Voices of the Diaspora: The Artisans Behind the Canvas

Rick Lowe (1961- ) is an American artist known for his social-practice art. Lowe has worked both inside and outside institutions to create community art projects.  Lowe's practice has focused primarily on creatively transforming neighborhoods and communities, This led him to found Project Row Houses, an arts and community center in Hoston, Texas. Lowe's artistic practice includes painting and installation art and later "social" sculpture. ⁠ Lowe received a degree from Columbus State University in 1982 and studied at Texas Southern University between 1990 and 1992.  

Rita Mawuena Benissan (1995- ) is a Ghanaian-American multidisciplinary artist working across textiles, photography, painting, sculpture, and installation. A large focus of her work is on the Royal Umbrella as a symbol of Ghanaian cultural heritage. She strives to communicate the beauty and power of her people.  Benissan received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Apparel and Textile Design from Michigan State University in 2017 and her Master of Fine Arts in photography and an African Studies Program Certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021.

Rodney Ewing (1964- ) is an American multidisciplinary artist working through installation, drawings, and mixed media. Ewing's work intersects body and place, memory and fact, and re-examines human histories, cultural conditions, and trauma. He is interested in the understudied historical objects, individuals, spaces, and events of the Black Diaspora. Ewing strives to create works that invite the viewers in for careful contemplation and observation.  Ewing received his Master of Fine Art: Printmaking, from West Virginia University in 1992 and his Bachelor of Fine Art: Printmaking from Louisiana State University in 1989. 

Romare Bearden (1911-1988) was a multimedia artist best known for his use of collage. Taking inspiration from artists such as Giotto, Picasso, Cezanne, and African art, Bearden is known for combining a variety of artistic styles and elements into his own pieces. Much of his work considers the contemporary Black American experience and represents Black culture.

Romuald Hazoumè (1962- ) is a Beninese sculptor who only uses recycled materials in his work. Through the manipulation of material, he communicates his stance against slavery, corruption, trafficking, and current abuses. He sees his role in two ways, a protector of Yoruba cultural values and someone is improving Beninese attitudes around art. 

Ronald Cyrille (1984- ) is a Dominican and Guadeloupean artist. He works in painting, drawing, and sculpture. Cyrille questions social and power dynamics through surreal landscapes. 

Ronald Young is an American assemblage artist. He collects objects from his surroundings such as doors, broken tools, rusty metals, and bricks for his assemblages. He references Nkisi n Kondi, sculptures, power objects, and masks from African diasporic contexts. Young is not only creating a link from an African past to an American present, but his use of the materials is an attempt to document histories of vacancy and displacement in Saint Louis. In his work, doors function as a metaphor for access and opportunity. Young received his MFA from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis in 2019. He also received his MA in Media Communications from Webster University in 1989 and his BA in Art Education K-12 from Clark/Atlanta University in 1980. 

Rosana Paulino (1967- ) is a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist and curator. A major theme in her work is the position of Black women in Brazilian society. She works with drawing, embroidery, engraving, printmaking, collage, and sculpture. Pulling from archetypes, memory, familial legacies, and histories she delves into the memories of those who still suffer from legacies of racism.  Paulino received a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in Fine Arts from Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo in 1995 and 2011 respectively. 

Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) was a Nigerian-British photographer. His work heavily featured themes of race, gender, religion, and sexuality. Fani-Kayode saw himself as a "triple outsider" via his nationality, race, and sexuality. Much of his work incorporates Yoruba imagery alongside European elements, complicating the idea of the Black body in the Western imagination. His work communicates a queer African perspective. The complex photographs explore desire, eroticism, and asserting one's place in the world.  Fani-Kayode received his MFA in Fine Arts & Photography at the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, NY in 1983. He received his BA in Fine Arts and Economics from Georgetown University, Washington DC. 

Roy DeCarava (1919-2009) was an American photographer active during the Harlem Renaissance. He started his path as a photographer in the late 1940s, after working in painting and making prints for the posters division of the Works Progress Administration. Originally, DeCarava sought to use photography as a study for his paintings but soon fell in love with the medium itself. He sought to develop photography as a fine art form, outside of its potential social documentarian function. His oeuvre shows everyday life in Harlem strikingly and dramatically with moody lighting and contrasting tones.  DeCarava received his degree from The Cooper Union School of Art in 1940. He studied painting, architecture, and sculpture while there.