cavetocanvas:

Faith Ringgold, Street Story Quilt, 1985

From the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History:

In Street Story Quilt, one stylized Harlem facade—a grid of fifteen windows—is depicted three times at different moments in a story that transpires over decades. Handwritten text fills panels above each window. In the first panel, “The Accident,” a character named Grace narrates the story of ten-year-old A.J. and his grandmother, Ma Teedy, who have just witnessed a car accident that kills A.J.’s mother and four brothers. The central panel, “The Fire,” depicts the devastating effects of a blaze inadvertently set by A.J.’s drunken father, who dies in the fire. Text reveals that “A.J. ran away from home right after big Al’s funeral. He was picked up a few days later for sellin dope to a cop.” The traumas continue, one compounding the other, but through it all, Grace notes: “Say what you want ‘bout Ma Teedy but she was a real woman … I like her because she a survivor. Always keep herself and her family lookin good.”