Loïs Mailou Jones

Loïs Mailou Jones [1905-1998]⁣ ⁣artist, printmaker, illustrator, textile designer, art educator, Mrs. Godmother of Art Education. ⁣

Loïs Mailou Jones was born in Boston, MA. She earned a BA in Fine Art, BA in Art Education, and a MA in Textile Design. Jones designed textiles for several New York firms, until she left to begin a teaching career in 1928. From 1930–77, Jones trained several generations of African American artists, including David Driskell, Alma Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, and Sylvia Snowden.

In 1973, she became the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Loïs Mailou Jones had an influential career that spanned more than 70 years. ⁣

“Menemsha,” circa 1940s, drypoint on cream woven paper.

Selected Links

Designing a New Tradition: Loïs Mailou Jones and the Aesthetics of Blackness, Rebecca VanDiver, 2020.