BIOGRAPHY
Dawn Williams Boyd was born in 1952 in Neptune, New Jersey. She earned her BFA at Stephens College, Columbia, MO in 1974. Boyd’s work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY; Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, AL; Columbus Museum in Columbus, GA; Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY; and the Richardson Family Art Museum at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. Her art has been exhibited at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC; Southwest Art Center in Atlanta, GA; Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta, GA; Bulloch Hall in Roswell, GA; Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA; Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta, GA; and Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA; Lamar Dodd School of Art’s Dodd Galleries, University of Georgia, Athens, GA; Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY; and Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY.
EDUCATION
1974
BFA-Studio, Stephens College, Columbia, MO
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Dawn Williams Boyd: The Tip of the Iceberg, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY
Dawn Williams Boyd: Woe, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY (traveling exhibition)
2021
Dawn Williams Boyd: Woe, Dodd Galleries, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
2020
Cloth Paintings, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY
Death Is Swallowed by Victory, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
2019
Scraps from My Mother’s Floor, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
2018
Coming Home: Discussions of a Movement, Brown v. The Board of Education Historic Site, Topeka, KS
2017
Coming Home, Southwest Art Center, Atlanta, GA
2016
Trunk Show at Atlanta Quilt Festival, Hammonds House Museum, Atlanta, GA.
Womyn, Atlanta – Fulton Public Library, Mechanicsville Branch, Atlanta, GA.
KUIBUKA, Bulloch Hall, Roswell, GA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024-2025
Wrongs & RIGHTS, Brandeis University, Kniznick Gallery, Waltham, MA
2023-2024
Quilting a Future: Contemporary Quilts and American Tradition, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
2023
Feeling of light, Almine Rech, Brussels, Belgium
A Ribbon Runs Through It: Textiles, The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA
The New Bend, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
2022
Wrongs & Rights, The Rudin Family Gallery, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, NY
The New Bend, Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY (traveling exhibition)
2021
Friendship. Nature. Culture. 44 Years of the Daimler Art Collection, Works of the Collection 1920–2021, Daimler Contemporary Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2020
Searching For Home, Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
AAFTA: Black Men: Fathers, Brothers, Sons, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
AAFTA: (untitled), Hammonds House Museum, Atlanta, GA
AAFTA: Outsider Perspectives 2020, Haugabrooks Events, Atlanta, GA
2019
Fiberarts International 2019, Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Fabric Flash: A Contemporary Textile Exhibition, Chastain Art Center Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Things That Matter: A Fiber Art Exhibition by a Coalition of Artists with Purpose, St George Art Center, St. George, UT; and Visions Art Museum, San Diego, CA
Soulful, d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA
2018
Things That Matter: A Fiber Art Exhibition by a Coalition of Artists with Purpose, Vision Gallery, Chandler, AZ
The Search Within: Daughters of the Diaspora, Western Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction, CO
Quilts=Art=Quilts, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY
O Freedom, My Beloved, ZuCot Gallery, Atlanta, GA
unRuly, PlatteForum Art Center, Denver, CO
Callanwolde 2018 Juried Art Exhibition, Callanwolde Art Center, Atlanta, GA
Visioning Human Rights in the New Millennium, Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, Hamilton, OH
2017-2018
And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations, Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA; The California Museum, Sacramento, CA (traveling exhibition)
2017
Inclusion: Diverse Voices of the Modern West, McNichols Building, Denver, CO
AAFTA: Bequest: A Heritage of Creativity, Mable House Gallery, Mableton, GA
AAFTA: Having Come So Far, Yet So Far To Go, Atlanta-Fulton Central Library, Atlanta, GA
Boycott: Artists Respond to Protest, South West Art Center, Atlanta, GA
2016
And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, VA
GRANTS
2014
Pollock-Krasner Grant
RESIDENCIES
2008
Artist in Residence, Platte Forum, Denver, CO
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Equal Justice Initiative, Legacy Museum, Montgomery, AL
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Richardson Family Art Museum, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
PUBLICATIONS
2023
Making Their Mark: Art by Women in the Shah Garg Collection. New York: Gregory R Miller & Co, 2023.
2022
Russell, Legacy. The New Bend. New York: Hauser & Wirth, 2022.
Fuller, Daniel. Woe. Athens: Lamar Dodd School of Art, 2022.
2019
Mazloomi, Carolyn L. Visioning Human Rights in the New Millennium: Quilting the World’s Conscience. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2019.
Fiberarts International 2019. Pittsburgh: Contemporary Craft, 2019.
2018
Poteet, Sandra, and Lin Schiffner. Things That Matter A Fiber Art Exhibition by A Coalition of Artists with Purpose. Scotts Valley: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018.
PRESS
2024
Oliver, Angela. "Atlanta artist weaves social activism into powerful works." The Atlanta Journal Constitution. September 22.
2024
Oliver, Angela. "Dawn Williams Boyd weaves social activism into powerful artworks." Arts ATL. September 5.
2023
Sherwin, Skye. “A stitch in time: the enduring influence of the Gee’s Bend quilters.” The Guardian. January 26.
