Barbara Bullock facts for kids

Barbara J. Bullock (born November 4, 1938) is an amazing African American artist! She is a painter, collagist (someone who makes art by gluing different materials together), printmaker, and even a soft sculptor. She also teaches art.

Barbara Bullock's art often shows African designs, African and African American culture, and themes like spirits, dancing, and jazz. She uses both abstract (shapes and colors) and figural (recognizable people or things) styles. Her art is known for its bright colors, cool patterns, and interesting shapes. She often creates art in "series," meaning groups of artworks that share a common theme or style.

Growing Up and Learning Art

Barbara Bullock was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 24, 1938. Her family had moved there from North Carolina in the 1930s. They were part of the Great Migration, when many Black people moved North to find better opportunities.

Barbara's mother passed away when Barbara was 12. She and her siblings then lived with their father and stepmother, Gertrude, who became like a second mother to her. Her grandparents, who often visited, were great storytellers. Barbara grew up listening to their tales. (Later, she even made a painting called "Stories My Grandmother Told Me"!)

Barbara always felt a strong need to create things. She spent a lot of time making art in her parents' basement. She once said that art became her "language" for expressing herself.

She also took dance lessons. She loved dance so much that images of dancers became a big part of her artwork. Barbara also joined art programs in public schools and took classes at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. She became very interested in Africa after reading about it in National Geographic magazine. She wanted to understand her connection to her African roots.

After graduating from Germantown High School in 1958, she continued her art studies. She took painting and drawing classes at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial. Later, she attended night classes at Hussian School of Art, where she learned about commercial art.

Her Art Career

Early Paintings and Inspiration

At first, Barbara Bullock painted portraits of famous Americans, friends, and family. Many of her early works were watercolors. She wanted to show the true feelings of Black people. Eventually, she decided to paint what she truly felt inside.

In the 1960s, she met other African American artists in Philadelphia. They would gather to talk about their art, and how hard it was to show their work. Older artists gave her advice and feedback. Barbara Bullock, Ellen Powell Tiberino, and a few others were some of the only working Black female artists at that time. Barbara decided not to get married, saying, "I married my art."

In 1971, Barbara became the art director at the Ile Ife Black Humanitarian Center. This center was founded by dancer Arthur Hall. She taught art to children and young adults there. The center focused on Yoruba culture from Africa, which attracted artists, dancers, and musicians from all over the world.

Barbara loved Arthur Hall's focus on African culture. It changed her art and helped her connect with her African heritage. She took dance lessons from Hall and often painted dancers. She said she wanted to show "the ritual through dance, the communion of the body and spirit through movement."

She also worked with Twins Seven Seven, a Nigerian artist who connected animals and spirits in his art. His influence can be seen in Barbara's paintings, like her "Stilt Dancers" series. Barbara often describes her art as "chasing after spirits."

Style and Materials

Barbara Bullock's abstract art is full of bright colors, patterns, and rhythmic movement. She often uses black as a main color, saying she wants it to represent power and strength, not negative things.

She uses many different materials in her art. These include layers of painted paper, fabric, plant fibers, beads, metals, shells, and feathers. Some of her dancer and animal figures even stick out from the wall! She uses acrylic and gouache paints on paper, pen and ink, and creates textured sculptures. She calls her figural collages "shaped paintings." She also makes three-dimensional wall collages from heavy paper.

In 1980, she started making altars after researching African culture. These altars, made of hand-dyed cloth, raffia, shells, beads, and rocks, were meant to protect her.

Travels and Series

Barbara traveled to Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico to learn about their cultures. With grants, she also visited many countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Egypt, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and South Africa. She used the images and techniques she saw there in her collages. She included the land, the night sky, textiles, and masks. She said, "I felt very close to that culture... It’s like getting in touch with yourself.”

Barbara often creates art in "series" to fully explore a theme. Some of her famous series include "Jasmine Gardens," "Stilt Walkers," "Initiation," "Night Songs," "Healers," "Journey," "Spirit Houses," and "Chasing After Spirits." Some of her works also show her feelings about important issues affecting Black people, like "Trayvon Martin, Most Precious Blood" (about a teen who was killed in 2012), "Katrina" (about the devastating hurricane in 2005), and a portrait of George Floyd (who was killed in 2020).

She also participates in printmaking programs. Her print "Seeing is Believing (2011)" is now in the Woodmere Art Museum.

Teaching Art

For over 40 years, Barbara Bullock has taught art classes in schools, colleges, and community centers. She has been an artist-in-residence in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware more than 200 times! She teaches mask-making and art classes. She also trains teachers on how to include art in their school lessons and has even taught art to people in prisons.

In 1978, she was one of 18 artists chosen for a special program to employ artists and bring art to communities. She taught classes at the Nicetown Boys and Girls Club. As an artist-in-residence, she worked with elementary and high school students. She taught students in Delaware to paint murals and led classes in New Jersey. She even started making fans while teaching there!

In 1999, she spent five months at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. There, she created a series called "Journey Series #4, Ethiopia," which is now part of the museum's collection.

Art Shows and Awards

Barbara Bullock has shown her art in many group exhibitions since the 1960s. It was often hard for Black artists to find galleries to show their work. They sometimes exhibited in private homes or community centers.

In 1966, she was in an exhibit called "Four Negro Artists" in Philadelphia. She showed five works, including a portrait called "The Staple Singers." The same year, she was in a show of young Black artists at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

In 1969, she was among 200 Black artists in a big show sponsored by the Philadelphia School District. This show featured many famous artists like Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden.

In 1988, the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum held a special show just for Barbara Bullock's works. In 2005, she was one of 41 Black artists in a traveling exhibit called "Chemistry of Color."

Barbara has also won awards for her art. In 2002, she won a $35,000 Leeway Foundation Award.

Some of the places where her art has been shown include:

• Philadelphia Gallery, 1966
• Howard University, 1972, 1985
• Ile-Ife Humanitarian Center, 1975
• Walnut Street Theater, 1975
• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1986, 2005, 2017
• Sande Webster Gallery, 1989, 2010
• Painted Bride Art Center, 1992, 1998
• African American Museum in Philadelphia, 1988, 2002
• Woodmere Art Museum, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2023
• Portland Art Museum, 2017
• Swarthmore College, 2022

Special Art Projects

Barbara Bullock has been asked to create art for several special projects:

• In 1990, the Philadelphia International Airport asked her to make artwork. She created three-dimensional collages of dancers called "Releasing the Energy, Balancing the Spirit."
• In 1999, she created "Journey Series #4, Ethiopia" for the African American Museum in Philadelphia.
• In 2004, she designed a poster for the 30th anniversary of the Odunde Festival in Philadelphia.
• In 2008, she created a work for SEPTA (Philadelphia's public transportation system) that was installed at the 46th Street Station. It's called "El Dancers."

Where Her Art Lives

Barbara Bullock's art is part of many important collections, meaning museums and other places own her works:

• African American Museum in Philadelphia
• Philadelphia Free Library
• Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit
• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
• Woodmere Art Museum
• Howard University
• Lafayette College
• La Salle University's art museum
• Philadelphia International Airport