Tapestry maquette

Faith Ringgold began her career as a painter but is best known for her “story quilts,” an art form influenced by her family’s tradition of quilting that also encompasses her love of painting and storytelling. Ringgold was born in Harlem and attended The City College of New York, receiving a BS in fine art and education (1955) and an MA in art (1959). An artist activist, she cofounded the group “Where We At," which protested the lack of people of color and women represented in museums. This quilt is one of four maquettes that together constitute an illustrated honor roll of contributors to African American literature and Harlem literary life. Ringgold created these small versions for a proposed public artwork for the Library’s Schomburg Center.