This guide provides information on Black artists and designers and links to resources such as books, websites, and videos. These artists and designers were nominated by Ricker Library staff and library users as among their favorites. We tried to create a balance between emerging practitioners and those who are well-known; while embracing a broad cross-section of media and processes. If you would like to nominate an individual or group to be included in this list, please use our Suggestions and feedback form or simply email us.

The guide is organized primarily alphabetically by last name rather than by medium. We chose to do that since many of the artists and designers listed worked across art and design disciplines, and it seemed arbitrary to try to assign one main category to someone with multiple skills. We have indicated what their general practice is for each artist and designer highlighted, however, to help facilitate browsing.             

#FromMarginToCenter is born out of the clear need to draw attention to marginalized voices, not only across our society, but specifically in our library. We need to acknowledge that nondominant experiences are not well represented in our collections and resources, and further we need to do something about it.

• Create a growing body of resources designed to highlight contemporary artists and designers across a broad range of identities. Our selection criteria combine staff expertise and interest, current events, and providing a balanced range of resources, knowing that this is an emerging body of material that will evolve and take different shapes over time.

• After putting in the work to create a resource guide, we amplify those voices. We highlight specific creators in our social media, look for ways to collect more material about or by the person in question, and find ways to embed references to these folks in our more general use guides, as well as our  teaching, outreach, reference, and other activities.

For more information, see the #FromMarginToCenter Initiative page on our website.

Materials accessed in this guide are provided for personal and/or scholarly use.  Users are responsible for obtaining any copyright permissions that may be required for their own further uses of that material.  For more information about fair use please refer to the College Art Association Code of Best Practices in Fair Use in the Visual Arts.