Eisenhower High Art Students Study Faith Ringgold’s ‘Tar Beach’ for Black History Month

Dr. Michaelann Kelley’s Art 2 students at Eisenhower High did an in-depth study of Faith Ringgold, an internationally known African-American artist, and her book “Tar Beach” for Black History Month.

Faith Ringgold originally wrote the book for her story quilt of the same name. “Tar Beach” is a seamless weaving of fiction, autobiography, and African-American history and literature. She is best known for her ‘painted story quilts,’ some of which hang in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. “Tar Beach,” won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and was named a Caldecott Honor Book.

The story recounts the adventure of eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot, who flies above her apartment-building rooftop, the ‘tar beach’ of the title, looking down on 1939 Harlem. It is about the universal dream of mastering one’s world by flying over it.

Dr. Kelley read the book aloud to her students and they studied how Ringgold story is part autobiographical, part fictional and her use of symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The artwork is full of color and texture. Faith Ringgold’s bold colors and forms express her strongly held, loudly expressed credo “Anyone Can Fly.”

The students then brainstormed childhood memories of their own that they wrote down in their notebooks. The students then analyzed the quilts created by Ringgold and the way she utilized quilts to tell her narrative.

Inspired by Ringgold’s work, each student then created a mixed media story artwork. They chose fabric pieces to create their border and then added an illustration in the center.

A couple of student artworks are pictured below. Valerye Ascención wrote about her trip to SeaWorld as a child and then illustrated the moment the whale jumps out of the water; Marco Careaga illustrated his first time at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Valerye Ascención

Marco Careaga