Books

At its root, this is a story of family and community. Vibrant illustrations capture the warmth and unity of Black families and Black communities in a portrait of beautiful joy. Both a story of celebration and a commemoration of freedom, this book honors...

 A unique survey of 350 artworks by a global and diverse array of LGBTQ+ artists – many underrecognized and overlooked – from the last 50 years Though the Stonewall Riots might now be shorthand for the start of the gay rights movement, so much of...

Riley is Papa’s princess and Daddy’s dragon. She loves her two fathers! When Riley’s classmate asks her which dad is her real one, Riley is confused. She doesn’t want to have to pick one or the other.  This heartwarming story shows there are lots of...

For generations, the women of Gee’s Bend have made  quilts to keep a family warm, as a pastime accompanied by sharing and  singing, or to memorialize loved ones. Today, some of the same quilts hang on our museum walls as modern masterpieces of...

From Slave Ship to Harvard is the true story of an African American family in Maryland over six generations. The author has reconstructed a unique narrative of black struggle and achievement from paintings, photographs, books, diaries, court records,...

Black Philadelphians have shaped Philadelphia history since colonial times. In Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape, Amy Cohen recounts notable aspects of the Black experience in Philadelphia from the late 1600s to the 1960s and how this history...

Larry Neal, a poet, dramatist, and critic, was a founding figure of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s and 1970s in New York. Writing as the arts editor for Liberator magazine, a radical journal published in Harlem, Neal called for Black artists to...

Back in the day, there was a heckuva party, a jam, for a word-making man. The King of Letters. Langston Hughes. His ABCs became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole country. They sent some people yelling and others, his...

Through essays, photo-essays, and a conversation between Black designer Stephen Burks (b. 1969) and the late cultural critic bell hooks, this book contextualizes Burks’s wide-ranging work while exploring design’s influence on politics, society, and...

Building on a technique that has roots in European and American traditions, Black artists have turned to collage as a way to convey how the intersecting facets of their lives combine to make whole individuals. Artists have assembled pieces of paper,...

Jake Makes a World follows the creative adventures of the young  Jacob Lawrence as he finds inspiration in the vibrant colors and  characters of his community in Harlem. From his mother's apartment,  where he is surrounded by brightly...

This indispensable introductory guide explores the art of the African continent from its early origins over 75,000 years ago to the contemporary, set in the context of postcolonial debates, the restitution of cultural objects and artifacts, and the...

Meet Lee, a little boy who won't give up until he learns how to sew, and Zora, the sister who watches him try--and ultimately succeed! "I know big sisters. Zora, the boss, she's mine," explains Lee as he and Zora head to the library, where Mrs. C is...

Trace the history of rock and roll with this playful journey through the decades, artists and styles that make this such a diverse and beloved art form. For children and parents alike, this colorful and lovingly illustrated book travels from the 1950s...

 'Race Is Everything’ explores the spurious but influential ideas of so-called racial science in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, and how art was affected by it. David Bindman looks at race in general, but with...

Working across photography, film, video, painting, and installation, his work references and re-imagines African American and African visual culture, from hip hop vernacular to Nefertiti, while nodding to traditions of spirituality and Surrealism. This...

Colors don’t come out of nothing. They always start somewhere . . . With something . . . With someone. Discover how color is harnessed from nature in this survey of dyes and pigments from around the world. Organized by color—from yellow to purple to red...

From Gandhi to Rosa Parks, the Arab Spring to Black Lives Matter, this introduction to the power of protests covers nearly every continent to show young readers that they can be effective on their own or as part of a movement. Filled with...

African American history has produced countless exceptional heroes, leaders, and role models. The graphic novel, BLAM! Black Lives Always Mattered!, tells  the inspiring stories of 14 important Black Philadelphians, such as opera singer Marian...

Elegant. Refined. Exclusionary. Interrupted. The foundations of the fine art world are shaking. Beyoncé and Jay-Z break the internet by blending modern Black culture with fine art in their iconic music video filmed in the Louvre. Kehinde Wiley powerfully...

It is human nature to look to the past when seeking inspiration, particularly in art and related creative fields. Unlike other genres that can be attributed to a specific era or style, folk art is harder to define or categorize due to its special...

For generations, Black artists from the American South have forged a unique art tradition. Working in near isolation from established practices, they have created masterpieces in clay, driftwood, roots, soil, and recycled and cast-off objects that...

"Creeeeak!" goes the screen door to self-taught artist Elijah Pierce's barbershop art studio. A young boy walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art. Mr. Pierce's wood carvings are in every corner of the small...

Exploring the art and life of this important American artist whose work bridged the gaps between abstraction, feminism, and Blackness Howardena Pindell: Reclaiming Abstraction is a fascinating examination of the multifaceted career of artist, activist,...

Featuring a new package and an additional 60 pages of material, this revised edition of The Art of Feminism covers an even more impressive range of artworks, artists, movements, and perspectives. Since the debut of the original volume in 2018, The Art...

In Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators, Kelly Walters collects twelve deeply personal interviews with graphic design educators of color who teach at colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. The book centers the unique narratives...

This book is the first to chronicle the lives of African American women in the urban north during the early years of the republic. A Fragile Freedom  investigates how African American women in Philadelphia journeyed from enslavement to the...

Play the Art Game!  Mondrian or Kahlo, Hirst or Warhol, whose art has been the most influential?  The most shocking?  The most expensive?  Play top artists against each other to discover who rules the art world.  Now in a new and...

All children deserve to see themselves represented positively in the books they read. Meet 52 icons of color from the past and present in this celebration of inspirational achievement—a collection of stories about change-makers to encourage,...

This book surveys the work of a new generation of Black artists, and also features the voices of a diverse group of curators who are on the cutting edge of contemporary art. As mission-driven collectors, Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi have...

Edited by Sarah Jane Boyers Maya Angelou's poetry pairs  with Jean-Michel Basquiat's paintings to creates this gorgeous  celebration of fearlessness. Originally published in 1993, this picture  book will have a second life in a fresh,...

Are you having a creative block or trouble at work? Are you in need of inspiration? Looking for a life coach? Ask your favorite artists for advice by consulting the Art Oracles cards! Each of the 50 cards is beautifully and, often times, comically...