Faith Ringgold: Seeing Children

American artist Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) is widely known and celebrated for her paintings and multimedia art, including narrative quilts. However, her award-winning accomplishments as a children’s book creator are less well known. This summer, the High will present the most comprehensive exhibition to date of original paintings and drawings made for more than a dozen of her children’s books, featuring more than 100 works, including several that have never previously been exhibited. These include original paintings from “If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks” (1999), “Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House” (1993) and “Tar Beach” (1991), in which Cassie, a Black child in 1930s Harlem, imagines a future where she can go anywhere that she dreams of from her apartment’s rooftop. Also on view will be complete artwork from the fairy tale “The Invisible Princess” (1999) and “We Came to America” (2016), which examines the history of immigration in America. Together, the artworks in the exhibition illuminate critical aspects of Ringgold’s practice and convey how Ringgold, a lifelong educator, presents children as creative, purposeful art makers. The exhibition is the latest in the High’s popular series celebrating children’s book art and authors.