Engaging children with artists who look like them, have similar experiences, and come from similar backgrounds is a great source of inspiration and empowerment. By reflecting their own identities, experiences and motivations (mirrors) and also providing insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others (windows) can move students toward more nuanced perceptions of the world around them (sliding glass doors).* Discover new BIPOC artists to add to your curriculum.
*Source: By Rudine Sims Bishop, The Ohio State University. "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors"
Textile / Fibers / Fashion
Artists have many layered identities and art educators need to present them as such.
Representing diverse artists in your curriculum is only part of an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist curriculum. It needs to be more than a symbolic effort and art educators need to take into account intersectionality when introducing these artists to students. How do aspects of an artists’ social and political identities (ex. gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, ability, physical appearance, etc.) intersect within their work?
In addition, we recognize that race is socially constructed and it is impossible to put humans in clearly defined categories by race. Racial identity is deeply personal, and artists within any given subgroup define themselves differently. Race, ethnicity, and nationality are all factors artist's individually consider as their personal identity. However, as mentioned previously that is not all that there is to their identity. We know that artists have many layered identities and art educators need to do the research to present them as such.
For the purpose of accessibility, we have attempted to organize artists into 8 subgroups: Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Middle Eastern/North African, Multiracial/Multiethnic, Pacific Islander/SE Asian, and South Asian. Our goal is to use present artists based on how each artist defines themselves in relation to their work. These groupings are not perfect, as humans are not meant to be divided into boxes. We hope this resource can help art educators identify who is missing from their curriculum in order to create a curriculum more representative of the incredible diversity among students and artists today.
A
Adia Millett
American (Black)
Alan Pelaez Lopez AfroIndigenous Mexican (Black, Latinx)
Alia Ali
Yemeni-Bosnian-American (Multiethnic)
Alice Beasley
American (Black)
Aline Amaru
Tahitian (Pacific Islander)
Amir Khadar
Sierra Leonean-American (Black)
Ana Teresa Barboza
Peruvian (Latinx)
Ayesha Khalid
Pakistani (South Asian)
B
Bisa Butler
American (Black)
C
Carla Fernández
Mexican (Latinx)
Ciara LeRoy
American (Black)
Christi Marlene Belcourt
Métis Canadian (Indigenous)
Christopher Myers
American
Carolyn Mazloomi
American
D-E
Eko Nugroho
Indonesian (Southeast Asian)
El Anatsui
Ghanaian (Black)
F
Faith Ringgold
American (Black)
G-H-I
Gabriel Dawe
Mexican (Latinx)
Imane Ayissi
Cameroonian
Izziyana Suhaimi
Singaporean
J
Jae Jarrell
American (Black)
Jamie Okuma
Luiseño and Shoshone-Bannock (Indigenous)
Jason Dow
Hawaiian (Pacific Islander)
Jen Hewett
American (Black)
Jordan Nassar
American (Palestinian Heritage)
Joyce J. Scott
African American (Black)
Juan Carlos Escobedo
Mexican-American (Latinx)
K-L
Kulsum Tasnif
Pakistani-American (South East Asian)
LaShawnda Crowe Storm
American
Leeroy New
Filipino (Southeast Asian)
Lexy Ho-Tai
Canadian-Chinese (East Asian)
M
Marie Watt
Seneca (Indigenous)
Marcus Amerman
Choctaw (Indigenous)
Maria Amalia
Honduran (Latinx)
Mary Jackson
American
Michael C. Thorpe
American (Multiracial)
Michael Zeray
African American (Black)
Melissa S. Cody
Navajo/Diné (Indigenous)
Mulyana
Indonesian (Southeast Asian)
N-O
Natalie Ball
Klamath, Modoc, & African American (Multiracial, multiethnic)
Nick Cave
American (Black)
Nico Williams
Anishinabe First Nation (Indigenous)
P-Q
Pacita Barsana Abad
Ivatan and Philippine-American (South East Asian)
Preetika Rajgariah
Indian American (South Asian)
R
Rashid Choudhury
Bangladeshi (South Asian)
Reena Saini Kallat
Indian (South Asian)
Reiko Fujii
Japanese American (Asian)
S
Sam Gilliam
American (Black)
Simone Saunders
Jamaican European (Black)
Starr Hardridge
Muscogee (Indigenous)
Stephanie Santana
American (Black)
Stephanie Syjuco
Filipino (Southeast Asian)
Saks Afridi
Pakistani
T-U-V-W
Tayeba Begum Lipi Bangladeshi (South Asian)
Ursula Johnson
Mi’kmaq (Indigenous)
Wence Martinez
Mexican, Zapotec Heritage (Latinx)
X-Y-Z
Xenobia Bailey
African-American (Black)
Yinka Shonibare
British-Nigerian (Black)
Young In Hong
Korean (Asian)
Discover More
Social Justice Sewing Academy
Asian: a native or inhabitant of Asia, or a person of Asian descent.
BIPOC: Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
Black: of or relating to any of various population groups having dark pigmentation of the skin or ancestry originating in Africa.
Ethnicity: a group of people who identify with one another with similarities such as history, culture, language, ancestry, etc.
Indigenous: ethnic groups who are the original or earliest known inhabitants of an area, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.
LatinX: a person of Latin origin or descent.
Middle Eastern: a person of Middle Eastern origin or descent.
Multiethnic: of two or more ethnicities.
Multiracial: of two or more races.
Nationality: the status of belonging to a particular nation.
North African: Peoples with origins based in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara belonging to a particular nation.
Pacific Islander, or Pasifika, are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. It is a geographic and ethnic/racial term to describe the inhabitants and diaspora of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania. It is not used to describe non-indigenous inhabitants of the Pacific islands.
Person of color: a person who is not white or of European parentage.
Race: a group of people who share cultural elements such as language, history, etc.
South Asian: a person of origin or descent from Southern Asia.
South East Asian: a person of origin or descent from the South Eastern part of Asia