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Newark Celebration 350 announced today that they have commissioned award-winning artist Faith Ringgold to create a commemorative print honoring the City of Newark’s 350th anniversary. The arts educator, innovator and provocateur’s oeuvre of artistry and activism has been revered by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Amiri Baraka and arts critics and curators of major museums around the world.
Her extraordinary body of work —that encompasses politically charged paintings and searing prints about race and gender inequality, such as the recent Museum of Modern Art acquisition of her early landmark, The American People Series: Die, 1967, to her famous and groundbreaking story quilts, Tar Beach and Maya’s Quilt of Life, commissioned by Oprah Winfrey as a birthday gift to the late Dr. Maya Angelou —have created a powerful and startling canvas that capture, confound and confront audiences with the beauty, struggles and diversity of the African-American experience.
A proud NJ resident, she now brings that spirit and sense of wonder and magic to this year’s historic milestone celebration in her latest work, a 42×30 inch silk-screen print titled “A Day in Newark’s 350th Year Celebration.”
“It has been my privilege and honor to pay tribute to this dynamic city and its wonderful residents, “said Faith Ringgold. “It is my hope that this print will welcome everyone to gaze upon my impressions of Newark as a great land of beauty and hope with infinite possibilities.”
“As one of the finest American artists, we are proud to have the artistry of Faith Ringgold play a significant role in this year’s celebration,” said NC350 Chair Junius Williams. “We thank her for this joyous work about Newark.”
Art fans and collectors are invited to take home Ms. Ringgold’s latest work at a special, limited pre-sale price of $975 (regular $1500) while supplies last through October 26. Only two hundred signed and numbered silk-screen prints on archival paper of “A Day in Newark’s 350th Year Celebration” are available. To purchase order here at aljira.org. The prints can also be purchased via credit cards, cash and Paypal at the gift stores of Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, 591 Broad Street and the Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street. The print will also be unveiled at a fete on October 26 honoring Ms. Ringgold’s six-decade long career at the Newark Museum.
