Bearing witness: contemporary works by African American women artists

This catalogue honors a generation of African American women artists who transformed image-making into testimony. Organized by curator Jontyle Theresa Robinson to celebrate Spelman College’s museum opening, the volume gathers painting, sculpture, photography, fiber, and mixed media that speak across lineage and struggle. Essays and plates establish a rigorous context: how artists such as Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Lorna Simpson, and Carrie Mae Weems fold memory into form, turning the studio into a site of inquiry and refusal. As Archival Intelligence, the book safeguards a history too often footnoted; as Alchemy, it shows how hurt is transfigured into clarity and care. For the Black Imagination, Bearing Witness models art as evidence and embrace—work that names our realities while enlarging them. Its enduring lesson for future generations is simple and luminous: creativity is not an escape from history, but a way to carry it forward with dignity.