Flyer advertising Black History Month, February 1981. The transcription of the text in the flyer is below.
Have you heard about Black History Month?
"Let's join Varnette Honeywood, artist-in-residence at the Woman's Building, and her colleagues for a series of events honoring Black women artists."
Ruth Waddy
Ruth Waddy, born in 1909, is a printmaker and co-author of Black Artists on Art (with Samella Lewis). Largely self-taught, she is the founder of Art West Associates, an organization of Black artists established in the early 1960's. Twenty years ago Waddy traveled by bus across the U.S. collecting prints by Black artists which were later published. In her presentation, she will discuss her research and share the process of compiling information on Black artists.
Fri., Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m., $2 (with Nathalie Forrest)
Nathalie Forrest
Nathalie Forrest will perform her one-woman show of traditional spirituals, accompanying herself on the autoharp— which she plays upright, Appalachia style. She has an extraordinary baritone voice which came to her following a difficult back operation. She will also read works by her grandmother, Olivia Ward Bush, who was both a worker in the Harlem Renaissance and an ardent suffragist. Forrest is currently the artist-in-residence at the Good Shepard Center for Independent Living.
Fri., Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m., $2 (with Ruth Waddy)
Doris Davenport
Doris Davenport is a writer whose work has appeared in AZALEA: A Magazine for Third World Lesbians; Feminary; Mother root; and other women's magazines. In this evening's presentation, Davenport will read from her poetry and from the work of Black women writers who have not received sufficient recognition. Also reading will be Halimah Brooks and S. Diane Bogus, to be followed by an open mike for Black women writers.
Fri., Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., $2
Carroll Parrott Blue
Carroll Parrott Blue is the director and producer of Varnette's World: A Study of a Young Artist, a 16mm, 26-minute color documentary. This award-winning film explores the culturally based origins of Varnette Honeywood's art by juxtaposing church, community, and work scenes with Honeywood's's vibrantly colored paintings. In addition to screening Varnette's World, Blue will present a retrospective slide show of her still photographic work, which eventually led her into filmmaking.
Fri., Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m., $2 (with Varnette Honeywood)
Varnette Honeywood
Varnette Honeywood is a painter whose work projects visual statements of Black lifestyles. Using bold and colorful figures, she unveils the beauty of African ancestry as well as the urban Black community in which she grew up. Following the screening of Varnette's World, Honeywood will discuss her work and the issues facing Black artists today.
Fri., Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m., $2 (with Carroll Parrott Blue)
Barbara McCullough
Barbara McCullough is a film and video artist whose predominant theme in her work is the notion of ritual. The ritual her work uncovers comes from her African heritage, her Louisiana Catholic upbringing, and her perspective as a Black woman in this society. In this evening's presentation she will screen Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification as well as conduct screenings and discussions of short films by other Black women artists.
Fri., Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., $2
Assemblage Project
Artists are invited to join Varnette Honeywood in a unique project to develop a mulimedia statement on women's lifestyles. Using the creative process as a vehicle, participants will work in small groups to express their feelings and ideas through the use of assemblage, construction, and collage.
Course begins Wed., March 4, 7-10 p.m. (4 sessions). Studio time on Sat., 1-4 p.m. $40 members, $50 non-members. Scholarships are available. Call (213) 221-6161 for registration information.
This series was co-organized by Varnette Honcuwood and Janice Nightingale and is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Counci..
All events will take place at the Woman's Building, 1727 N. Spring St., just northeast of the central downtown Los Angeles area. The $2 donation goes to the artists. Noone will be turned away for inability to pay.
If you are a Black woman artist who is interested in selling your prints or other work during one of the evenings in the series, please call Janice Nightingale at (213) 221-6161.
Flyer by Cheri Gaulke
