Engaging children with artists who look like them, have similar experiences, and come from similar backgrounds is a great source of inspiration and empowerment. By reflecting their own identities, experiences and motivations (mirrors) and also providing insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others (windows) can move students toward more nuanced perceptions of the world around them (sliding glass doors).* Discover new BIPOC artists to add to your curriculum.
*Source: By Rudine Sims Bishop, The Ohio State University. "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors"
Black Artists
Artists have many layered identities and art educators need to present them as such.
Representing diverse artists in your curriculum is only part of an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist curriculum. It needs to be more than a symbolic effort and art educators need to take into account intersectionality when introducing these artists to students. How do aspects of an artists’ social and political identities (ex. gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, ability, physical appearance, etc.) intersect within their work?
In addition, we recognize that race is socially constructed and it is impossible to put humans in clearly defined categories by race. Racial identity is deeply personal, and artists within any given subgroup define themselves differently. Race, ethnicity, and nationality are all factors artist's individually consider as their personal identity. However, as mentioned previously that is not all that there is to their identity. We know that artists have many layered identities and art educators need to do the research to present them as such. These groupings are not perfect, as humans are not meant to be divided into boxes. We hope this resource can help art educators identify who is missing from their curriculum in order to create a curriculum more representative of the incredible diversity among students and artists today.
A
Aaron Douglas
American
Abe Odedina
Nigerian
Adia Millett
American
Adde Adesokan
German / Nigerian
Alexandria Smith
British
Alice Beasley
American
Alma Woodsey Thomas
American
Alison Saar
American
Amir Abdul-Shakur
American
Amir Khadar
Sierra Leonean-American
Amy Sherald
American
Angela Pilgrim
American
Andrea Chung
American
Angelica Dass
Brazilian
Anna Jane McIntyre
Canadian
Andrea Pippins
Swedish
Ashanté Kindle
American
Asuka Anastacia Ogawa
Japanese-Brazilian
Augusta Savage
American
Aurélia Durand
American
Ashley Chew
American
B
Barbara Jone-Hogu
American
Barkley L Hendricks
American
Barry Johnson
American
Bayeté Ross Smith
American
Benny Andrews
American
Bee Harris
American
Betye Saar
American
Bisa Butler
American
Brandan “BMike” Odums
American
Brittany Williams
C
Camille Turner
Canadian
Carrie Mae Weems
American
Cauleen Smith
American
Cbabi Bayoc
American
Charles Alston
American
Chakaia Booker
American
Charles White
American
Chip Thomas AKA jetsonorama
American
Christo Musinguzi
Ugandan
Christopher Myers
American
Ciara LeRoy
American
Clementine Hunter
American
Cy Gavin
American
Cedric Michael Cox
American
Carolyn Mazloomi
American
D
Dáreece J. Walker American
David Alabo
Ghanaian-Moroccan
David Driskell
American
David Hammons
American
Dawoud Bey
American
Deana Lawson
American
Deborah Roberts
American
Delfin Finley
American
Delita Martin
American
Derrick Adams
American
Délio Jasse
Angolan
Derek Fordjour
American (Ghanaian heritage)
Devin Allen
American
Didier William
Haitian
Dissirama
Ghanaian
E
Ebony G. Patterson
Jamaican
Ejatu Shaw
British
Ekow Nimako
Ghanaian-Canadian
Ekua Holmes
American
El Anatsui
Ghanaian
Eliana Rodgers
American
Elias Sime
Ethiopian
Elizabeth Catlett
American & Mexican
Ellis Wilson
American
Emma Amos
American
Emory Douglas
American
Ernie Barnes
American
F
Faith Bebbington British (Jamaican heritage)
Faith Ringgold
American
Falko One
South African
Francis Robateau
Belizean American
Frank Bowling
Guyanan/British
Frank Morrison
American
Fred Wilson
American
G
Glenn Ligon
American
Gordon Parks
American
Gerald A. Brown
American
H
Hale Woodruff
American
Hamilton Glass
American
Hank Willis Thomas
American
Harold D. Smith Jr.
