“It is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that Barbara Jones-Hogu, one of America’s greatest artists, has passed. Barbara died peacefully in her sleep last evening (November 13th) in her nursing home apartment near Chicago. My heart aches for her son Kuumba whom she loved so much. I will let you know more about plans for a service and/or memorial when I receive more information. Rest in peace my friend and shero!” David Lusenhop
Unite by Barbara Jones-Hogu, 1968, screenprint
Barbara Jones-Hogu
Barbara Jones-Hogu was born on April 17, 1938 in Chicago. She received bachelor’s degrees from Howard University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from the Institute of Design in Chicago. She was a member of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), the group that executed the famous “Wall of Respect” urban mural in Chicago, in 1967. In 1968, she was a co-founder of the artist collective AfriCOBRA. Her work is in several public museum collections including the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of African American Culture and History, the National Civil Rights Museum, and others. Jones-Hogu will be the subject of a solo museum exhibition at the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago, opening on January 11, 2018. She leaves behind her only son Kuumba Hogu. Barbara passed peacefully in her sleep on November 14, 2017.
