By Jamea Richmond-Edwards (b. 1982, Detroit, MI), "Archetype of a 5 Star," 2018 (acrylic, spray paint, glitter, ink and cut paper collage on canvas, 60 × 48 inches), ©️ Jamea Richmond-Edwards. #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #womensart #collage

From Victoria L. Valentine, Culture Type, April 20, 2018: ‘AS A YOUNG GIRL, Jamea Richmond-Edwards got lost in the pages of Ebony magazine. She was particularly drawn to the runway images from the Ebony Fashion Fair show. Through the otherworldly photographs of stunning black models styled in wildly imaginative ensembles, she discovered haute couture and envisioned herself as a fashion designer. Years later, she chose visual art over fashion design, but never gave up on her desire to explore the artifice of dressing.

"Those images were very visually affirming for me. It presented black women in a space that had never seen before," Richmond-Edwards told me via email.’

The artists Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamearichmondedwards/

By African-American artist and educator Hilda Wilkinson Brown (1894-1981), Portrait of a Girl. I could find little specific information about this painting, nor could I find a better photo; however, it appears on the website for the short documentary film “Kindred Spirits: Artists Hilda Wilkinson Brown and Lilian Thomas Burwell.” The film explores the relationship between Brown and her niece, also an artist. #arthistory #BlackHistoryMonth #blackart #blackartist #womanartist

From Paul Richard, “Drawing on the District: The Neglected Art Of Hilda Wilkerson Brown,” The Washington Post, November 14, 1983:

“Like the finest works she left us, Hilda Brown herself was sophisticated, genteel, charming, modest, tough. In the '20s and the '30s, she was one of the few painters capable of linking this city's black community to the world of modern art.

Her best paintings are delightful. Her subjects are familiar. She painted what she saw here--the lights of Griffith Stadium, brick Victorian row houses, the streets of Le Droit Park. Her oils please at once, and after pleasing unfold slowly. They have quiet truths to give us. Hers are images that teach.

When it suited her intentions she would borrow from the moderns. She fully understood the space-declaring brushstrokes of Ce'zanne, Lyonel Feininger's light rays, and the sweet, domestic scale of the paintings at the Phillips. But her style is her own."

By African-American sculptor May Howard Jackson (1877-1931). “Slave Boy,” 1899, bronze. Today, the title is offensive. He’s a young man who is enslaved, not a boy.

As cast bronze, the sculpture is in more than one collection, public and private. #arthistory #BlackHistoryMonth #blackart #blackartist #womanartist

From Black Art Story: ‘Jackson expressed a fascination with the wide variety of features among African Americans and this became evident in her work. Pieces that expressed this love are works such as “Head of a Negro Child” (1916), “Mulatto Mother and Child” (1929), and “Shell-Baby in Bronze” (1929). These three pieces defined her sculptures. Jackson was a unique representative of the Weltzensang of the Jazz Age that embraced and exalted Black Beauty.’

By African-American artist Ronald Jackson, born 1970, Zipporah's Song, 2014, oil and fabric on wood, 36 × 36 in. (91.4 × 91.4 cm), DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. #BlackHistoryMonth #blackart #blackartist #art

A quote from the artist’s website: “ The conceptual basis of my works (specifically narrative works) comes from a time of the past, whether 40, 60 or 100 years ago. The art world is heavily urbanized, and I do not produce urban art. Regardless of living in urban environments over the past 30+ years, I realize how my rural roots have shaped my value system and world view. The great American migration shifted millions of African Americans from the South to more industrialized cities which has produced millions of urban Black people having little personal reference to the rural existence of their ancestry. I have chosen not to become another urban artist, but nor will I produce works depicting rural life. My aim is to address contemporary issues through Black figuration but only from the backdrop of a non-urban environment. Therefore, I am not an urban artist.”

Who is Zipporah? She is Moses’ wife in the Book of Exodus. A very strange passage in the book: ‘But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met Moses, and sought to put him to death. So Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!” So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”—because of the circumcision.”’ ~ ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭4‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭(NASB2020‬‬)

The artist’s website: https://www.ronaldjacksonartworks.com/about

The artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronald_jackson_artworks/

By African-American sculptor Beulah Ecton Woodard (1895-1955), "Maudelle," fired terra-cotta painted brown, ca. 1937-1938, 12x12 1/4x8 inches (approximately 305x310x202 mm), Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth #sculpture #womanartist

From Jill Renae Hicks in a review of the exhibit "Black Women in Art and the Stories They Tell” at the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology: ‘One of the most incandescent works in the exhibit is "Maudelle," the bust of Maudelle Weston, a black woman who once was a New York dancer. Maudelle modeled for many artists, including Beulah Ecton Woodard, who carefully fashioned the terra cotta sculpture. Woodard, skilled at bringing life to clay, seems to poke fun at the stiff, arched busts traditionally seen in society by creating one infused with dignity, joy and clear African roots, as exemplified by Maudelle's braided hair and exquisitely captured features.

The sculpture testifies to "Woodard's belief that accurate depiction of African costume and features could enhance African American pride," said Diana Burgess Fuller and Daniela Salvioni in the book "Art/Women/California, 1950-2000: Parallels and Intersections." It is an excellent example of one black woman telling another black woman's story, Pixley said.’ (Jill Renae Hicks, Columbia Daily Tribune, Feb. 19, 2012.)

By African-American artist Alfred Amadu Conteh (born 1975), "Mr. Wright,” 2018, acrylic and atomized copper dust on canvas, 14x14 inches, private collection. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth #painting

From the journal Colossal: ‘The urgency of Alfred Conteh’s portraits lies in the present. He portrays Black people he meets around Atlanta, creating monumental works that accentuate the material both physically and metaphorically, in their mediums and the critical analysis of current social conditions. “Black folks are not doing well in this country,” Conteh tells Colossal. “We will not do well until we come to terms with how this country was built, and the resulting racial wealth gaps and social decay. Nothing is being done to improve that, first and foremost economically.”’

The artists website: https://www.alfredconteh.com/

His Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaconteh

By African-American artist Charles White (1918-1979), Juba, 1965, Lithograph. As a print it appears in more than one collection, both public and private. #blackartist #blackart #art #printmaking #BlackHistoryMonth

Quote from the artist: “Art must be an integral part of the struggle. It can’t simply mirror what’s taking place. It must adapt itself to human needs. It must ally itself with the forces of liberation. The fact is, artists have always been propagandists. I have no use for artists who try to divorce themselves from the struggle.”

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “White believed in creating representational art that would connect with the public as well as advocate for racial, economic, and social justice. Active for several decades, White had a profound influence on generations of artists and students. His art consistently reflected his mission to create positive images of Black Americans. He depicted both celebrated people, such as the social reformer Frederick Douglass, and anonymous figures.”