*Talley Beatty was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black dancer, and choreographer. Talley Beatty was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Beatty began studying dance at the age of fourteen with Katherine Dunham. He learned her style of dancing, which was heavily based […]
learn more*Maynard Dixon was born on this date in 1875. He was a white-American artist whose body of work focused on the American West. He was born Lafayette Maynard Dixon in Fresno, California, named after his maternal grandfather. His family of aristocratic Virginia Confederates had found a new home in California after the American Civil War. His […]
learn more*The birth of Mary E. Webb is celebrated on this date in 1828. She was a Black actress and orator known for her dramatic readings of poetry and literature. Mary Espartero Webb was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, three weeks after her mother succeeded in escaping therefrom slavery in Virginia. Her father, who was described […]
learn more*Novella Nelson was born on this date in 1939. She was a Black actress and singer. Novella Christine Nelson was born in Brooklyn, New York, to James and Evelyn (formerly Hines) Nelson. Her father was a pastor and a taxi driver. Her mother was an executive assistant at magazine publisher Women’s Wear Daily. She attended […]
learn more*The birth of Beverly McIver is celebrated on this date in 1962. She is a Black contemporary artist, mostly known for her self-portraits. McIver was the youngest of three daughters and raised by a single mother who worked as a maid to support their family. Born and raised in Greensboro, NC, her mother’s attention, and resources […]
learn more*Vincent Smith was born on this date in 1929. He was a Black artist, painter, printmaker, and teacher. He was known for his depictions of black life. Vincent DaCosta Smith was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, to Beresford Leopold Smith and Louise Etheline Todd. Both were immigrants from Barbados. He was raised in Brownsville, […]
learn more*The first World Festival of Black Arts was held on this date in 1966. Also known as FESMAN, is a month-long culture and arts festival that takes place every ten years in Africa. The festival features poetry, sculpture, painting, music, cinema, theatre, fashion, architecture, design, and dance from artists and performers from around the African Diaspora. […]
learn more*Barbara Chase-Riboud was born on this date in 1939. She is a Black visual artist and sculptor, novelist, and poet. Barbara Chase was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only child of Vivian May Chase, a histology technician, and Charles Edward Chase, a contractor. Chase displayed an early talent for the arts and began attending the Fleisher Art […]
learn more*The birth of Norma Morgan is celebrated on this date in 1928. She was a Black printmaker artist, and painter. Norma Gloria Morgan was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Her mother raised her, after the early death of her father, and worked as a domestic worker, a seamstress, and designer. Morgan showed interest in art from […]
learn more*Walter H. Williams was born on this date in 1920. He was a Black artist, painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Walter Henry Williams Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, compassionate and an artist, died from pneumonia when Williams was five. His strict, authoritative father then took custody of him and his younger sister. Due […]
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