Bisa Butler (b. 1973) was born in Orange, New Jersey and the youngest of four children. Her parents, a college president and French teacher, encouraged her creative interests at an early age. Butler attended Howard University where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art. During her work as an undergraduate, Butler became interested in fabric as an artistic medium. She later earned her Master’s in Art in 2005 from Montclair University. Butler was a high school art teacher in the Newark Public and Maplewood public school districts for over a decade. Currently, her work has been accessioned by such notable institutions as the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Orlando Museum of Art, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and many more. Butler was recently awarded the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship and an honorary Doctor of Letters from Bloomfield College.
About the author. (2022). Bisa Butler Art. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from https://www.bisabutler.com/
Bisa Butler, portrait by John Butler https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bisa-butler-art-institute-chicago-interview-1957021
Bisa Butler, Broom Jumpers, 2019, Cotton, silk, wool, and velvet, 87 x 52.25 in., Mount Holyoke College Art Museum https://artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu/object/broom-jumpers
Bisa Butler, I Go To Prepare a Place For You, 2021, quilted cotton, silk, and velvet, 90 3/4 × 64 1/2 × 1/4 in., National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., https://www.si.edu/object/i-go-prepare-place-you%3Anmaahc_2021.38
Bisa Butler, portrait by John Butler
"I Go To Prepare A Place For You" (2021) Bisa Butler
Cotton, silk, and velvet quilt. 90 ¾ x 64 ½ in. (230.5 x 163.8 cm)
