Written by Yohan Smith, Library Aide at the Rockridge branch, SFMOMA Museum Guide Librarian, and Teen Museum Guide
“If you can find someone’s struggle (through the artistic process), you can find their genius and what they have pushed against to achieve an amount of success:” New York Humans Photographic Project: CBS Morning News Art Review: 12/26/25
In celebration of OPL's Black Culture Fest: A Celebration of the African Diaspora 2026, I created a list of my favorite visual artists and painters. They are not ranked in any particular order. Happy Black Cultural Fest!!
Mildred Howard (1945 - ) I am in awe of Mildred Howard's family history of community activism and creative expression through sculpture and film. The work created about her mother, opens a new window, known as Mama Howard, opens a new window into the West Berkeley neighborhood where she grew up. Her sculptural work stands outside the entrance to the Ashby Bart Station., opens a new window Howard is part of an SFAI Exhibit at SFMOMA capturing 150 years of Artistic practices/experiences (from 1862 to 2022) and has an upcoming exhibition at the Oakland Museum in the Spring of 2026, entitled: Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory.
Amy Sherald, opens a new window (1973-) While known for her portrait of former first Lady Michelle Obama, opens a new window, Sherald's most recent exhibition: American Sublime, opens a new window speaks to the power of portraits and their connection to Black culture. In addition to the portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, the exhibition includes other iconic works. These range from a recreated World War 2 kiss to a painting of Breonna Taylor, who was shot while resting in her home during the time of Black Lives Matter protests.
Suzanne Jackson (1944-) “What is Love”, the current (September 27, 2025–March 1, 2026) SFMOMA exhibit, opens a new window is a 60 year retrospective of Jackson's works. The exhibition follows her career from early works in San Francisco to her mid-career work founding Los Angeles' first gallery for Black Painters. It also features more recent sculptural paintings and installations that reflect a growing connection to climate awareness. Jackson refers to herself as a self-taught artist who began creating art when she was 8 years old and currently lives and works in Savannah, Georgia. Jackson lived with her family in Fairbanks, Alaska in between the time she spent growing up in San Francisco and then moved to Los Angeles. The catalogue for the SFMOMA Exhibition: What is Love can be placed on hold, opens a new window via the Inter-Library Loan process.
William Scott (1964 -) Scott's work chronicles contemporary Black life in the SF Bay Area. The mural pictured below was photographed at SFMOMA as part of the Creative Growth exhibition in 2024, opens a new window.It features iconic figures such as Diana Ross, Debbi Thomas, former San Francisco Mayor London Breed, spiritual leaders and churches from the 1990s - 2020s, and highlights SF neighborhoods with a long-standing Black presence. Scott's love of galactic and space-inspired imagery is evident throug his other paintings.
Latoya Ruby Frazier , opens a new window(1982-) Frazier's photographs speak to the challenges of Black communities like the Flint, Michigan River Crisis. I viewed her recent work addressing the climate and environmental crisis, Breathe: Toward Climate and Social Justice, at the Manetti Shrem Art Museum on the UC Davis campus, opens a new window. Her work is part of a growing movement of artists tackling these issues.
Yinka Shonibare, opens a new window (1962 - ) Shonibare creates sculptures and installations that speak to visual and social commentaries about colonial racism and slavery. He was one of numerous artists who created artwork that highlights untold stories of African Americans during the California Gold Rush and Reconstruction period (1840s - 1890s). Shonibare's specific work, Man Moving Up, opens a new window, refers to images of African Americans migrating from the South to the North in 1940s and1950s.
BAMPFA Quilt Exhibition: Routed West: Twentieth Century: , opens a new windowAfrican American Quilts in California (June 8, 2025 to Nov 30, 2025) includes historical quilts from the 1950s and1960s and works from contemporary Quilt Guilds like the Oakland Quilt Guild. My favorites included an image of Africa, the vibrant quilts hung in the middle of the gallery, and a work of the late musician Prince.
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