PULLMAN – Faith Ringgold, whom many call the best known African American woman artist in the world, will deliver the 2007 Jo Hockenhull Distinguished Lecture Feb. 21. Ringgold will talk about 40 years of art, activism and life. The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Todd Auditorium on WSU’s Pullman campus.
A painter, writer, speaker, mixed media sculptor and performance artist, Ringgold is the recipient of more than 75 awards, including 18 honorary doctor of fine arts degrees. A resident of Englewood, N.J., Ringgold is professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, where she taught art from 1987 until 2002.
The Jo Hockenhull Distinguished Visiting Lecturer series was launched in 1996 by the Department of Women’s Studies to honor Jo Hockenhull, a WSU professor emeritus of fine arts who served as director of women’s studies for more than a decade.
“There are so many elements of Faith Ringgold’s selection which support the decision to name her the Jo Hockenhull Distinguished Visiting Lecturer,” said Noël Sturgeon, chair of women’s studies. “Like Jo, Ringgold is a renowned artist who uses her talents to call attention to issues related to social injustice and diversity,” Sturgeon said. “It seems doubly appropriate that Ringgold will be on campus during February, Black History Month.”
Ringgold has written and illustrated a total of 14 children’s books including her award-winning “Tar Beach.” Ringgold will autograph copies of her books, which will be available for sale following the lecture.
One of Ringgold’s prints, “The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles” (1996), from the permanent collection of the WSU Museum of Art, will be displayed in the museum during Ringgold’s visit.
Museums worldwide have exhibited Ringgold’s work and her pieces are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of American Art. “Faith Ringgold,” a survey exhibition of paintings, prints, story quilts and soft sculpture, opened Jan. 19 in the Jundt Galleries at Gonzaga University in Spokane. The exhibit runs through April 4.
Ringgold’s recent painting series includes “The American Collection” (1997), a series of painted story quilts in which Ringgold undertakes to rewrite African American art history.
Ringgold has received numerous public commissions, including “Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines” (1996), two 25-foot mosaic murals installed on the uptown and downtown platforms of the 125th Street Independent Rapid Transit (7th Avenue IRT) subway station in New York City.
Jo Hockenhull Lecturers have been visual artists, writers, poets, performance artists and others dedicated to issues of social justice. Former Hockenhull Lecturers include Anna Chavez, Yong Soon Min, Coco Fusco, Octavia Butler and the Guerrilla Girls, a lively, humorous and controversial performance group dedicated to exposing issues of discrimination in the art, film and theater worlds.
The event is free of charge and open to the public. Cosponsors of the 2006 Hockenhull Lecture are the Department of Women’s Studies; the Department of Fine Arts; the Office of Equity and Diversity; the Coalition of Women Students; the Black Women’s Caucus; the WSU Museum of Art; the Visual, Performing and Literary Arts Committee; and the College of Liberal Arts.
