Visual art
Gilda Snowden
1954–2014 · painter, educator
Detroit abstract painter and beloved College for Creative Studies professor whose work drew on the city's streets, gardens and family history.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
aged 60- Detroit years
- 1954–2014
- Field
- Visual art
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Snowden was born in Detroit in 1954 and grew up on the city's northwest side, the granddaughter of Great Migration families from Alabama and Texas. She earned both her BFA (1977) and MFA (1979) at Wayne State University, where she was shaped by the Cass Corridor art movement and studied with John Egner. From 1985 she taught painting at the College for Creative Studies, mentoring generations of Detroit artists. Her work often came straight from the city: the Flora Urbana series of encaustic paintings drew on community gardens planted where buildings had fallen, and she made charcoal rubbings of historic Detroit manhole covers she found while cycling. Her large painting Monument (1988), in the DIA collection, charts her family's journey from Alabama to Detroit. She also advised the DIA's Friends of Modern Art and the Scarab Club and ran the gallery at the Detroit Repertory Theatre. After her death in 2014, Kresge Arts in Detroit named its awards for emerging artists in her honor.
Highlights
- BFA (1977) and MFA (1979) from Wayne State University
- Professor at the College for Creative Studies from 1985
- Monument (1988) is in the Detroit Institute of Arts
- Flora Urbana series inspired by Detroit community gardens
- Kresge's Gilda Awards for emerging artists bear her name
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1985–2014
College for Creative Studies
Where she taught painting for nearly three decades.
Studied here · 1972–1979
Wayne State University
Where she earned her BFA and MFA amid the Cass Corridor art scene.
Worked here
Detroit Repertory Theatre
She directed the theater's art gallery; her husband Bill Boswell acted and directed there.