Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold was born Faith Willi Jones on October 8, 1930, in Harlem, New York City. Growing up in the cultural heartland of Black America during the Harlem Renaissance's aftermath, she was profoundly shaped by African American history, jazz, and the political consciousness of her community. She studied art at the City College of New York, earning both a bachelor's and master's degree, before embarking on a career that would simultaneously tackle racial injustice, feminist theory, and the boundaries of fine art.\n\nRinggold is best known for her story quilts — large narrative works that combine painted imagery, patchwork fabric borders, and handwritten text to tell stories of African American experience. Her 1988 quilt Tar Beach, in which a young girl dreams of flying over New York City, became the basis for an award-winning children's book and stands as her most iconic image. She also made political posters and three-dimensional soft sculptures that confronted the exclusion of Black women from mainstream art institutions; her 1972 mural For the Women's House at the Women's House of Detention on Rikers Island depicted women of all races in positive, empowering roles.\n\nRinggold taught for many years at the University of California, San Diego, and received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Medal of Arts. A prolific children's book author, she brought her visual storytelling to young audiences with titles including Tar Beach and Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky. She died on April 12, 2024, in Englewood, New Jersey.