2022
Little, Colony. “For Generations, African American Women Have Used Quilting as a Powerful Tool of Survival, Resistance, and Artistic Expression.” ARTNews. November 23.
Harber, John. “There Goes The Neighborhood.” Harberarts.com. November 14.
Juanita Carrillo, Karen. “Dawn William Boyd’s cloth paintings are lessons in U.S. History.” Amsterdam News. November 10.
Falco Raez, Constanza. “THERE’S GRATITUDE, THERE’S ATTITUDE, AND THEIR QUILTING SHALL RESCUE THEE.” Flaunt Magazine – Issue 183. October.
Tauer, Kristen. “Dawn Williams Boyd Is Piecing Together History.” Women’s Wear Daily. September 30.
Eli, Anapur. “Dawn Williams Boyd’s Cloth Paintings come to Fort Gansevoort.” Widewalls. September 22.
Kazanjian, Dodie. “46 Art Exhibitions to See In New York City (and Beyond) This Fall.” VOGUE. September 5.
McGehee, Margaret. “A Place to Sigh: Dawn Williams Boyd in conversation with Margaret McGehee.” Southern Cultures, Vol. 28, No. 2. Summer 2022.
Harper, Daria Simone. “The New Bend Nods to Gee’s Bend but Strays From Quilting.” Hyperallergic. March 1.
“In Pictures: See How a New Cohort of Contemporary Textile Artists Are Taking Quilting in Challenging New Directions.” Artnet News. February 21.
Whittaker, Kamille. “Dawn Williams Boyd’s cloth paintings tell stories of Black life in America.” Atlanta Magazine. February 21.
Bailey, Anthony. “Dawn Williams Boyd’s exhibit ‘Woe’ crafts fiber art into timeless historical portrayals.” The Daily Orange. February 17.
Haynes, Clarity. “The Subversive Power of Quilts: Legacy Russell on ‘The New Bend.’” ArtReview. February 15.
Tauer, Kristen. “Legacy Russell Curates ‘The New Bend’ for Hauser & Wirth.” WWD. February 9.
Davis-Marks, Isis. "Leading Contemporary Artists Pay Homage to the Pioneering Quilters of Gee's Bend." Artsy.net. February 8.
Becker, Morgan. "'A New Bend' at Hauser & Wirth Includes Textile-Based artworks by
Eric N. Mack, Sojourner Truth Parsons, and Dawn Williams Boyd." ARIESARISE.COM. February 8.
Willis, Scott. "Everson Museum of Art Features Local Artists in New Exhibitions." waer.org. February 7.
Thorton, Craig. “New Exhibit at the Everson. Dawn Williams: Woe in Syracuse.” WWNYTV.com. February 4.
2021
afinelyne. "The New Bend to Open at Hauser & Wirth 22nd Street in February 2022." GothamToGo. December 22.
Westall, Mark. “Contemporary Artists Working in the Raced, Classed, and Gendered
Traditions of Quilting and Textile Practice.” FAD Magazine. December 22.
McCann, Adron. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art Acquires Atlanta Artist Dawn Williams Boyd's Piece." September 1.
“Dawn Williams Boyd: Faith Ringgold Inspired Me to Change My Art.” Elephant. August 25.
Bentley, Rosalind. “Work of two Atlanta artists acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. August 12.
Criscitiello, Alexa. "Birmingham Museum Of Art Acquires 'Three Marys: Freedom Riders' By Dawn Williams Boyd." BroadwayWorld.com. June 08.
Flamming, EC. “Dawn Williams Boyd: Death Is Swallowed Up By Victory.” Art Papers. January 28.
Genis, Leia. “Dawn Williams Boyd at Atlanta Contemporary.” Burnaway. January 22.
2020
Bentley, Rosalind. “Local artist Dawn Williams Boyd has new exhibit at Atlanta Contemporary.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. December 24.
Harle, Emily. “Dawn William Boyd: Stitching America’s Story.” Metal Magazine. December 21.
“A Bride Changes Her Mind.” The New York Times T Magazine. November 13.
Guinard, Jane. “Dawn Williams Boyd Gets Personal and Political in ‘Cloth Paintings.’” Whitewall. November 13.
Bentley, Rosalind. “Atlanta quilt artist’s work focus of NYC gallery show on racial justice.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 02.
Bentley, Rosalind. “Dawn Williams Boyd’s quilts document racial justice struggle”, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 02.
Valentine, Victoria L. “On View: ‘Dawn Williams Boyd: Cloth Paintings’ Online at Fort Gansevoort in New York.” Culture Type, October 24.
Davis-Marks, Isis. “How Quiltmaking’s Deep Traditions Are Influencing Contemporary Art.” Artsy. October 22.
“Your Concise New York Art Guide for October 2020.” Hyperallergic. October 05.
“Things to do – online and in-person – in the San Fernando Valley, LA Area, Sept. 24-Oct.1.” Los Angeles Daily News. September 24.
Cowan, Katy. “Giant ‘cloth paintings’ by Dawn Williams Boyd stitched together to tell the story of Black America.” Creative Boom. September 24.
“Meet Dawn Williams Boyd | Visual Artist.” Shoutout Atlanta. September 15.