Dindga McCannon

{{Infobox artist

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| image = Dindga-McCannon-2 (32621031437).jpg

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| birth_name = Dindga McCannon

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|July 31, 1947}}

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| nationality = American

| known_for = Art, murals, printmaking, teaching, illustration, fiber art, writing

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| website = {{URL|dindgamccannon.world}}

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{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jJp9Q2f0Dw “Outspoken: Dindga McCannon], May 7, 2018 | video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUAYs6_sHEc The Artist's Voice: Dindga McCannon, Beverly Smith, and Barbara Smith], ICA/Boston, October 16, 2018 }}

Dindga McCannon (born July 31, 1947) is an African-American artist born and raised in New York city. She has had a multifaceted career, as she is a fiber artist, muralist, teacher, author, and illustrator.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/arts/design/review-we-wanted-a-revolution-black-radical-women-brooklyn-museum.html|title=To Be Black, Female and Fed Up With the Mainstream|last=Cotter|first=Holland|date=2017-04-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-04-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2019-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403074624/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/arts/design/review-we-wanted-a-revolution-black-radical-women-brooklyn-museum.html|url-status=live}} As well, she co-founded the collective Where We At, Black Women Artists in 1971.{{Cite book |last=Gipson |first=Ferren |title=Women's work: from feminine arts to feminist art |date=2022 |publisher=Frances Lincoln |isbn=978-0-7112-6465-6 |location=London}}

Early life and education

Born in Roosevelt Island and raised in Harlem, McCannon was inspired to become an artist at the age of 10. She was an only child raised by her mother Lottie Kilgo Porter, grandmother Hattie Kilgo, and stepfather Albert Porter. After her grandmother had passed away in 1960, McCannon and her family moved into The Bronx.

With her passion to become an artist from a young age, Dindga McCannon had gotten accepted into the High School of Fashion Industries and High School of Art and Design, her mother did not allow her to attend either high school out of fear of her not having a stable career in the future. Around 1961, she attended FIT for high school in which she left due to lack of support for her poor grades. McCannon then transferred to the High School of Commerce where she graduated—shortly after she left the school, it was torn down to make room for the construction of the Lincoln Center.{{Cite journal |last=Glahn |first=Philip |date=2020-08-03 |title=An Oral History with Dindga McCannon |url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2020/08/03/dindga-mccannon-by-philip-glahn/ |journal=Bomb Magazine}}

Dindga McCannon started to become aware of artist groups such as The Twentieth Century Art Creators, which she discovered through her time volunteering with the American Red Cross as an art teacher in a school in her neighborhood of Harlem after graduating high school. There was eventually a split in this group, and she had joined the fragment that had become the Weusi Artist Collective. She briefly attended City College for two years, but dropped out due to the fact that she began to learn more through the artist group she became apart of.

Career

Dindga McCannon has been an artist for 55 years. She is self-taught and works intuitively. Calling herself a mixed-media multimedia artist, she works at "fusing my fine art 'training' with the traditional women's needlework taught to me by my mother, Lottie K. Porter, and grandmother Hattie Kilgo — sewing, beading, embroidery, and quilting into what is now known as ArtQuilts."[http://www.hoast.org/artists/artistsDM.htm Harlem Open Artists Studio Tour] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030553/http://www.hoast.org/artists/artistsDM.htm|date=2016-03-04}} In addition to her work as a quilter, author, and illustrator, Dindga considers herself a costume designer, muralist, and a print maker. Her work involves women's lives, portraits, and history.

In response to sexism and racism in the art world, artists in the 1960s and 1970s created collectives as a way to fight oppression. In the 1960s, McCannon was a member of Weusi Artist Collective. This is how McCannon became interested in the Black Arts Movement.{{Cite web|url=https://www.articulateshow.org/articulate/dindga-mccannon|title=Articulate — Dindga McCannon|website=Articulate|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=2020-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218204823/https://www.articulateshow.org/articulate/dindga-mccannon|url-status=live}} The Weusi Collective was interested in creating art that evoked African themes and symbols, as well as highlighting contemporary black pride.{{Cite journal|last=Brown|first=Kay|date=2012-07-11|title=The Weusi Artists|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/480711|journal=Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art|language=en|volume=30|issue=1|pages=60–67|doi=10.1215/10757163-1496471 |s2cid=191335047 |issn=2152-7792}} This artist collective provided her with the basic foundational skills in order to create visual art. Not only was she apart of this artist collective, but in 1965 McCannon joined the Congress of Racial Equality and took part in their march in Washington in protest of the Vietnam War.

