Recently, Northwestern’s Bridge Center held a painting day that focused on and emulated the accomplishments of artist and activist Faith Ringgold as one of their many planned events for this year’s celebration of Black History Month.
The event was led by Irene Lopez Valdivia, a graphic designer from South Sioux City.
A Black, female artist born during the Great Depression, Ringgold was working in a time where, as the attendees of the event learned, only Two percent of all art displayed in galleries were created by women.
Ringgold, and many other artists, strived to work against that unjustifiable imbalance. Much credit is owed to her for the progress this nation has made with gender equality in art since she started her career.
The event was centered around readings from Ringgold’s children’s book, “Tar Beach,” as a way of displaying her unique art style and also her influential legacy.
Ruthie Zimmerman, an attendee of the event, had the following to say about the beauty in Ringgold’s work: “Ringgold’s art is unique, blending fabric, paint, and canvases to create ‘story quilts’ which could be conveniently rolled up and carried from gallery to gallery as she paved her own way as an artist and a woman of color in a racist, misogynistic world.”
As for how the attendees went about replicating Ringgold’s methods to make their own quilts, Zimmerman said that they “were given a canvas, paints and scraps of cloth, and told to think of a childhood memory or anything lovely and paint it in the middle of the canvas. Once it dried, following Ringgold’s style, we created a border with different patches of fabric. I felt refreshed and inspired, not just because this was a time to celebrate diversity and the arts, but also because it was a time to relax and make something simply for fun, instead of making it ‘perfect’ for a grade.”
Many other students reported similar feelings of engagement, learning satisfaction, and comfort, an example being attendee Emily Espinoza referring to the event as “such a wonderful time to both learn about Faith Ringgold and then put into practice what we learned. We took inspiration from her story quilts and made our own with a personal memory/story. Her use of storytelling, art and creative composition makes for a wonderful work. it was also such a great time to be creative without stress or worry.”
Finding ways to celebrate the diversity of historical figures as well as the diversity of the wide array of personal stories that each individual on campus has to provide is something that NW’s Bridge Center is quite prolific at.
This sentiment was echoed by NW’s Associate Director of Intercultural Development Kelsey Joseph. “This event provided a wonderful opportunity to honor a Black artist in recognition of Black History Month on campus. At the Bridge Center, we aim to build connections within our community and campus through Loving, Linking, Listening and Learning from one another.” Joseph said. “The class was a fantastic chance to come together, share our stories through art, and learn about the legacy of Faith Ringgold and her powerful contributions to the world of art.”
This event was deemed by all who attended to be a complete success, and many in NW’s student body are eagerly awaiting the next artistic celebration that the Bridge Center plans.
