To Be Or Not To Be Free
Artist/Maker
Faith Ringgold
(American, 1930–2024)
Date2014
MediumColor lithograph
DimensionsImage: 30 1/8 × 22 3/8 in. (76.5 × 56.8 cm)
Credit LinePaul B. Arnold Memorial Art Acquisition Fund
Edition52/60
Object number2016.7
Status
Not on viewPart of the series Coming to Jones Road, this print, modeled after a quilt, shows a
group of travelers huddled close as they move through a dense forest, going north to
freedom. The surrounding text refers to the dream of escaping slavery, and how it was
realized through many hardships. The series was created in part as the artist’s
response to a move she made from Harlem, New York, to Englewood, New Jersey. Not
feeling connected to this new home, she looked to the history of the area, sharing
stories of those who had traveled through it on the Underground Railroad.
Exhibition History
New Acquisitions and Old Friends
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 3, 2021 - June 12, 2022 )
Collections
- Modern & Contemporary
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object?
Please contact us.
1999
2024
1975
postmarked July 4, 1958