In 1971, concerned to represent her experience as a Black woman artist and single mother, she hosted the first meeting of the Where We At group of black women artists, a group started with Kay Brown and Faith Ringgold, in her apartment. It grew into a group of women who supported each other, taught workshops, and exhibited in one of the first group shows of professional black women artists in New York City.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/creatingtheirown0000farr|title=Creating their own image: the history of African-American women artists|last=Farrington|first=Lisa E.|date=2005-01-01|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=019516721X|location=Oxford; New York|url-access=registration}}{{Dead link|date=December 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/curator-catherine-morris-runs-us-through-brooklyn-museum-show-we-wanted-a-revolution-black-radical-women-1965-85-310317|title=Curator Catherine Morris runs us through Brooklyn Museum's show, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women|website=www.itsnicethat.com|language=en|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=2020-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218204823/https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/curator-catherine-morris-runs-us-through-brooklyn-museum-show-we-wanted-a-revolution-black-radical-women-1965-85-310317|url-status=live}}

McCannon's interest in black arts and women's work met in her creation of dashikis, which then led her to create wearables and quilts.

In 2015, she was a presenter at the Art of Justice: Articulating an Ethos and Aesthetic of the Movement{{Cite web |title=Nov. 7th {{!}} The Art of Justice Conference |url=http://cccadi.org/07/nov-7th-the-art-of-justice-conference/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109164135/http://cccadi.org/07/nov-7th-the-art-of-justice-conference/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-11-09 |website=cccadi.org |accessdate=2015-11-11 }} conference at New York University presented by the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in Collaboration with the Department of Art and Public Policy, New York University; Institute of African American Affairs, New York University; and Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia University.

Her image is included in the iconic 1972 poster Some Living American Women Artists by Mary Beth Edelson.{{cite web |title=Some Living American Women Artists/Last Supper |url=https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/some-living-american-women-artistslast-supper-76377 |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=22 January 2022 |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120013721/https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/some-living-american-women-artistslast-supper-76377 |url-status=live }}

Artworks

McCannon has a quilt (titled "Yekk's Song") in the permanent collection of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook by Kyra E. Hicks, page 158. In January 2020, McCannon's oil painting "The Last Farewell" was auctioned for $161,000 as part of Johnson Publishing Company's bankruptcy proceedings. This work was part of their private collection, which also included works by Henry Ossawa Tanner and Carrie Mae Weems.{{Cite web|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2020/2/4/21121312/johnson-publishing-art-auction-doubled-expectations|title=Johnson Publishing Co. art auction fetches nearly $3 million, doubling expectations|last=Dudek|first=Mitch|date=2020-02-04|website=Chicago Sun-Times|language=en|access-date=2020-02-08|archive-date=2020-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206031441/https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2020/2/4/21121312/johnson-publishing-art-auction-doubled-expectations|url-status=live}}

Revolutionary Sister, a mixed-media work created in 1971, was created in response to a lack of revolutionary women warriors. The work depicts a powerful and colorful sister, created in part with items from the hardware store. McCannon speaks about this piece as a Statue of Liberty figure.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZiF_d9YV_M|title=Symposium: We Wanted a Revolution - Interview - Dindga McCannon with Catherine Morris|last=|first=|date=28 April 2017|website=YouTube|access-date=|archive-date=19 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119225633/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZiF_d9YV_M|url-status=live}} It is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210707|title=Brooklyn Museum|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=2020-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114155055/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210707|url-status=live}}

Bessie's Song is a mixed-media piece created in 2003. It was made using appliqué and machine quilted cottons, gold lame, vintage beaded trim, embroidered patches, glass beads, and metallic threads.{{Cite web |title=Dindga McCannon, Bessie's Song, 2003 |url=https://fridmangallery.com/content/feature/357/artworks-550-dindga-mccannon-bessie-s-song-2003/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Fridman Gallery |language=en}}

Commissions

McCannon has also been commissioned to create various pieces of art.