American
Hebru Brantley
American
Henry Ossawa Tanner
American
Henry Taylor
American
Horace Pippin
American
Howardena Pindell
American
Hippy Potter
American
I
Iona Rozeal Brown
American
Ibrahim el-Salahi
Sudanese
J
Jack Whitten
American
Jackie Ormes
American
Jacob Lawrence
American
Jacolby Satterwhite
American
Jade Purple Brown
American
Jae Jarrell
American
Jalondra Quvon
American
Jamaal Barber
American
Jamel Shabazz
African American
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Haitian/Puerto Rican
Jeanette Ehlers
Danish-Trinidadian
Jen Hewett
American
Jennifer Mack-Watkins
American
Jennifer Packer
American
Jessi Raulet
American
Jessica Spence
Jamaican-American
Jibade-Khalil Huffman
American
Johnson Eziefula
Nigerian
Joiri Minaya
Dominican-United Statesian
Jonelle James
Guyanese & Jamaican
Jordan Casteel
American
Joyce J. Scott
African American
Julie Mehretu
Ethiopian
K
Kara Walker
American
Kayla Mahaffey
American
Kadir Nelson
American
Khari Turner
American
Kay Brown
American
Kay Douglas
American
Kerry James Marshall
American
Kenyatta AC Hinkle
American
Kehinde Wiley
American
Kesha Bruce
American
Kevin Kabue
Kenyan
Kevin Snipes
American
Kimmy Cantrell
American
Kori Newkirk
American
Kip Omolade
American
L
Laci Jordan
American
LaKela Brown
American
Lakwena Maciver
British
LaToya Hobbs
American
LaToya Ruby Frazier
American
Lauren Halsey
American
Laylah Ali
American
La Vaughn Belle
Virgin Islands
Lavaughan Jenkins
American
Lava Thomas
American
Leslie Diuguid
American
Leeya Rose Jackson
American
Lina Iris Viktor
British-Liberian
Lois Mailou Jones
American
Lonnie Holley
American
Lorna Simpson
American
LaShawnda Crowe Storm
M
Madelyn Sneed Grays
American
Magdalene Odundo
Kenyan, British
Malaya Lalog
American
Malcolm Mobutu Smith
American
Mark Bradford
American
Manuel Mendive
Afro-Cuban
Marlon Riggs
American
Martin Puryear
American
Mary Edmonia Lewis
American
Mia Saine
American
Michael C. Thorpe
American
Mickalene Thomas
American
Michael Zeray
African American
Mildred Beltré
American
Mimi Moffie
Dutch
Moe Brooker
American
Musah Swallah
Ghanaian
N
Nadine Robinson
Jamaican
Natasha Cunningham
Jamaican
Nick Cave
American
Nicholle Kobi
French
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Nigerian American
Norman Lewis
American
Nontsikelelo ‘Lolo’ Veleko
South African
Nathan Murray
American
Natasha Nayo
Ghanaian
Nina Chanel Abney
American
Noah Purifoy
American
O
Odili Donald Odita
Nigerian
P
Palmer Hayden
American
Paul Andrew Wandless
American
Paul Briggs
American
Pierre Santos
British
Prince Gyasi Nyantakyi
Ghanaian
Q
Queenbe Moneyi
American
Quentin Veracity
Canadian
R
Rashid Diab
Sudanese
Rashid Johnson
American
Rashod Taylor
American
Reggie Laurent
American
Renee Cox
Jamaican-American
Renée Stout
American
Robert S. Duncanson
American
Romare Bearden
American
Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze
Nigerian-British
S
Sam Gilliam
American
Sam Dunson
American
Sharee Miller
American
Sharif Bey
American
Sharon Norwood
Canadian, Jamaican, American
Shanée Benjamin
American
Simone Leigh
American
Simone Saunders
Jamaican European
Stanley Whitney
American
Stephen Carter American
Stephen Marc
American
Stephen Wiltshire
British
Stephanie Santana
American
T
Tanekeya Word
American
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
American
Tawny Chatmon
American
Taylor McManus
American
Temi Coker
Nigerian
Thomas J. Price
British
Thornton Dial
African-American
Titus Kaphar
American
Tiffany Thomas
American
Tre Crews
American
Torkwase Dyson
American
Toyin Ojih Odutola
American-Nigerian
Tyree Guyton
American
U
Umar Rashid AKA Frohawk Two Feathers
American
V
vanessa german American
Vashti Harrison
American
Veronica Ryan
American
W
Wangechi Mutu
Kenyan
Wayde McIntosh
American
Willard Wigan
British
William Johnson
American
Woody De Othello American
Willie Cole
American
X-Y
Xenobia Bailey
African-American
Yinka Shonibare
British-Nigerian
Yung Jake
American
Z
Zanele Muholi
South African
Zipporah Camille Thompson
American
Discover More
A resource of 500+ Black artists
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A Twitter Directory of Accomplished Black Designers
@blackartistspace
@youngblackartists
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invisualart
@blackwomenofprint
Souls Grown Deep Foundation Artists
@bnbbookdesigners
Africa: the continent that is to the south of the Mediterranean Sea, to the east of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west of the Indian Ocean. There are 54 countries in Africa today, according to the United Nations. These include: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Camoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
African: relating to Africa or people of African descent.
African-American: an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. Used to describe ethnicity while Black often describes race. (For example, Black people who live in America but are from other parts of the world other than Africa may not identify as African-American. However, those factions of people may still consider ‘Black’ to be their identity.)
Black: of or relating to any of various population groups having dark pigmentation of the skin or ancestry originating in Africa.
Ethnicity: a group of people who identify with one another with similarities such as history, culture, language, ancestry, etc.
Race: a group of people who share cultural elements such as language, history, etc.