Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson
Born 1940, Columbus, Ohio
Died 2015, Columbus, Ohio
1960 BA Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio
1960 Ohio State University, Columbus
Selected museum exhibitions: Tacoma Art Museum (2006); Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Chile (2004); Brooklyn Museum (2003); Columbus Museum of Art (1990; 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012); Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco (1989); Akron Museum of Art (1987); Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio (1982); Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio (1982)
Selected honors: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2004); Governor’s Award for the Visual Arts, Ohio Arts Council (1989); KUUMBA Black Liberation Award in the Visual Arts from Malcolm X College, Chicago (1978)
Selected public collections: Brooklyn Museum of Art; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati; Newark Museum, New Jersey; Ohio University, Dayton; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
A vital figure in the arts and culture of her native Columbus, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson created paintings, books, sculptures, and multimedia works that communicate memory and history with power and determination. In 1990, she created her Clutch of Blossoms series, describing it as “is a body of work about women I have known and women whom I have admired through the years. It's mothers and daughters—it's a celebration of womanhood.” This piece represents Edmonia Lewis, who was the first professional African American sculptor and spent most of her career in Rome.