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| Faith Ringgold's painting of Cassie and her brother Be Be |
“Anyone can
fly.” These words of wisdom come from an eight-year-old girl in Faith
Ringgold’s book Tar Beach. My art
students have been learning about Faith Ringgold because February is Black
History Month, and Ms. Ringgold is a famous Black artist, very much alive and
kicking at ninety years old.
Faith Ringgold
is best known for her story quilts. As a child, Ms. Ringgold learned quilting
from her grandmother. Quilting was a connection to the African tradition of
weaving, as well as to the freedom journey by escaped slaves in America in the
mid-1800s. During the Underground Railroad, quilts were draped over rooftops as
symbols of safety to freedom seekers.
All this month my students have been making art inspired by three of Ms. Ringgold’s paintings. The
younger students copied a painting from Ringgold’s book Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. In the book, a
little girl dreams she is flying near a train that is zooming through the
clouds. The train represents the Underground Railroad network that Harriet
Tubman created to help freedom seekers find a new life.
The five drawings below were done by Kindergarteners, and I am very impressed by their art:
Next, here are four drawings by first graders. I love their gusto.
My older students copied a different scene from the same book. A separate blog post with these drawings is coming up next month. The drawings are detailed and they are taking longer than I expected and so you will see them once the students finish.
The third
painting that my students copied is from Ringgold’s book Tar Beach. This painting shows Cassie, an eight-year-old girl,
flying above the city. Cassie is flying triumphantly above her city, claiming
it as her own. In the book, Cassie dreams that she is flying above the George
Washington Bridge and her own neighborhood, including her apartment building.
The roof of her building is nicknamed “Tar Beach” by her family, as they go
there to relax, get some sun and enjoy fresh air.
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| Ms. Ringgold' painting from her book Tar Beach. |
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| fourth grade |
The next five drawings were done by fifth graders.
In the book, Cassie says, “Anyone can fly,” a reassuring message from a young girl to people around the world. With a child’s innocence and bravery, she encourages us to shed our doubts and dream big.
Ms. Ringgold
is no stranger to dreaming big. Her passion led to involvement in the Civil
Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement. In 1950 Ms. Ringgold wanted to major
in art at City College of New York, but women were not allowed to pursue that
major then. She decided to major in art education instead, and got her
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. When she first pursued writing her
autobiography, no publisher would accept it. Undeterred, Ms. Ringgold decided
that her art quilts would be her visual autobiography, a way to share her
stories. She is known as a painter, sculptor and performance artist, but she is
most famous for her art quilts, which combine painting, quilting and
storytelling. Trips to West Africa and Europe influenced Ms. Ringgold’s art. A
1980 trip to South Asia, where she saw local art, influenced her to add fabric
borders to her paintings. Eventually, publishers saw the light and offered to
publish Ms. Ringgold’s stories. She has written seventeen children’s books and
has received many awards for her books and art. For her perseverance and belief
in herself, she is an ideal person to learn about during Black History Month.
I hope you
enjoyed reading about Faith Ringgold and seeing the wonderful art my students
made. Stick around because I will be back soon with another chapter of Sarah’s
Amazing Art Students!
