August 23 - December 31, 2005

Faith Ringgold We Came to America 1998 Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York

The Morris Museum presents works by world-renowned artist Faith Ringgold in the exhibition Anyone Can Fly – Faith Ringgold: A Survey. This retrospective exhibition is comprised of 40 mixed media works, including Ringgold’s signature story quilts, as well as prints, paintings, soft sculpture and tankas (a Tibetan form of paintings framed in richly brocaded fabrics). Themes of Ringgold’s work include heroes and beauty in African American culture, the white male-dominated society, and women’s issues. 

In addition to being an artist, Ringgold is an author of numerous award-winning children’s books. Her first children’s book, Tar Beach, is based on a story quilt by the same title and won a Caldecott Award in 1991. This story quilt is now part of the permanent collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Among Ringgold’s 15 published books are Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky, Dinner at Aunt Connie’s and My Dream of Martin Luther King.

Faith Ringgold Subway Graffiti 2 1987 60 x 84 inches Acrylic on canvas with pieced, dyed and painted fabric border Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York

Ringgold’s artwork is featured in leading museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Timeline of Art History, a chronological, geographical and thematic exploration of the most important art from around the world. She is the recipient of more than 75 awards and honors, such as the Simon Guggenheim Award for Painting and two National Endowment for the Arts Awards in sculpture and painting. Recently Ringgold received the Visionary Woman Award from Moore College (2005), The American Academy of Arts and Letters Award (2004), and the Visionary Project Honoree, Washington, DC (2004).

"The Morris Museum is honored to exhibit the imaginative and insightful art of Faith Ringgold,” said Steven H. Miller, executive director of the Morris Museum. “Her colorful and relevant commentary has a creative strength that is both lively and engaging. Ringgold’s work offers a thought-provoking examination of social issues with a unique aesthetic perspective – a rare combination in art.”