Ruth G. Waddy

Ruth G. Waddy
Waddy in 1966
Born
Willanna Ruth Gilliam

(1909-01-07)January 7, 1909
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedMay 24, 2003(2003-05-24) (aged 94)
NationalityAmerican
Known forPrintmaker

Ruth G. Waddy (January 7, 1909 – May 24, 2003) was an American artist, printmaker, activist, and editor, based in Los Angeles, California.

Early life and education

Willanna Ruth Gilliam was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, in 1909, and was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, daughter of John Moses Gilliam and Willie Anna Choran Gilliam.[1] She lived near the Minneapolis Museum of Art, which was her first introduction to the art world.[2] Her father worked as a waiter on the railroads; he died when Ruth was thirteen years old. She attended the University of Minnesota to train for teaching, but left school to work as a domestic servant in Chicago, to help support her family during the Depression.

During World War II, she moved with her young daughter to Los Angeles, California, to work as a riveter at Douglas Aircraft Corporation. After the war, she worked at a county hospital, where one of her co-workers was designer Noah Purifoy.[3] While working as a clerk for Los Angeles County, Waddy was diagnosed with epilepsy. This prompted her to retire early. However, she realized she would now have time to accomplish many of the things she had hoped to someday do. One of those things was the intent to learn art.[2]

Career

Waddy was in her fifties when she turned to a career in art, especially as a linocut printmaker.[4] In 1962, she founded Art West Associated, to gather and support the community of African-American artists in Los Angeles.[5][6][7][8] The association sponsored community and youth activities that raised awareness for black art in the area and advocated for black artists who could not get their recognized by mainstream museums. Notable participants included Raymond Lark, Samella Lewis, John Riddle, and Alonzo Davis.[9] Waddy studied briefly at Otis Art Institute, now called Otis College of Art and Design in 1965, and the following year traveled to the Soviet Union for an exhibit of African-American art, organized by a Chicago friend, Margaret Burroughs.[10] Also in 1966, her work was part of The Negro in American Art, a traveling exhibition funded by the California Arts Commission.[11]

Waddy was known for her primary in linocut printmaking.[12] For the most part, she is known for creating very highly contrasting flooring prints that tended to contain stories about Black presence.[13] In one of her most well-known works, The Key, Waddy outlined her artwork with dark geometrical structures and used supplies such as newspapers and magazines to scrap. She would pick subjects from regular daily life as well as influencing pictures of social difficulties.[14] Her work, later on, became one of the most influential artworks in that era, especially in Prints by American Negro Artist (1967). Waddy founded an organization of artists called Art West Associated, which expanded on the groundbreaking work of co-op galleries, including Eleven Associated, which laid the work of Black artists in the 1960s and 1970s in Los Angeles.[15]

Waddy embarked on a cross-country bus trip to gather works for Prints by American Negro Artists (1967), a project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. With Samella Lewis, she edited Black Artists on Art (1969 and 1971).[16][17][18][19] Waddy and Lewis are considered to be two of the "founding mothers" of the Black Arts Movement in California. Her 1969 linocut print, The Key, is considered to be one of the most prominent pieces in the movement.[20] She received awards from the Compton College in 1972, from the League of Allied Artists in 1981, from the California African American Museum in 1983, and the Vesta Award from the Woman's Building in 1986.[21] She was one of twelve African-American artists honored by the Los Angeles Bicentennial in 1981.[22] She also received a lifetime achievement award from the Women's Caucus for Art in 2001,[23] and an honorary doctorate from Otis Art Institute (now called Otis College of Art and Design) in 1987; the citation read, in part, "Your strong graphic images strike us with aesthetic, emotional, and social power, and your dedication to seeking out the distinctive experience of black artists in America has widened that power."[24]

Exhibitions

A selected list of exhibitions including works by Ruth G. Waddy:[3]

  • "Negro History Calendar Art Competition" - Safety Savings and Loan, Los Angeles, 1964
  • The Negro in American Art - Dickson Art Galleries, UCLA, Los Angeles, 1966
  • University of California, Davis, 1966
  • Fine Art Gallery, San Diego, 1967
  • New Perspectives in Black Art - Oakland Museum, Oakland, California, 1967
  • "Negro History Week Art Exhibit" - Independence Square, Los Angeles, 1968
  • Prints by Ruth Waddy - Scott United Methodist Church, Pasadena, California, 1976
  • A Vibrant Force - Our Children Museum of African American Art, Los Angeles, 1979
  • Impressions/Expressions Studio Museum, Harlem, New York, 1983
  • Ruth Waddy, A Retrospective - Gallery Plus, Los Angeles, 1986

Awards

A selected list of awards Ruth G. Waddy received:[3]

  • National Association of College Women, Los Angeles, 1963
  • Angeles Mesa Young Women's Christian Association, Los Angeles, 1964
  • United Nations cultural exchange to the Soviet Union, 1966
  • National Conference of Artists, Virginia State University, Petersburg, Virginia, 1968
  • Our Authors Study Club, Los Angeles, 1972
  • National Conference of Artists, Pacific Region, Berkeley, California, 1976
  • League of Allied Artists, Los Angeles, 1981
  • California Afro-American Museum, 1983
  • Vesta Award - Women's Building, Los Angeles, 1986
  • Life Works Plaque Award - National Artists Conference, Los Angeles, 1987
  • Honorary Doctor of Arts - Otis Art Institute, Parsons School of Design, New School of Social Research, New York, New York, 1987

Publications

  • Prints by American Negro Artists, 1965 (contributor) [3]
  • Black Artists on Art, 1969 (author) [3]

