{{short description|American fiber artist (born 1973)|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox artist | name = Bisa Butler | image = File:Bisa Butler 2025 at Craftnow 2025.jpg | caption = Butler in November 2025 | image_size = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1973}} | birth_name = | birth_place = Orange, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | field = Fiber art, quilt art | alma_mater = Howard University<br />Montclair State University }} {{external media | width =180px | float = right | headerimage= 160px | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNIB_2luMY8 Artist Bisa Butler on creating new narratives through portrait quilts], ''CBS This Morning'', September 4, 2021. |video2= [https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/community-top-stories/positively-black/positively-black-bisa-butlers-the-warmth-of-other-suns/3280185/ Positively Black: Bisa Butler's 'The Warmth of Other Suns', NBC New York] |video3= [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCkNMK2QtUY&t=1s Bisa Butler: Quilting for Culture], Art Institute of Chicago, October 15, 2020}}
'''Bisa Butler''' (born '''Mailissa Yamba Butler''' in 1973) is an African American fiber artist<ref name="Atoyebi">{{cite news |last1=Atoyebi |first1=Chiara |title=African American Artist Bisa Butler Delicately Interweaves The African and American Story With Her Unique Quilt Designs |url=https://nationalwca.org/african-american-artist-bisa-butler-delicately-interweaves-the-african-and-american-story-with-her-unique-quilt-designs/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=National Women's Caucus for Art |date=May 22, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Loos">{{Cite news |last=Loos |first=Ted |date=2020-10-21 |title=From 2 Artists, 2 Ways to Tell Stories of Black America |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/arts/black-women-artists-museum-shows.html |access-date=2022-01-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> who is credited with creating a new genre of quilting, using photographs, sketches, and vivid traditional textiles to create vibrant life-size portraits in fabric.<ref name="Bracks">{{cite book |last1=Bracks |first1=Lean'tin |title=African American Almanac: 400 Years of Black Excellence |date=17 October 2023 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |isbn=978-1-57859-832-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1vvSEAAAQBAJ&dq=bisa+butler+%22new+genre%22&pg=PT647 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Beach">{{Cite web |last=Beach |first=Charlotte |date=2021-09-21 |title=Inside the Magical, Technicolor World of Bisa Butler and Her Revolutionary Quilts |url=https://www.printmag.com/fine-art/inside-the-magical-technicolor-world-of-bisa-butler-and-her-revolutionary-quilts/ |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=PRINT Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |date=Oct 27, 2020 |title=Bisa Butler |url=https://www.neueluxury.com/feature/bisa-butler/ |url-status=live |website=Neue Luxury |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115213923/https://www.neueluxury.com/feature/bisa-butler/ |archive-date=2021-01-15}}</ref> She is known for celebrating Black life and identity, portraying both everyday people and notable historical figures.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="logan" /><ref name="Atoyebi" /> Although quilting has long been considered a craft, Butler's use of interdisciplinary methods to create elaborate quilts that look like paintings is bringing recognition both to her work and to the medium of quilting as a whole, as a fine art form.<ref name="Beach"/><ref name=":9">{{Cite news |title=Bisa Butler's Quilts Feature Designs So Realistic That They're Compared To Paintings |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026322816/bisa-butlers-quilts-feature-designs-so-realistic-that-theyre-compared-to-paintin |access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref>
Butler's works have been exhibited widely and are in the permanent collections of museums including the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture,<ref name="McMillian"/> Smithsonian American Art Museum,<ref name="Urist"/><ref name="Baptiste"/><ref name="SAAM"/> Art Institute of Chicago,<ref name="safety"/> Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,<ref name="Close"/> and Pérez Art Museum Miami<ref name=":4"/><ref name="PAAM"/>. In 2020, she was commissioned to quilt cover images for ''Time'' magazine, including the "Person of the Year" issue and the "100 Women of the Year" issue.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Mark |last=Westall |date=2020-12-21 |title=Bisa Butler's Portrait of Porche Bennet-Bay TIME Magazine's Guardian of the Year |url=https://fadmagazine.com/2020/12/21/bisa-butlers-portrait-of-porche-bennet-bay-time-magazines-guardian-of-the-year/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=FAD Magazine |language=en-GB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121165429/https://fadmagazine.com/2020/12/21/bisa-butlers-portrait-of-porche-bennet-bay-time-magazines-guardian-of-the-year/ |archive-date=2021-01-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |first=D.W. |last=Pine |date=December 10, 2020 |title=The Story Behind TIME's 2020 Person of the Year Covers |url=https://time.com/5919500/person-of-the-year-2020-behind-covers/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-08 |magazine=Time |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211035413/https://time.com/5919500/person-of-the-year-2020-behind-covers/ |archive-date=2020-12-11}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite web |date=2020-03-06 |title=TIME magazine designs 100 covers for its women of the year project |url=https://www.designboom.com/design/time-magazine-designs-100-covers-women-of-the-year-project-03-06-2020/ |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=designboom {{!