“Faith Ringgold: More Than 60 Years”

Faith Ringgold, Artist photo credit: Grace Matthews

Picnic on the Grass © Faith Ringgold 1997

4/2/12

Randolph-Macon College hosted artist Faith Ringgold on March 29, 2012 in Blackwell Auditorium, R-MC Center for the Performing Arts. The artist presented “Faith Ringgold: More Than 60 Years.”

Ringgold also hosted a quilt workshop for R-MC students and the community, and her visit to the college was capped off with a reception at Gallery Flux in Ashland.

Click on Faith Ringgold to view photos from the workshop and reception.

Ringgold is one of the most significant African-American artists of our time. Her art, which includes painting, collage and quilts, is highly politicized and argues against both racial and female oppression. Since the 1960s, her groundbreaking work has been challenging stereotypes of both race and female identity and has been engaging audiences in a meaningful dialogue about prejudices and misconceptions.

In her presentation she discussed the evolution and development in her work, beginning with her political images of the 1960s, framed by her personal accounts about the Civil Rights movement in the "American People Series," to her current work in pictorial quilts and other forms of visual expression. Her thought-provoking exploration of her ever-evolving work provided insight into her lifelong concerns as an artist, activist, author and teacher.

This lecture was the culmination of R-MC’s three-part, interdisciplinary women’s studies series, "Survivors, and it was sponsored by the Art History Department and is supported by R-MC’s Committee on Assemblies and Special Events (CASE), the Office of Student Affairs, Women’s Studies and the First Year Experience Colloquium (FYEC) “The Longest American Century – History Realities and Theatrical Reflections," which is taught by Professors Alphine Jefferson (history) and Marilyn Mattys (communication studies).