Tom Lloyd (artist) facts for kids

Tom Lloyd (1929–1996) was an American artist, activist, and community leader. He was known for his unique light sculptures and for working to make the art world more fair for everyone.

Early Life and Learning

Tom Lloyd was born in 1929 in Jamaica, Queens, a part of New York City. He grew up there and discovered his passion for art. He studied art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and also at the Brooklyn Museum.

His Art and Exhibitions

Tom Lloyd was a very creative artist, especially known for his light sculptures. These were artworks that used electronics to create changing light patterns.

First Show at The Studio Museum

In 1968, Tom Lloyd had a very important art show. His work was chosen for the very first exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem. This show was called Electronic Refractions II. It opened on September 24, 1968, and showed off his amazing light sculptures. This exhibition was so important that it even inspired the name of a later traveling show, “Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem.”

Some people found Lloyd's art a bit surprising because it was different from what many African-American artists were doing at the time. He often used methods like murals, painting, and even glass in his art. Tom Lloyd believed that art should help young artists and connect with the community. He also thought artists should get involved in politics.

Talking About Art and Society

A few months before his big show, Lloyd joined a discussion called The Black Artist in America: A Symposium. This meeting happened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Famous artists like Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Sam Gilliam were also there.

In 1971, Lloyd helped create a book called Black Art Notes. It had essays from different African-American artists and thinkers. Lloyd wrote an essay in the book about how art should be connected to social and political action. The book was a way to share different ideas about Black art.

The Store Front Museum

Also in 1971, Tom Lloyd started something special called the Store Front Museum in Queens, New York. It was in Jamaica, a neighborhood where many Black families lived. This museum was more than just a place to see art. It was a lively community center! It hosted art shows, concerts, talks, and festivals. It even offered fun activities like dance and karate lessons. The Store Front Museum showed how much Lloyd believed that art and community action should work together.

Fighting for Change

Tom Lloyd was not just an artist; he was also an activist who worked hard to make things better for artists of color.

Joining the Art Workers Coalition

Lloyd was one of the first members of a group called the Art Workers' Coalition. He was the only Black artist in the group at first. He helped bring other artists, like Faith Ringgold, into the group. Together, they used the group to push for big changes in museums. They wanted museums to include more Black and Puerto Rican artists and to have special advisory boards for them. Before this, Lloyd was briefly part of another group called the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. However, he felt that group wasn't pushing hard enough for social change.

Selected Exhibitions

Here are some of the places where Tom Lloyd's art was shown:

• 1965, Amel Gallery
• 1965, Art Turned On, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
• 1965, Light as a Creative Medium, Carpenter Art Center, Harvard University
• 1966, Light in Art, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
• 1966, Art Electric, Sonnabend Gallery, Paris
• 1966, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
• 1967, Counterpoints, Lever House, New York
• 1968, Howard Wise Gallery
• 1971, Electronic Refractions II, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
• 1971, Contemporary Black Artists in America, Whitney Museum of American Art
• 2006, Energy/Experimentation, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
• 2007, Black Light White Noise, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
• 2019, Black Refractions: Highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem, traveling exhibition