Black Women in Art (BWIA) see pdf for more info on each

Edmonia Lewis was the first sculptor of African American and Native American (Mississauga) descent to achieve international recognition. Her father was Black, and her mother was Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indian. Orphaned at an early age, Lewis grew up in her mother's tribe where her life revolved around fishing, swimming, and making and selling crafts.

Marsha Battle Philpot

Marsha Music was born in Detroit and grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. She is the daughter of legendary pre-Motown record producer Joe Von Battle and West Side Detroit beauty and music lover Shirley Battle. Marsha is a former activist and labor leader and a noted speaker. She has contributed to significant Detroit narratives, including Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes: An Oral Hi

Alison Saar is a contemporary American artist who addresses ideas of race, gender, culture, spirituality, and humanity through her figurative sculptures and paintings. “The pieces always feel like children to me, in that they have their own personalities and their Born on February 5, 1956 in Los Angeles, CA, Saar earned a BA from Scripps College in 1978 and an MFA three years later from the Otis A

In the 1970s, Betye Saar (born 1926) emerged as part of the Black Arts Movement and remains best known for her collage and assemblage works that challenge racial stereotypes. Internationally acclaimed, she has received multiple lifetime achievement awards.

Credit: Assemblage 

Meet Dr. Denene De Quintal, Assistant Curator for Native American Art at The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and Indigenous Americas. 

De Quintal is reengaging the Indigenous and Detroit communities with the Native American Art collection, strategically acquiring contemporary and historical art, addressing NAGPRA compliance, and enacting best practi

Josephine Love

Born Josephine Harreld on Dec. 11, 1914, in Atlanta into a very distinguished and accomplished family. She and her husband, William Thomas Love (1901-1966), a physician, established a music studio which attracted young people interested in learning to play the piano and other arts activities. Josephine then co-founded Your Heritage House to provide children with a variety of artistic