Faith Ringgold, Who Told Stories in Quilts, Dies at 93

Faith Ringgold, who died in April 2024 aged 93, spent a lifetime stitching together art, storytelling and activism. Her celebrated 'story quilts' framed painted scenes of African-American life with fabric borders and hand-written text.

Her most famous, 'Tar Beach', turned a Harlem rooftop into a place of childhood dreams and flight. A tireless campaigner for the inclusion of Black and women artists, she also wrote and illustrated beloved children's books.

Refusing the hierarchy that placed 'craft' below 'fine art', Ringgold made quilts that hang in the world's great museums — and changed who American art is allowed to be about.

Image: “Central Park New York October 2016 panorama 1” — King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.