}} architecture & design magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Karl |last=Vick |date=March 5, 2020 |title=Wangari Maathai: 100 Women of the Year |url=https://time.com/5793752/wangari-maathai-100-women-of-the-year/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-08 |magazine=Time |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306034941/https://time.com/5793752/wangari-maathai-100-women-of-the-year/ |archive-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Bisa Butler, born Mailissa Yamba Butler, was born in Orange, New Jersey, grew up in South Orange,<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=The Boss - Bisa Butler |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-boss-bisa-butler/RAFJiDc7MVqf1A |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Google Arts & Culture |language=en}}</ref> and graduated from Columbia High School in 1991.<ref name="Levit">{{cite news |last1=Levit |first1=Donny |title=THE BEST DAY AT COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL by Ellen Donker |url=https://www.mattersmagazine.com/post/the-best-day-at-columbia-high-school-by-ellen-donker |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Matters Magazine |date=19 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="villagegreen">{{cite news |date=April 2, 2021 |title=Columbia High School Alum and Former Teacher Bisa Butler Named United States Artists Fellow |newspaper=The Village Green |url=https://villagegreennj.com/arts/columbia-high-school-alum-and-former-teacher-bisa-butler-named-united-states-artists-fellow/}}</ref> Her mother is a French teacher from New Orleans and her father, a college president,<ref name="Nadeen">{{cite news |author=Nadeen |title=Bisa Butler: African American Quilter Extraordinaire |url=https://thesophisticatedlife.com/art/bisa-butler-african-american-quilter-extraordinaire/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=The Sophisticated Life |date=29 July 2012}}</ref> was born in Ghana. The youngest child in her family, Butler had three siblings.<ref name="Atoyebi"/> When Butler was born, her older sister could not pronounce her name and shortened it to Bisa.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bisa Butler |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bisa-Butler |website=Britannica |access-date=11 January 2026}}</ref>
Butler majored in fine art and graduated cum laude from Howard University,<ref name=":1"/> where she studied the work of Romare Bearden,<ref name="Jones">{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Cory LaNeave |title=THE BUZZ: Between the Breath of Cloth: An Interview with fabric portrait artist, Bisa Butler |url=https://vanguardculture.com/the-buzz-between-the-breath-of-cloth-an-interview-with-fabric-portrait-artist-bisa-butler/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=THE BUZZ |date=September 18, 2025}}</ref> attended lectures by prominent black artists such as Lois Mailou Jones, and studied under lecturers such as Elizabeth Catlett,<ref name="Atoyebi"/> Jeff Donaldson, and Ernie Barnes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Espinosa |first=Natalie |date=2020-08-03 |title=Artist Spotlight: Bisa Butler in Conversation |url=https://www.amfedarts.org/bisabutler/ |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=American Federation of Arts |language=en-US}}</ref> Her undergraduate degree was in painting, but she has stated that she never really connected with the medium.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Nafziger |first=Christina |date= |title=Interview with Bisa Butler |work=Create! Magazine |url=https://createmagazine.com/read/bisabutler |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117095242/https://createmagazine.com/read/bisabutler |archive-date=2020-11-17 |access-date=}}</ref> She did start working with fabric, making collages on canvas.<ref name=":12" />
Butler went on to complete a master's degree in art education from Montclair State University in 2005.<ref name=":12" /> There, she took a Fiber Art class that inspired her choice of quilting as an artistic medium. She had always watched her mother and grandmother sew. She made a quilt for her grandmother on her deathbed, replicating her grandmother's wedding photo in quilt form. When she presented the piece, entitled "Francis and Violette",<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Chadd |title=Bisa Butler Exhibition At Art Institute Of Chicago Headlines National Recognition Of Quilting |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chaddscott/2021/04/08/bisa-butler-exhibition-at-art-institute-of-chicago-headlines-national-recognition-of-quilting/ |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=February 22, 2021 |title=Bisa Butler quilts history and links memories at Art Institute of Chicago |url=https://www.gulftoday.ae/culture/2021/02/22/bisa-butler-quilts-history-and-links-memories-at-art-institute-of-chicago |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=www.gulftoday.ae}}</ref> both she and her professor recognized it as an entirely new form of quilting.<ref name="Robinson">{{cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=Shantay |title=The Craft World Is Undergoing a Democratization |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-craft-world-is-undergoing-a-democratization-180980182/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=June 6, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
