didn't help me. That wasn't good enough for me. How come I didn't have that source of power? It is important. That's why I am a Black artist. It is exactly why I say who I am." From 1988 to 1996, this organization exhibited the works of African American women across the United States. In 1990, Sligh was one of three organizers of the exhibit Coast to Coast: A Women of Color National Artists' Book Project held from January 14 to February 2, 1990, at the Flossie Martin Gallery, and later at the Eubie Blake Center and the Artemesia Gallery. Ringgold wrote the catalog introduction titled "History of Coast to Coast". More than 100 women artists of color were included. The catalog included brief artist statements and photos of the artists' books, including works by Sligh, Ringgold, Emma Amos, Beverly Buchanan, Elizabeth Catlett, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Howardena Pindell, Adrian Piper, Joyce Scott, and Deborah Willis.

Later life

Throughout the 1970s, Ringgold lectured at Pratt Institute, Banks Street College of Education, and Wagner College. In 1987, Ringgold accepted a teaching position in the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego. She continued to teach until 2002, when she retired. She was interviewed for the 2010 film !Women Art Revolution.

Personal life and death

Ringgold resided with her second husband Burdette "Birdie" Ringgold, whom she married in 1962, in a home in Englewood, New Jersey, where she lived and maintained a steady studio practice from 1992. Burdette died on February 1, 2020.

Ringgold died at her home in Englewood, New Jersey, on April 13, 2024, at age 93.

Ringgold was the plaintiff in a significant copyright case, Ringgold v. Black Entertainment Television. Black Entertainment Television (BET) had aired several episodes of the television series Roc in which a Ringgold poster was shown on nine occasions for a total of 26.75 seconds. Ringgold sued for copyright infringement. The court found BET liable, rejecting a de minimis defense raised by BET, which had argued that the use of Ringgold's copyrighted work was so minimal that it did not constitute an infringement.

  • Her image is included in the iconic 1972 poster Some Living American Women Artists by Mary Beth Edelson.
  • She is featured in Sam Pollard's 2021 documentary Black Art: In the Absence of Light.

Selected exhibitions

Ringgold's first one-woman show, American People, opened December 19, 1967, at Spectrum Gallery. The show included three of her murals: The Flag is Bleeding, U.S. Postage Stamp Commemorating the Advent of Black Power, and Die.

  • Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida (November 6 – January 1, 2012)
  • Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia (February 2 – May 19, 2012)
  • National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. (June 21 – November 10, 2013)

In 2019, a major retrospective of Ringgold's work was mounted by London's Serpentine Galleries, from June 6 until September 8. This was Ringgold's first show at a European institution.

In 2020, Ringgold's work was featured in Polyphonic: Celebrating PAMM's Fund for African American Art, a group show at Pérez Art Museum Miami highlighting artists in the museum collection acquired through the PAMM Fund for African American Art, an initiative created in 2013. Along with Ringgold, the exhibiting artists included Tschabalala Self, Xaviera Simmons, Romare Bearden, Juana Valdez, Edward Clark, Kevin Beasley, and others.

In 2022, the New Museum organized a retrospective Faith Ringgold: American People, exhibiting works created over her career. It was exhibited at the New Museum from February 17 – June 5, 2022; it traveled to the de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (July 16 – November 27, 2022), the Musee Picasso (January 31 – July 2, 2023), and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago November 18, 2023 – February 25, 2024).  The catalog was edited by Massimiliano Gioni and Gary Carrion-Murayari ().

Ringgold was included in the 2022 exhibition Women Painting Women at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

From June 27 to October 12, 2025, the High Museum of Art exhibited Faith Ringgold: Seeing Children, describing it as "the most comprehensive exhibition to date of the artist's original children's books" and part of the High's "exhibition series celebrating the art and authors of children's books".

In 2025, a retrospective of Ringgold's work was shown at the Jack Shainman Gallery in its inaugural exhibition dedicated to the trailblazing American artist, author, educator and activist.

