Featuring more than 100 paintings and original drawings, including never-before-exhibited works, from her beloved titles including “Tar Beach” and “We Came to America”
Exhibition is eighth in a series presented in conjunction with a production by the Alliance Theatre
“Faith Ringgold: Seeing Children” June 27-Oct. 12, 2025
ATLANTA, Feb. 11, 2025 — 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 often less well known. This summer, the High Museum of Art will present “Faith Ringgold: Seeing Children” (June 27-Oct. 12, 2025), the most comprehensive exhibition to date of Ringgold’s original paintings and drawings made for her children’s books, including several artworks that have never previously been exhibited. The exhibition will be the latest in the High’s popular series celebrating children’s book art and authors.
“At the High, we’ve distinguished ourselves as champions of children’s book art, which we know inspires creativity, fosters learning and engenders empathy among our youngest visitors,” said Rand Suffolk, the High’s director. “Faith Ringgold’s books continue to be read in homes and classrooms across the United States, and their illustrations are remarkable artistic achievements. For many years we’ve had the pleasure of presenting her quilts in our collection, but with this exhibition, we are uplifting this equally important work and offering a new window into Ringgold’s life and artistry.”
The exhibition will feature more than 100 works from a dozen of Ringgold’s books, including 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 fable “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’s title, “Seeing Children,” signals three themes that weave throughout Ringgold’s books and will be explored in the exhibition: an adult’s capacity to see children, children’s ability to see themselves and their world, and the possibility of children imagining a world beyond what adults can see. Across three sections — American Histories, Stories We Tell and American People — the exhibition will consider the role of children, particularly Black children, in American society and how children, like those in Ringgold’s books, can cultivate more equitable, hopeful possibilities for their future.
“Faith Ringgold started her career as a teacher and believed that all children are artists and should seriously consume art. Often a child will first encounter visual art on the pages of picture books, and they can help children feel valued and empowered,” said Andrew Westover, exhibition curator and the High’s Eleanor McDonald Storza deputy director of learning and civic engagement. “Through this exhibition, we will underscore the importance of those discoveries while at the same time giving due recognition to a lesser-known facet of Ringgold’s art. We’re creating an incredibly rich experience that we can’t wait to share with Atlanta.”
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff Arts Center, of which the High is also an arts partner, will present “Rhythm & Thread” (June-August 2025), a theatrical show for young audiences inspired by Faith Ringgold’s quilts that will celebrate family, imagination and the beauty of storytelling through the art of quilting. Created by Andrea Washington, the show will feature the artistry of Marquetta Johnson and an original jazz score by Eugene H. Russell IV. Part of the Alliance’s Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young series, this production is specially designed for audiences under 5 years old and their caregivers.
“Faith Ringgold: Seeing Children” will be presented in the Special Exhibition Galleries on the Second Level of the High’s Stent Family Wing.
Exhibition Organization and Support
“Faith Ringgold: Seeing Children” is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Lead support is provided by The Goizueta Foundation. This exhibition is made possible by Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Premier Exhibition Series Supporters Harry Norman Realtors; Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters Robin and Hilton Howell; Ambassador Exhibition Series Supporter Mrs. Harriet H. Warren; and Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters Farideh and Al Azadi, Mary and Neil Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones, Megan and Garrett Langley, Margot and Danny McCaul, and Wade A. Rakes II and Nicholas Miller. Generous support is also provided by Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund and USI Insurance Services.
About the High Museum of Art
Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs. Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 20,000 works of art, including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper. The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information about the High, visit www.high.org.
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