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If I asked you to name five artists, who would you name? Chances are, most people would list five male (and probably white) artists. I’m assuming that many people would find it easy to name five male artists, but may struggle to come up with five women artists.

Here are five incredible women artists of color to share with your family. I’ve included an activity suggestion for each artist to help your children engage with the artist and her work.

Because most of these women artists are contemporary, their artworks are copyrighted. I’ve included videos and links to show you examples of their art.

Women Artists of Color

Augusta Savage

Augusta Savage (1882-1962), a leading member of the Harlem Renaissance, was an African-American sculptor, arts educator, and activist. She created beautiful, expressive portrait sculptures and artwork that celebrated the black community. Savage created one of her most inspiring artworks, The Harp, for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. The sculpture was inspired by Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson. Read more about how to explore this artwork with your children.

Activity Suggestion: Read In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage. Discuss the choices Savage had to make to pursue her dreams, and have your child write about her own life dreams and the choices she would need to make to make them a reality.

Carmen Lomas Garza

Carmen Lomas Garza is a Mexican-American artist who creates positive paintings and illustrations of Mexican-American families. The artist hopes “to heal the wounds inflicted by discrimination and racism” through her art (Source).

See the artist discuss her work below and visit her website to see images of her work.

Activity Suggestion: Have your child make a painting that documents her own family traditions in a positive way.

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Nation, Montana. Through her art, she combines her Native American heritage with current issues facing Native Americans like Euro-American hegemony, the government’s oppression of native cultures, and environmental issues.

Learn more about Jaune Quick-to-See Smith in this video of the artist discussing her work.

Activity Suggestion: Learn about the history of Native Americans with your child through children’s books and discuss Smith’s artwork together.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

After studying Fine Arts at the Tehran University, Farmanfarmaian was one of the first Iranian students to travel to the U.S. after World War II, where she completed her studies at Cornell University. Nearly five decades later, her drawings, sculptures, and installations transcend categorization as she treats traditional reverse glass painting, mirror mosaics, and principles of Islamic geometry with a contemporary sensibility.

Here is a video of the artist discussing her work.

Activity Suggestion: Compare Farmanfarmaian’s artwork with traditional Islamic mosaic artworks on mosques. Then, invite your child to create her own artwork using pattern.

Yayoi Kusama

Kusama is a Japanese artist whose work was a precursor and influence to Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Her artwork was bold and new, and focused on repetition of pattern in bold colors. Her exciting art varies from sculpture to painting, from performances to installations.

Watch this video of the artist discussing her work to learn more.

Activity Suggestion: Turn your house into a Yoyoi Kusama-inspired installation. Cover the bathroom with big polka dots or use stickers to turn the ordinary into something new.

Join us for our second annual Women’s History Month series, celebrating the contributions and accomplishments of women around the world. Follow along all month plus link up your own posts below! Don’t miss our series from last year, and find even more posts on our Women’s History board on Pinterest:

Follow Multicultural Kid Blogs’s board Women’s History on Pinterest.

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Cindy Ingram

Once an art teacher and museum educator, Cindy is now a work at home mom of two lovely daughters (ages 4 and 6). She is passionate about the power of art in people's lives and writes about how to teach art appreciation and enjoy art history with kids of all ages at the Art Curator for Kids (http://artcuratorforkids.com/).

Latest posts by Cindy Ingram (see all)

• 5 Women Artists of Color - March 25, 2016
• Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #26 - April 19, 2015
• The Art of Romare Bearden for Kids - February 2, 2015