Notable works in public collections

  • The American People Series #1: Between Friends (1963), Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York
  • The American People Series #4: The Civil Rights Triangle (1963), Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland
  • The American People Series#20: Die (1967), Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • Black Light Series #1: Big Black (1967), Pérez Art Museum Miami
  • Black Light Series #3: Soul Sister (1967), Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City
  • Black Light Series #7: Ego Painting (1969), Art Institute of Chicago
  • America Free Angela (1971), National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  • United States of Attica (1971–1972), Art Institute of Chicago; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Whitney Museum, New York
  • For the Women's House (1972), Brooklyn Museum, New York (on long-term loan from Rikers Island, New York City Department of Correction)
  • Lucy: The 3.5 Million Year Old Lady (1977), Minneapolis Institute of Art
  • Echoes of Harlem (1980), Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
  • Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima? (1983), Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland
  • Street Story Quilt, Parts I-III: Accident, Fire, Homecoming (1985), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Sonny's Bridge (1986), High Museum of Art, Atlanta
  • The Bitter Nest, Part I: Love in the School Yard (1987), Phoenix Art Museum
  • The Bitter Nest, Part II: The Harlem Renaissance Party (1987), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
  • Dream 2: King and the Sisterhood (1988), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Woman on a Bridge #1 of 5: Tar Beach (1988), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
  • Freedom of Speech (1990), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Tar Beach 2 (1990), Philadelphia Museum of Art; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
  • The French Collection Part I, #1: Dancing at the Louvre (1991), Gund Gallery, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
  • The French Collection Part I, #5: Matisse's Model (1991), Baltimore Museum of Art
  • The French Collection Part I, #7: Picasso's Studio (1991), Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts
  • Feminist Series #10: Of My Two Handicaps (1972/1993), Whitney Museum, New York
  • Crown Heights Children's History Story Quilt (1994), PS 22, New York City School Construction Authority
  • Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines (1996), 125th Street station, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York
  • The American Collection #4: Jo Baker's Bananas (1997), National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
  • The American Collection #5: Bessie's Blues (1997), Art Institute of Chicago
  • Coming to Jones Road Print #2: Under a Blood Red Sky (2001), Weatherspoon Art Museum
  • People Portraits: in Creativity; Performing; Sports and Fashion (2009), Civic Center/Grand Park station, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
  • In the Classroom: Grace Hopper (2022), Grace Hopper College, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Publications

  • Tar Beach, New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 1991 (1st ed.); Dragonfly Books (Crown), 1996.
  • Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 1992 (1st ed.); Dragonfly Books, 1995.
  • Dinner at Aunt Connie's House, New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1993.
  • We Flew Over The Bridge: Memoirs of Faith Ringgold, Boston: Bulfinch Press (Little, Brown and Company), 1995 (1st ed.); Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2005.
  • Talking To Faith Ringgold by Faith Ringgold, Linda Freeman and Nancy Roucher, New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 1996.
  • Bonjour, Lonnie, New York: Hyperion Books for Young Readers, 1996.
  • My Dream of Martin Luther King, New York: Dragonfly Books, 1996.
  • The Invisible Princess, New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 1998 (1st ed.); New York: Dragonfly Books, 2001.
  • If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks, New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young People, 1999 (1st ed.); Aladdin Books (Simon & Schuster), 2001.
  • Counting to Tar Beach: A Tar Beach Board Book, New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 1999.
  • Cassie's Colorful Day: A Tar Beach Board Book, New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 1999.
  • Cassie's Word Quilt, New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2002 (1st ed.); Dragonfly Books, 2004; Random House Children's Books, 2012.
  • Faith Ringgold: A View from the Studio by Curlee Raven Holton and Faith Ringgold, Boston: Bunker Hill Publishing in association with the Allentown Art Museum, 2004.
  • O Holy Night: Christmas with the Boys Choir of Harlem, New York: Amistad (HarperCollins), 2004.
  • What Will You Do for Peace? Impact of 9/11 on New York City Youth, introduction by Faith Ringgold, Hamden, Connecticut: InterRelations Collaborative, 2004.
  • The Three Witches by Zora Neale Hurston, adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas, illustrated by Faith Ringgold, New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
  • Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dream Comes True, Piermont, New Hampshire: Bunker Hill Publishing in association with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2011.
  • Bronzeville Boys and Girls (poetry) by Gwendolyn Brooks, illustrated by Faith Ringgold, New York: Amistad, 2007 (1st ed.); HarperCollins, 2015.
  • Harlem Renaissance Party, New York: Amistad, 2015.
  • A Letter to my Daughter, Michele: in response to her book, Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015 (written 1980).
  • We Came to America, New York: Knopf, 2016 (1st ed.); Dragonfly Books, 2022.
  • Faith Ringgold: Politics / Power by Faith Ringgold, Michele Wallace, and Kirsten Weiss, Berlin: Weiss Publications, 2022.

See also

  • Feminist art movement in the United States
  • Black feminism

References

Further reading

Articles, chapters, and essays

Interviews

  • "Faith Ringgold" (artist listing with ACA Galleries)
  • "Faith Ringgold. American People Series #20: Die. 1967" (audio interview with Faith Ringgold), Museum of Modern Art
  • "Faith Ringgold" video playlist on YouTube (video interviews with Faith Ringgold), National Visionary Leadership Project (uploaded March 22, 2010)
  • "All About Kids! Episode 188" on YouTube (video interview with Faith Ringgold by Kate Maxwell Williams), All About Kids!, Hennepin County Library (uploaded December 7, 2021, aired 1994)