Ann Tanksley facts for kids

Ann Graves Tanksley (born 1934) is a talented American artist. She creates art using oil paints, watercolors, and printmaking. One of her most famous art collections is inspired by the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, an important African-American writer. This collection has over 200 artworks, including unique prints called monotypes, and paintings. It traveled to different places across the United States from 1991 to 2010.

Ann Tanksley's Early Life

Ann Graves Tanksley was born on January 25, 1934. She grew up in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ann loved art from a very young age. She remembers her kindergarten teacher helping her discover art. On her first day of school, the teacher gave Ann crayons and beads to help her feel better. Ann said these items made her feel calm and started her journey as an artist. She finished high school in 1952. In 1956, she earned a degree in Fine Arts from Carnegie Institute of Technology. This school is now known as Carnegie Mellon University.

Ann Tanksley's Art Career

After college, Ann married John Tanksley, who was also from Homewood. They moved to Brooklyn, New York. Ann decided to focus on raising her daughters first. Later, she began her full-time art career. Before becoming a full-time artist, she taught art. She was an art instructor at Queens Youth Center for the Arts from 1959 to 1962. She also taught at the Arts Center of Northern New Jersey in 1963. In 1971, she was a substitute art teacher at Malvern Public Schools. From 1973 to 1975, she taught art at Suffolk County Community College. She was also the Vice President of John Tanksley Studios, Inc.

Learning and Growing as an Artist

Ann continued to learn and improve her art skills. She studied at several programs, like the Arts League of New York. She also attended the New School for Social Research, now called The New School. She learned from Paulette Singer at her workshop in Great Neck, New York. Ann also studied at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. There, she learned the monotype printmaking technique. This technique became very important in her Zora Neale Hurston artworks. Ann also studied with other famous artists. These included Norman Lewis (artist), Balcomb Greene, and Samuel Rosenberg (artist).

Black Women Artists Collective

Ann Tanksley was one of the first members of Where We At: Black Women Artists, Inc.. This group was based in New York. It was started by artists like Kay Brown, Dindga McCannon, and Faith Ringgold. They were part of the Black Arts Movement. One of Ann's first group shows was in 1972. It was called “Cooking and Smokin” and held at Weusi-Nyumba Ya Sanaa Gallery in Harlem, NY. Groups like "Where We At" helped show the art of women of color. They wanted to make sure these artists were seen in major galleries and museums.

Ann Tanksley and Zora Neale Hurston

Ann Tanksley started showing her art in the late 1960s. But her work became more well-known in the 1980s and 1990s. A big moment in her career was creating art based on Zora Neale Hurston's writings. This collection traveled around the U.S. for many years.

Ann discovered Hurston's work in the 1980s. She found a copy of Hurston's book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, among her daughter's things. Ann loved the book so much that she read many of Hurston's other works. In a 1996 interview, Ann said she "immediately fell in love with her writing." She felt they had a lot in common. Both were African-American artists, and Hurston's stories were very visual.

Her interest in Hurston led to a project for a book. It was called Zora: A Psychoanalytic and Artistic Interpretation of the Life and Works of Zora Neale Hurston. Even though the book was never published, Ann created over 200 paintings and black-and-white monotypes. These artworks were all inspired by Hurston's writings.

In 1993, Ann had an exhibition called “Zora Neale Hurston as Muse: Art of Ann Tanksley.” She said Hurston was like a "Spiritual Sister" and a muse (an inspiration). Ann felt connected to Hurston. She said, "She came to New York from Florida, I came from Pittsburgh, both of us to make our way as artists."

Ann Tanksley's Artistic Style

Ann Tanksley's art shows her travels and the simple ways of life she saw. It also shows feelings of loneliness, love, and spiritual beliefs. Her art expresses her love of life, even with challenges. Her paintings can make you feel a spiritual awakening. She uses intense colors that show moods of celebrations. Even when colors are soft, there is a brightness that suggests hope for the future. Her art is full of hope, faith, and survival.

Ann has a great eye for shapes and styles. She has studied French and Caribbean art. She also learned from other African American artists. She uses color, lines, and perspective to create powerful images. Her style uses flat areas of strong color. This makes her lines and shapes stand out. Some people compare her work to artists like Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse. Ann's loose brushwork makes her art feel lively and full of energy.

Ann's style is mostly realistic, but she adds her own feelings and decorative touches. Her art explores emotional ideas through bold and clear images. She uses techniques like glazing (adding thin layers of paint) and quick, skilled charcoal lines. These methods create a feeling of free expression. Ann's art is often inspired by her personal feelings about things around her.

Other Works by Ann Tanksley

Ann Tanksley has illustrated several books for children. These include The Six Fools by Zora Neale Hurston, adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas (2006). She also illustrated My Heart Will Not Sit Down by Mara Rockliff (2012).

Her artworks are part of important art collections. You can find her work at the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York. It's also at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. And at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY. Her art is also in private collections. These include the John and Vivian Hewitt Collection and Oprah Winfrey's collection.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• Acts of Art Gallery, New York, New York, 1973, 1974.
• Spectrum II, Mount Vernon, New York, 1982.
• Dorsey Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, 1986.
• Berkeley Repertory Theater, Berkeley, California, 1991.
• California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California, 1991.
• SOHO20, New York, New York, 1993.
• Eatonville Museum, Eatonville, Florida, 1994.
• Maitland Center, Maitland, Florida, 1994.
• Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1997.
• Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, 2004.
• Avisca Fine Art Gallery, Marietta, Ga, 2009.

Selected Group Exhibitions

• Acts of Art, New York, New York, 1971.
• University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 1981.
• American Women in Art, Nairobi, Kenya, 1985.
• Museum of African American Art, Los Angeles, California, 1992.
• National Arts Club, New York, New York, 1994.
• Kansas City Jazz Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, 1999.
• Hewitt Collection of African-American Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1999.
• Stamford Center for the Arts, Stamford, Connecticut, 2000.
• Connecticut Graphics Arts Center, Norwalk, Connecticut, 2001.
• August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Pittsburgh, PA, 2017.
• 73 See Gallery, Montclair, New Jersey, 2019.

Published Works (as Illustrator)

• The Six Fools by Zora Neale Hurston and adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas (HarperCollins, 2006)
• My Heart Will Not Sit Down by Mara Rockliff (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012).

Books Featuring Ann Tanksley's Work

Ann Tanksley and her art have been featured in several books, including:

• The Art of Black American Women: Works of Twenty Four Artists of the Twentieth Century by Robert Henkes.
• Gumbo Ya Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists by Leslie King-Hammond.
• Time Capsule: A Concise Encyclopedia of Women Artists by Robin Kahn.
• Forever Free: Art by African-American Women and Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over Fifty by Michael Cunningham and Connie Briscoe.