Guide to Fiber Artist Dindga McCannon
This guide will assist users and scholars in locating information and artwork by Fiber Artist Dindga McCannon. Included is information about primary resources, books and visual materials.
"A Day in the Life of a Black Woman Artist"
Artist Biography
In 1947 Fiber and mixed media artist Dindga McCannon was born and raised in Harlem, New York. At an early age her Grandmother and mother taught her how to sew, knit, and make embroidery. These foundational skills laid the groundwork for her to build upon a professional career as an artist. As a teenager she exhibited with a Harlem based art collective called the Twentieth Century Creators at the first annual Harlem Outdoor art show. In 1965 McCannon became a member of WEUSI, an African American artists collective based in Harlem and inspired by the Black Arts Movement. The Black Arts Movement emphasized an ethos that encouraged the artists to cultivate a Black Aesthetic that promoted African iconography with an infusion of bold, bright colors, patterns and Black subject matter.
McCannon’s work has been described as Afrofemcentric, a term coined by art historian Dr. Frieda High Tesfgiorgis, as a consolidation of Black Liberation and women's issues, in harmony with both. This philosophy has sustained and informed McCannon’s work for over 50 years. Her art practice has included publishing children’s books, illustration, fashion and jewelry design, mural painting, printmaking, and set design. In all of this, she has maintained her allegiance to her culture, her womanhood and the various influences she has encountered along the way.
