Marie Johnson Calloway (b. 1920) Educator and artist, Marie Johnson Calloway, depicts the “rough-hewn beauty”of ordinary individuals in realistic, representational terms using a variety of media such as weathered wood, worn clothing, and found objects. “As a black woman artist,” she writes, “I wished to look beneath the misconceptions with which history had covered my people and me. The one connecting thread through all of my work is my perception of my own world (which, too, has been an odd mix), and my continuous effort to interpret it in a personal way.” Born in Maryland, Marie Johnson Calloway received degrees from Coppin Teachers College, Baltimore; Morgan State University, Baltimore; and San Jose State University, California, before settling down to teach. She was the first African-American public school teacher in San Jose. In 1969, she became an assistant professor at
both the California College of Arts & Crafts and San Jose State University. She continues to live and work in Oakland, California at 95 years of age. Solo exhibits include: Oakland Museum, California College of Arts & Crafts, Howard University, San Francisco City College, Triton Museum in Santa Clara, and the African American Cultural Center in San Francisco. Numerous group exhibits include the San Francisco Museum of Art (Marie Johnson and Betye Saar), Studio Museum in Harlem, Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles and Bennett College, North Carolina. She participated in the landmark exhibit, Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980, (Hammer Museum, MoMA PS1, Williams College Museum of Art, 2012-2013) which chronicled the vital legacy of the city’s African American artists.
School Crossing Guard, c. 1970; mixed media/board, 65” x 55”; collection of the artist; featured in the exhibition, Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980
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