National Arts Club Honors Medal of Honor Recipient Faith Ringgold
“YOU CAN’T SIT AROUND AND WAIT FOR SOMEBODY TO SAY WHO YOU ARE. YOU NEED TO WRITE IT AND PAINT IT AND DO IT.”
-FAITH RINGGOLD, NAC MEDAL OF HONOR, FINE ART
Throughout February, the National Arts Club honors Black History Month, along with International Black Women in the Arts Month, but recognizing the immense contributions and accomplishments of Black artists.
Not only does Ringgold hold an Honorary Vice Presidency with NAWA, but is held in high esteem by all of its members. She is a painter, mixed media sculptor, performance artist, writer, teacher, and lecturer. Born in Harlem in 1930, she grew up during the latter half of the Harlem Renaissance and was surrounded by creative energy. During the 1960s, Ringgold traveled through Europe and had her first solo exhibitions. In the ‘70s, she began experimenting with quilting and performance art—often combining various mediums into her own unique style. By 1991, Ringgold had written her first book, Tar Beach, which won many awards. Throughout her career, Ringgold has used her work to advocate for social justice. Continuing to create late into her life, she has received more than 80 awards and honors and 23 Honorary Doctorates.
In Honor of Women’s Month March 2022
Flip a quarter soon and you may find that the “tails” side depicts the likeness of the late poet and activist Maya Angelou. On Monday, the United States Mint began shipping coins featuring the writer, making Angelou the first Black woman to appear on the quarter.
The Mint is distributing the new coins featuring Angelou as part of the American Women Quarters (AWQ) Program, a four-year project meant to honor the accomplishments and contributions of women from a range of disciplines. Rolling out through 2025, the program will introduce five new designs each year, with 2022 set to honor astronaut and physicist Dr. Sally Ride, Native American activist and Cherokee Nation chief Wilma Mankiller, New Mexico suffragist Nina Otero-Warren and Chinese American Hollywood star Anna May Wong, in addition to Angelou.
Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) is a poet and essayist, best known for her autogbiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She also published many books of poetry, among them Woman Work:
I’ve got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I’ve got shirts to press
The tots to dress
The cane to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.
Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
‘Til I can rest again.
Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.
Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You’re all that I can call my own.
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Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum Names Maura Reilly as New Director
We have a special reason to congratulate Maura Reilly for her exciting new position as Director of the Zimmerli Art Museum. Not only is Maura an honoree of NAWA’s, and very beloved by those in the arts community who have had the pleasure of knowing her, but NAWA’s own permanent collection is housed at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum on the Rutgers University Campus in New Brunswick, NJ since 1991.
We are grateful to the dedicated leadership of Past President Liana Moonie (b.1922-d.2016) who secured a permanent home for the work of NAWA’s artists dating from the organization’s earliest days to the present. A full archive is located at the Alexander Library at Rutgers University.
(NAWA NOW looks forward to bringing you further coverage of Maura Reilly, as she undertakes such an important role on behalf of the Zimmerli Art Museum and her ongoing commitment to the artworks of women artists.) (sb)