1985: United Community, 50 ft by 6 stories, 25 Furman Ave, Brooklyn, NY, Dept of Cultural Affairs
2000: Amazing Life of Althea Gibson, 60 inches by 120 inches art story quilt, Disney Inc for ESPN Zone, 42nd Street and Brady, NYC
2001: Winning the Vote, Art Quilt on the Pioneers of Women's voting history America, Scholastic Magazine
2008: Zora Neale Hurston, B.O.S.S. (Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters), Columbia University, NY

Notable works in public collections

Mercedes (1971), Studio Museum in Harlem, New York{{cite web |title=Mercedes |url=https://studiomuseum.org/collection-item/mercedes |website=StudioMuseum |date=13 August 2021 |publisher=Studio Museum in Harlem |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707100319/https://studiomuseum.org/collection-item/mercedes |archive-date=7 July 2022 |url-status=live}}
Revolutionary Sister (1971), Brooklyn Museum, New York{{cite web |title=Revolutionary Sister |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210707 |website=Brooklyn Museum |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326214311/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210707 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |url-status=live}}
Empress Akweke (1975), Brooklyn Museum, New York{{cite web |title=Empress Akweke |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210697 |website=Brooklyn Museum |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501213339/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210697 |archive-date=1 May 2023 |url-status=live}}
West Indian Day Parade (1976), Brooklyn Museum, New York{{cite web |title=West Indian Day Parade |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/224824 |website=Brooklyn Museum |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203222536/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/224824 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |url-status=live}}
Woman #1 (1975-1977), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.{{cite web |title=Woman #1 |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.225619.html |website=NGA |publisher=National Gallery of Art |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501213001/https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.225619.html |archive-date=1 May 2023 |url-status=live}}
Badass Women Who Inspire Me to Soar (2006), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.{{cite web |title=Badass Women Who Inspire Me to Soar |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.226178.html |website=NGA |publisher=National Gallery of Art |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501213736/https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.226178.html |archive-date=1 May 2023 |url-status=live}}
Charlie Parker and Some of the Amazing Musicians He Influenced (1983/2010), The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.{{cite web |title=Charlie Parker and Some of the Musicians He Influenced |url=https://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/charlie-parker-and-some-amazing-musicians-he-influenced |website=PhillipsCollection |publisher=The Phillips Collection |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501213240/https://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/charlie-parker-and-some-amazing-musicians-he-influenced |archive-date=1 May 2023 |url-status=live}}
A Week in the Life of a Black Woman Artist (2013), Brooklyn Museum, New York{{cite web |title=A Week in the Life of a Black Woman Artist |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/224823 |website=Brooklyn Museum |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026163937/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/224823 |archive-date=26 October 2022 |url-status=live}}

Awards

2023 – Anonymous Was A Woman (AWAW) - Individual Artist Grant
2005 – N. Y. F. A. Fellowship – Crafts
2007 – Urban Artists Initiative, Harlem Arts Alliance
2008 – Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance – Individual Artists Grant 2009 – Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance – Individual Artist Grant

Books

McCannon has written and illustrated two books. Peaches, published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard in 1974 and by Dell in 1977, tells the story of a young black girl growing up in Harlem, her life with her family, and her ambition to be an artist.

Wilhemina Jones, Future Star, published by Delacorte in 1980, has a similar theme, with a young black girl growing up in Harlem in the mid-1960s who dreams of pursuing an art career and leaving the oppressive atmosphere of her home.

McCannon has also illustrated books for others: Omar at X-mas by Edgar White (published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard), and Speak to the Winds, African Proverbs, written by K. O. Opuku (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1972).[http://www.worldcat.or/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=dindga+mccannon Dindga McCannon]{{Dead link|date=November 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} World Catalog

In 2018, McCannon published an illustrated cookbook called Celebrations. The opening reception was held at Art For the Soul Gallery in Springfield, Massachusetts.{{Cite web|url=https://art4thesoul.org/events-2/|title=Events|date=2017-03-12|website=Art for the Soul Gallery|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-05|archive-date=2019-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119204923/http://art4thesoul.org/events-2/|url-status=dead}}

Memberships

McCannon was a member of two artists' collectives, Weusi and Where We At (a black woman's collective from the 1970s).{{cite web |last1=Steinhauer |first1=Jillian |title=The World Catches Up With Dindga McCannon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/arts/design/dindga-mccannon.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=23 January 2022 |date=10 September 2021 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123011512/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/arts/design/dindga-mccannon.html |url-status=live }}