Found my peoples
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Captioned Black Art
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“The funny part of it was she was willing to trust them and their motives without questioning, but the instant they saw the color of her skin they knew what she must be.”
— Ann Petry, The Street
A Snippet:
Did you know that despite being the first African-American woman to sell over one million copies of her first novel, The Street (published in 1946), Ann Petry, the classic novelist herself, remains relatively unknown to the greater public?
Learn more . . .
61. “Revival Meeting” (1994)
“If I get a little publicity or make a sale or two, that is not really necessarily a plus in terms of what I visualize as my aim in becoming an artist, in becoming what you would call a successful artist. I'm trying to find a way to involve more people from the community, and to involve myself more in the community.”
— Benny Andrews
Did you know?
Did you know that Benny Andrews (1930 - 2006) was an artist, educator, and activist?
In addition to working in oil and mixed-media collage, Andrews made sculptures, prints, and drawings. He also illustrated several books written by his brother, the author Raymond Andrews, including a biography of civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis.
Born in Plainview, Georgia, in 1930, Andrews earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1958.
Soon after, he moved to New York City where he would live, work, and paint for decades, teaching art at Queens College for nearly thirty years and, from 1982 through 1984, serving as the director of the Visual Arts program for the National Endowment for the Arts.
62. “In Our Solitude”
“Being a father, an artist, and a business man, I’ve learned how to wear several different hats.”
— John Holyfield
Did you know?
Did you know that John Holyfield’s style (influenced by artists Ernie Barnes and Norman Rockwell) has a strong southern folksy feel, capturing the essence (and beauty) of simple living within his works?
As stated by the artist (John Holyfield) himself, “My mission as an artist is to capture, visually, all of the positive and beautiful aspects of being African-American. This artistic talent is ‘my voice’ . . . I feel compelled to say something.”
“Sometimes I feel that there are so many negative images projected out there about African-Americans . . . yet, my experience being black contradicts all of those perceptions. Being a father of two sons, I realize the importance of imagery and the impact it can have on a young mind. So, I decided, early on, that the images I produce will be positive and uplifting.”
63. “Survivor” (1983)
“I am inspired by Black people and Mexican people, my two peoples.”
— Elizabeth Catlett
Did you know?
Did you know that Elizabeth Catlett (1915 - 2012) obtained dual citizenship when she became a Mexican citizen in 1962?
Elizabeth Catlett, born and raised in Washington, D.C., went on to become the first woman and first African-American to receive a MFA degree in sculpture at the University of Iowa.
Grant Wood, her painting teacher at Iowa, encouraged students to make art about what they knew best and to experiment with different mediums, inspiring Catlett to create lithographs, linoleum cuts, and sculpture in wood, stone, clay, and bronze. She drew her subjects from African American life and later Mexican life.
From 1958 until her retirement in 1976, Catlett taught at the National School of Fine Arts in Mexico City and, in 1962, Elizabeth Catlett became a Mexican citizen.
“We were concerned not only with problems in Mexico; the problems of whatever oppressed people, colonial or semicolonial, were of concern to us,” said Catlett.
Redefining success (as a community)
(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)
Found my peoples
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