Personal life and legacy

Ruth Gilliam married and divorced William H. Waddy in the 1930s; they had one daughter, Marianna (later Maryom Ana Al-Wadi). Ruth G. Waddy died in 2003, aged 94, in San Francisco, California.[1][25] Her papers are at the Amistad Research Center, Tulane University.[26] A sketchbook that once belonged to Waddy was featured in a 2013 family art workshop sponsored by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Public Library.[27][28]

Waddy once stated: "Maybe if I had started as young as my peers did, I would be more interested in recognition. Yet, I do have a need to say what I feel out loud, regardless of whether anyone else hears me."[2]


References

  1. ^ a b "Ruth G. Waddy: Artist, Art Activist Remembered". Los Angeles Sentinel. 24 July 2003. pp. A3. ProQuest 369311739.
  2. ^ a b c King-Hammond, Leslie (1995). Gumbo Ya Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists. New York, New York: Midmarch Arts Press. pp. 303–304. ISBN 9781877675072. OCLC 32157945. OL 15489069M. Retrieved 4 June 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b c d e Waddy, Ruth G. (1993) [1991]. African-American Artists of Los Angeles: Ruth G. Waddy (Transcript of oral history). Interviewed by Karen Anne Mason and in collaboration with the University of California Libraries. Oral History Program, University of California, Los Angeles – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Jackson Radney, Delores (1997). "Waddy, Ruth (G.)". In Riggs, Thomas (ed.). St. James Guide to Black Artists. St. James Press. p. 543. ISBN 1558622209. OCLC 36470125. OL 18274582W. Retrieved 4 June 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson (2001). "'Your Life is Really Not Just Your Own': African-American Women in Twentieth-Century California". In de Graaf, Lawrence Brooks; Mulroy, Kevin; Taylor, Quintard (eds.). Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California. Autry Museum of Western Heritage in association with University of Washington Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-295-98082-9. OCLC 859154725 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Widener, Daniel (2010). Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles. Duke University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8223-9262-0. OCLC 458583418 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Art West Associated Makes Art History". Los Angeles Sentinel. 16 January 1964. pp. A21. ProQuest 564731369.
  8. ^ Jones, Kellie; Crawford, Margo Natalie (2006). "Black West: Thoughts on Art in Los Angeles". In Collins, Lisa Gail; Crawford, Margo Natalie (eds.). New Thoughts on the Black Arts Movement. Rutgers University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-8135-4107-5. OCLC 77564482 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Von Bloom, Paul (2010). "Before and After Watts: Black Art in Los Angeles". In Hunt, Darnell M.; Ramón, Ana-Christina (eds.). Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities. New York University Press. pp. 246–247. ISBN 9780814773062. OCLC 697182006 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Seidenbaum, Art (9 July 1966). "One Woman's Mission to Moscow". Los Angeles Times. pp. B1. ProQuest 155489208.
  11. ^ "Art News: Negro Culture Contribution to be Shown". Los Angeles Times. 4 September 1966. p. 130. ProQuest 155539018.
  12. ^ Hills, Raven (2012). "Waddy, Ruth G. (Ruth Gilliam) (1909-2003)". Amistad Research Center. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. ^ Gyorody, Andrea. "Artists: Ruth Waddy". Hammer Museum. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  14. ^ Glasper, Janyce Denise (July 2020). "Ruth G. Waddy". Black Women Make Art. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  15. ^ Little, Colony (1 February 2017). "Artist a Day Challenge (1): Ruth Waddy". Culture Shock Art. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Negro Artists Will Exhibit in Glendale". Los Angeles Times. 21 June 1970. pp. sg_b6. ProQuest 156481750.
  17. ^ Lewis, Samella; Waddy, Ruth, eds. (1969). Black Artists on Art. Vol. 1. Los Angeles, CA: Contemporary Crafts. OCLC 1301367439.
  18. ^ Lewis, Samella; Waddy, Ruth, eds. (1971). Black Artists on Art. Vol. 2. Los Angeles, CA: Contemporary Crafts. OCLC 1301371710.
  19. ^ "Limited Edition Original Prints". Black World. XXIII (3): 97. January 1974 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ Moore, Joe Louis (Fall 1996). "In Our Own Image: Black Artists in California, 1880 - 1970: Sample Portfolio of the Works of Grafton Tyler Brown, Sargent Claude Johnson, Emmanuel Joseph, Samella Lewis Ruth Waddy, Emory Douglas". California History. 75 (3): 264–271. doi:10.2307/25177598. ISSN 0162-2897. JSTOR 25177598.
  21. ^ "[Photo of] Ruth Waddy with her Vesta Award, 1986". Woman's Building Image Archive - Otis College of Art and Design Library. Photo by Mary Whitlock. 1986. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ Moore, Ronald (7 May 1981). "City Honors Twelve Black Artists". Los Angeles Sentinel. pp. A10. ProQuest 565438236.
  23. ^ "Women's Caucus for Art - Honor Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts - Past WCA Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees" (PDF). Women's Caucus for Art. 2005. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Otis Will Honor Conrad, 3 Others With Doctorates". Los Angeles Times. 14 May 1987. p. 5. ProQuest 292514779. Archived from the original on 14 December 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  25. ^ "Requiem: Ruth Waddy (1909-2003)" (PDF). Amistad Reports. XIV (7). Amistad Research Center: 7. Fall 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2014.
  26. ^ "Arts and Arts Promotion in the Ruth G. Waddy Papers," Amistad Log (1-3)(1983): 3.
  27. ^ "African American Heritage Month: 2013 Calendar and Cultural Affairs Guide: February Events: "Family Workshop: Watts Library: Art in a Box"" (PDF). City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. 2013. p. 59. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015.
  28. ^ The Ruth Waddy Sketchbook (Video). Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021 – via YouTube.
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