Sligh, Clarissa T.

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Artist and author of works such as Wrongly Bodied, Reading Dick and Jane with Me, and It Wasn't Little Rock.

From the description of Clarissa Sligh papers, 1950-2010. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 771947934

Clarissa Sligh is a visual artist, writer, and lecturer. Sligh was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Arlington, Virginia, lived in Manhattan for 30 years and now resides in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. She has taught at New York University, the School of Visual Art and the University of Pennsylvania.

When she was 15 years old she became the lead plaintiff in the 1955 school desegregation case in Virginia (Clarissa Thompson et. al. vs. Arlington County School Board). After working in math and science with NASA and later in business, she began a career as an artist, using photographs, drawings, text, and personal stories to explore themes of transformation and social justice.

In 1988, she published her first artists' book "What's Happening With Momma?" through the Women's Studio Workshop in New York. Additional artists' books include Wrongly Bodied Two, It Wasn't Little Rock, Voyage(r): A Tourist Map to Japan, and Reading Dick and Jane With Me.

Her solo art installations include Witness to Dissent, Sandy Ground, Re(Union), and Passages. Other artistic series include The Masculinity Project, Reframing the Past, Reading Dick & Jane, Suburban Atlanta, and Jake in Transition. A list of selected works as well as background information and images from each project is available on Sligh's website .

From the guide to the Clarissa Sligh Papers, 1950-2010, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Sligh, Clarissa T. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
creatorOf Sligh, Clarissa. Sligh, Clarissa : [photography bio file]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Baraka, Amiri, 1934-. Weimar II / by Amiri Baraka. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
creatorOf Clarissa Sligh Papers, 1950-2010 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
creatorOf Sligh, Clarissa T. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
creatorOf Sligh, Clarissa T. Clarissa Sligh papers, 1950-2010. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
referencedIn Sligh, Clarissa T. : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Baraka, Amiri, 1934- person
associatedWith Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Virginia
New York (State)--Staten Island (New York)
North Carolina
Subject
Artists' books
Civil rights movements
Collage
Exhibitions
Historic sites
Minority women artists
Mixed media (Art)
Sex change
Transgender people
Women artists, Black
Writing and art
Occupation
Photographers
Activity

Person

Birth 1939

Americans

Information

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