FAITH RINGGOLD
HUMAN SPECTRUM: NARRATED BY FAITH RINGGOLD
ON VIEW MAY 2, 2019– October 6, 2019
The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling is thrilled to present our second Legacy
Gallery exhibition this year in celebration of the iconic American artist Faith Ringgold. Human
Spectrum: Narrated by Faith Ringgold explores the ideas of civilization, community, and family
inherent to the work presented in Sugar Hill Songbook: Select Work by Faith Ringgold (Oct 17,
2018- April 14, 2019). In Human Spectrum Ringgold’s illustrations are paired with an arresting
series of soft sculptures. Amplifying the artist’s longstanding commitment to activism this
exhibition is anchored in the rich cultural and political heritage of the artist’s home of Sugar Hill.
As the author and illustrator of seventeen acclaimed children’s books, art and storytelling from
the pages of Harlem Renaissance Party, We Came to America, as well as Tar Beach, Faith
Ringgold’s modern classic and first published book for young readers, are on view throughout
the exhibition.
Human Spectrum: Narrated by Faith Ringgold will be on view from May 2- September 22, 2019.
This exhibition is accompanied by a yearlong roster of intergenerational activities exploring the
global impact of the life and legacy of Faith Ringgold. Each activity has been devised to
spotlight how the artist has sparked the imaginations of children through art and storytelling,
empowering them and their families to better comprehend and address the complexities of
inequality, representation, and identity with dignity and hope.
About The Artist
Faith Ringgold is an internationally celebrated artist, educator, writer, and community activist. Her body of work, which spans more than six decades, includes profoundly human representations of African American history, themes, and individuals that have been excluded from representation within the American cultural canon. Through diverse media including painting, sculpture, quilting, performance art, writing, and illustration, Ringgold weaves brilliantly layered and highly engaging tales that are accessible for children, bearing witness to and celebrating neglected cultural and historic treasures.
Ringgold has received 22 honorary doctorates from The City University of New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others, and 80 awards including the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, NAACP. Her work is included in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Museum of American Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the High Museum of Art. Ringgold is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, where she taught art from 1987 until 2002.
EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
