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"
MultiRacial & Multiethnic Artists
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. 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-B-C-D-E
Alia Ali
Yemeni-Bosnian-American
Andrea Chung
Jamaican/Chinese and Trinidadian
Anna Jane McIntyre
Canadian
Brian Jungen
Dane-Zaa & Swiss
Cecil J. Williams
Black, White, & Indigenous
Christina Neston
Japanese & American
Diana Li
Chinese & Peruvian
Erica Lord
Finnish-American & Iñupiaq/Athabascan
F-G-H-I-J
Gina Adams Ojibwe, Lakota Irish, & Lithuanian
J. Leigh Garcia
Biracial Latina
James Luna
La Jolla Luiseño-Ipi-Mexican & American
Jananne Al-Ani
Iraqi & Irish
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Haitian & Puerto Rican
Frida Kahlo
Mexican & German
K
Kea Tawana
Japanese & White American
Khaled Takreti
French & Syrian
Kaya Joan
Afro-Indigenous (Vincentian, Kanien'kehá:ka with relations from Kahnawá:ke, Irish, Jamaican)
L
Leila Alaoui
French & Moroccan
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod
Japanese & Chilean
Linda Nguyen Lopez
American, Vietnamese & Mexican descent
M-N-O
Martha Atienza
Dutch & Filipino
Mary Edmonia Lewis
Mississauga Ojibwe & Afro-Haitian
Michael C. Thorpe
Black & White
Nasreen Shaikh Jamal Al Lail
Indian & Saudi
Natalie Ball
Klamath, Modoc, & African American
Nezaket Ekici
German & Turkish
Monica Garza
Mexican and Korean
P-Q-R-S-T
Shizu Saldamando
American
Simone Saunders
Jamaican & European
Sofia Tekela-Smith
Scottish & Rotuman
Tanya Lukin Linklater Caucasian & Alutiiq
Rob Kolhouse
American, Half Asian
U-V-W-X-Y-Z
Multiracial: of two or more races.
Multiethnic: of two or more ethnicities.
Ethnicity: a group of people who identify with one another with similarities such as history, culture, language, ancestry, etc.
Race: a socially constructed term with no scientific basis used to identify a group of people who share physical characteristics and other cultural elements such as language, history, etc.