Nellie Ashford
{{short description|American visual and folk artist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}
Nellie Ashford (born {{circa}} 1943) is a self-taught folk artist from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.{{Cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article92356032.html|title=Artist Nellie Ashford evokes Jim Crow Charlotte in new Gantt Center show|last=Kelley|first=Pam|date=July 28, 2016|work=Charlotte Observer|access-date=March 10, 2017}} Her mixed-media folk art depicts the experiences of Charlotte’s African-American community from the Jim Crow era to contemporary day in the U.S. South.
Early life and education
Ashford grew up in a rural part of Mecklenburg County and attended school in a segregated four-room schoolhouse. She later graduated from Plato Price High School{{Cite web |date=2019-10-28 |title=Nellie Ashford at NCCU Art Museum {{!}} myEOL {{!}} NCCU |url=https://myeol.nccu.edu/announcements/announcement/1290918545 |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=myeol.nccu.edu |language=en}} and earned a Bachelor's degree in psychology and social science from Shaw University.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thecharlottepost.com/index.php?src=news&refno=3422&category=WOT|title=Ashford creates folk art|last=White|first=Herb|date=March 3, 2011|work=Charlotte Post|access-date=March 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310195210/http://www.thecharlottepost.com/index.php?src=news&refno=3422&category=WOT|archive-date=March 10, 2017}} She is self-trained as an artist.
Career
Her work has been featured in a number of special exhibits since at least the early 2000s. She participated in a 2004 juried art show for the Afro-American Cultural Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, for which she earned the curator's recognition award.{{Cite web|url=http://www.carolinaarts.com/juriedshowresults2004.html|title=Results of Past Juried Shows – 2004|last=|first=|date=2004|website=Carolina Arts: A publication Covering the Visual Arts in the Carolinas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519190248/http://www.carolinaarts.com/juriedshowresults2004.html|archive-date=May 19, 2017|access-date=May 19, 2017}} In 2010, her show "Nellie's People" was featured at the Delta Arts Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.{{Cite web|url=http://deltaartscenter.org/gallery/archive/|title=Delta Arts Center Archive|last=|first=|date=2016|website=Delta Arts Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519190443/http://deltaartscenter.org/gallery/archive/|archive-date=May 19, 2017|access-date=May 19, 2017}} In 2013, her work was displayed at the Gaston County Museum in Dallas, North Carolina.{{Cite news|url=http://www.gastongazette.com/20130107/folk-artist-to-be-part-of-local-exhibit/301079966|title=Folk artist to be part of local exhibit|last=Memrick|first=Amanda|date=January 7, 2013|work=Gaston Gazette|access-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516130310/http://www.gastongazette.com/20130107/folk-artist-to-be-part-of-local-exhibit/301079966|archive-date=May 16, 2017}} The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts+Culture hosted her first major-museum, solo exhibit in 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ganttcenter.org/exhibitions/nellie-ashford-through-my-eyes/|title=Exhibitions|last=|first=|date=July 16, 2016|website=Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art+Culture|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310191405/https://www.ganttcenter.org/exhibitions/nellie-ashford-through-my-eyes/|archive-date=March 10, 2017|access-date=March 10, 2017}} According to the Gantt Center, the solo exhibit, titled "Nellie Ashford: Through My Eyes," communicates "cultural identity, shared community values and aesthetics."
During the 2012 U.S. Presidential election campaign, 11 of her works were featured at the Democratic National Convention Committee headquarters in Charlotte.{{Cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/community/lake-norman-mooresville/article9072806.html |title=Gallery shows its wares at DNC headquarters |last=Curtis |first=Mary C. |author-link=Mary C. Curtis |date=December 14, 2011 |work=Charlotte Observer |access-date=March 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310193851/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/community/lake-norman-mooresville/article9072806.html |archive-date=March 10, 2017}}
In 2020, the Arts & Science Council and the Public Art Commission in partnership with the City of Charlotte commissioned a mural from Ashford to be displayed in the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Her work, entitled "Honoring All Teachers" is displayed at Concourse A, Gate A6.{{cite web | url=https://www.cltairport.com/airport-info/airport-art/art-installations-terminal/honoring-all-teachers/ | title=Charlotte Douglas International Airport }}
Exhibitions of her works have been displayed at the Levine Museum of the New South, the Mint Museum, and Davidson College.{{cite web | url=https://www.mintmuseum.org/exhibition/nellie-ashford/ | title=Nellie Ashford }}{{Cite web |title=Nellie Ashford |url=https://sytbt.davidson.edu/nellie-ashford/ |website=sytbt.davidson.edu}}
Awards
She is a four-time recipient of the Actors Theatre award and a recipient of the Priscilla Literary Award. In 2007, she was named the Harvey B. Gantt Center's (then known as the Afro-American Cultural Center) artist of the year.
References
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Category:Artists from North Carolina
Category:American folk artists
Category:People from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Category:Shaw University alumni
Category:20th-century American women artists