PRINCETON: Faith Ringgold receives Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award

   Womanspace Inc. hosted its 17th annual Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award reception and fund-raiser on Thursday, May 12, at the Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village.
   Artist and author Faith Ringgold was this year’s recipient of the award.
   Barbara Boggs Sigmund was a former mayor of Princeton Borough and a Mercer County Freeholder. She proactively spoke out about domestic violence, and was one of the co-founders of Womanspace.
   Faith Ringgold is best known for her painted story quilts, art that combines painting, quilted fabric and storytelling. In Mercer County, her work is featured with a mosaic mural from her award-winning book “Tar Beach,” on the third floor of the Princeton Public Library.
   The evening began with opening remarks from Womanspace Board President Cynthia Ricker and a short film presentation featuring women who have survived domestic abuse.
   Event chairs Jigna Rao and Ingrid Reed thanked everyone for coming and supporting Womanspace.
   Cokie Roberts, an ABC News political commentator and sister of Barbara Boggs Sigmund, could not attend the event but wrote a tribute to Ringgold.
   ”I wish that we didn’t need a place for women and children to find refuge from abusers, but as my sister Barbara well knew, that day is unlikely to ever come, and so Womanspace will be a vital resource in the community into the future,” wrote Ms. Roberts.
   The salute and award presentation to Faith Ringgold began with an introduction of Ringgold’s life and career by Judith K. Brodsky and Dr. Ferris Olin, co-founders of the Rutgers Institute for Women and Art.
   After receiving her award, Ms. Ringgold gave a screen presentation of her artwork.
   ”Through my art I have tried to share the experience of what it is like to be an African American woman in America,” said Ringgold. “As an artist I can do what I want, I can say what I want, of course people can decide not to look at it, but they can’t stop me from doing it because we have a thing called freedom of speech, which is the best thing about America.”
   Ms. Ringgold went on to talk about her struggle to have her work shown in New York during the 1960s.
   Ms. Ringgold who is now 80, said “if you live long enough all of your dreams can come true!”
   She also donated two prints for Womanspace to auction at the event. One print celebrated Oprah Winfrey’s 25 years of hosting a talk show, and the other featured children who survived the earthquake in Haiti.
   The top sponsors of the event were 94.5 WPST; Compass Healthcare Marketers; Bloomberg; Drinker, Biddle & Wreath; New Jersey Manufacturers; Payment Management; and PSE&G. Table Favors were provided courtesy of Wegmans and Johnson & Johnson.