Dindga McCannon (born: July 31, 1947) is an African-American artist, fiber artist, muralist, teacher, author, and illustrator.[1] She co-founded the collective Where We At, Black Women Artists in 1971.[2]
McCannon was born and raised in Harlem and was inspired to become an artist at the age of 10. 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."[3]
Dindga McCannon has been an artist for 55 years. In addition to her work as a quilter, author, and illustrator, Dindga considers herself a costume designer and 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.[4] The Weusi Collective was interested in creating art that evoked African themes and symbols, as well as highlighting contemporary black pride.[5] In 1971, concerned to represent her experience as a Black woman artist and single mother,[2] 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.[6][7][2]
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.[4]
In 2015, she was a presenter at the Art of Justice: Articulating an Ethos and Aesthetic of the Movement[8] 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.
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.[7][12] It is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum.[13]
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-masbyEdgar White (published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard), and Speak to the Winds, African Proverbs, written by K. O. Opuku (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1972).[22]
In 2018, McCannon published an illustrated cookbook called Celebrations. The opening reception was held at Art For the Soul Gallery in Springfield, Massachusetts.[23]
“Outspoken: Dindga McCannon, May 7, 2018
