Ringgold shares life of art, activism

On a rainy spring afternoon, a group of local school children sat in the Watson Fine Arts Center at the foot of acclaimed children's book author and illustrator Faith Ringgold. They listened intently as she animatedly read from her book Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky in which the story of slavery unfolds on colorful pages featuring her artwork.

Ringgold's visit to Wheaton College, which included the session with fourth graders from the Henri A. Yelle Elementary School in nearby Norton and an evening lecture in Hindle Auditorium, was sponsored by the Dale Rogers Marshall Visiting Artists Program Endowed Fund within the Evelyn Danzing Haas '39 Visiting Artists Program. Wheaton senior Meredith Ferguson helped to coordinate the school visit and a temporary gallery of the illustrations from Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky.

The scene of the storyteller teaching, entertaining and provoking conversation was the perfect illustration of who Ringgold is as an artist and activist. She began her artistic career more than 35 years ago. She is best known today for her painted story quilts, which combine painting, quilted fabric and storytelling. Her creations touch upon her African American heritage, slavery, the Civil Rights movement and a wide variety of other subject matter. Aunt Harriet combines imaginative story telling, the facts of Harriet Tubman's life and the tough realities of slavery.

"The students talked about [Ringgold] all the way back to school," said Sara Horton, a fourth grade teacher at the Yelle school. Students have been studying about the Underground Railroad, slavery, abolitionists and biographies of that time, she said. "We have never gotten the chance to put our social studies text to current events. This was amazing…. I took lots of pictures of the field trip. We are going to use them to create our own story quilt and showcase it on the bulletin board outside of our classroom."

Ringgold's great grandmother, who lived to be more than 100 years old, was a survivor of slavery. "But she would never talk about it," Ringgold told an evening audience of students, faculty and local residents. "That's why I've been inspired all my life to tell stories that she wouldn't tell."

For more than two decades, Ringgold, who became an artist during the 1960s, said she tried to get her autobiography published but couldn't until 1995. So she used her art to tell her story another way.

The artist's work is in the permanent collection of many museums, including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Her first book, Tar Beach, was a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration, among numbers other honors.

Ringgold has published 14 children's books. She has received more than 75 awards, fellowships, citations and honors, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Fellowship for painting, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards and 17 honorary doctorates.

During her evening lecture, Ringgold discussed her artistic process, presented a Power Point of her work and shared the inspiration of particular pieces, including one commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for writer Maya Angelou and one of the Clinton family during the presidential years that is now in Bill Clinton's presidential library.

After her lecture, in response to a question from an audience member, Ringgold offered advice to others who are pursing art: "Some people think that being an artist is easy. It's work, work, work. As you do work, you develop and evolve and find your way."