Butler explained her art practice in a 2023 interview with ''Art & Object'' magazine: {{quote|"I don't come from a quilting background. My grandmother and mother sewed because they loved fashion, and they gave me all the remnants of their pieces, which I used for quilting. I used silk, chiffon, lace, gaberdine, wool. I still use these today, whereas a typical quilt would be made of cotton. I first made a quilted portrait of my grandmother. We both loved it, and it felt so right. I still make portraits, not just of my family and friends, but of people who remind me of people I know, typically people of the African American community, or a portrait of a famous figure. And I still use those garment fabrics because I like the way they look when I layer them. It's kind of like painting, using light, shadow, contour, and rendering, but with fabric."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.artandobject.com/news/bisa-butler-magic-quilting |title=Bisa Butler on the Magic of Quilting |website=Art & Object |date=2023-03-30 |access-date=2025-07-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330120000/https://www.artandobject.com/news/bisa-butler-magic-quilting |archive-date=2023-03-30}}</ref>}}
Erica Warren of the Art Institute of Chicago has commented that: {{quote|"The vibrancy and scale of Butler's work really captivates viewers, and once they are pulled in, they experience an often startling realization regarding materiality; that is, they discover what they are looking at is fabric rather than paint."<ref name=":10"/>}}
Along with being a practicing artist, Butler taught art in the Newark Public Schools for over a decade.<ref name="logan">{{cite news |last1=Logan |first1=Liz |title=Artist Bisa Butler Stitches Together the African American Experience |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/bisa-butler-stitches-together-quilts-african-american-experience-180975397/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |date=July 24, 2020}}</ref> She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.<ref name="Gershowitz">{{cite news |last1=Gershowitz |first1=Karen |title=Bisa Butler: In Her Massive Quilts, Look for the Details |url=https://ff2media.com/blog/2025/03/04/bisa-butler-in-her-massive-quilts-look-for-the-details/ |work=FF2 Media |date=4 March 2025}}</ref><ref name="colossal">{{cite web |date=February 21, 2019 |title=Colorful Quilts by Bisa Butler use African Fabrics to Form Nuanced Portraits |url=https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/02/colorful-quilts-by-bisa-butler/ |website=Colossal}}</ref>
== Artistry == [[File:Don't Tread on Me, God Damn, Let's Go! - The Harlem Hellfighters 2021.jpg|thumb|''Don't Tread on Me, God Damn, Let's Go! - The Harlem Hellfighters'' (2021) by Bisa Butler at the Renwick Gallery in 2022]] [[File:Patternmaster by Bisa Butler.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of Octavia Butler|''Patternmaster'' (2023), is a portrait of Octavia E. Butler on display in the National Portrait Gallery]] Through her quilts, Butler aims to "tell stories that may have been forgotten over time."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colorful Portrait Quilts by Bisa Butler Made Out of African Fabric |date=March 9, 2019 |url=https://mymodernmet.com/bisa-butler-african-fabric-portrait-quilts/}}</ref> Butler often uses kente cloth and African wax printed fabrics in her quilts, so her subjects are "adorned with and made up of the cloth of our ancestors."<ref name="Halliday">{{cite news |last1=Halliday |first1=Ayun |title=Bisa Butler's Beautiful Quilted Portraits of Frederick Douglass, Nina Simone, Jean-Michel Basquiat & More {{!}} Open Culture |url=https://www.openculture.com/2020/07/bisa-butlers-beautiful-quilted-portraits-of-frederick-douglass-nina-simone-jean-michel-basquiat-more.html |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Open Culture |date=July 10, 2020}}</ref>
Butler's quilts both heavily incorporate African textiles a well as expand on a rich African American quilting tradition.<ref name="Atoyebi"/> She has also been inspired by the figurative textile works of Faith Ringgold.<ref name="Warren">{{cite news |last1=Warren |first1=Erica |title=Bisa Butler: The Shared Gifts of Influence |url=https://www.artic.edu/articles/898/bisa-butler-the-shared-gifts-of-influence |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Art Institute of Chicago |date=17 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref> She explains in her artist statement:
{{quote|"African Americans have been quilting since we were brought to this country and needed to keep warm. Enslaved people were not given large pieces of fabric and had to make do with the scraps of cloth that were left after clothing wore out. From these scraps the African American quilt aesthetic came into being....My own pieces are reminiscent of this tradition, but I use African fabrics from my father's homeland of Ghana, batiks from Nigeria, and prints from South Africa."<ref name="Sanders">{{cite news |last1=Sanders |first1=Danielle |title=Black Life Captured Through Quilting at the Bisa Butler: Portraits Exhibition. |url=https://chicagodefender.com/black-life-captured-through-quilting-at-the-bisa-butler-portraits-exhibition/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Chicago Defender |date=30 June 2021}}</ref>}}
Butler typically works in bright jewel tones rather than representational colors to depict skin tone.<ref name="colossal" /> Color serves to convey the emotions of the individuals in her quilts rather than their actual complexions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moreira-Brown |first=Caira |date=March 18, 2020 |title=A Colorful Affirmation: In Conversation with Bisa Butler |url=https://fadmagazine.com/2020/03/18/a-colorful-affirmation-in-conversation-with-bisa-butler/ |url-status=live |website=FAD Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918072533/https://fadmagazine.com/2020/03/18/a-colorful-affirmation-in-conversation-with-bisa-butler/ |archive-date=2020-09-18}}</ref> Using the Kool-Aid colors of the Black Power art movement also serves to capture the "soul and energy" of the person Butler is depicting.<ref name="Harlem">{{Cite web |title=Contemporary Craft in Focus: Harlem Hellfighters |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |url=https://americanart.si.edu/blog/bisa-butler |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=May 2, 2022 |access-date=2023-03-30 |language=en-US}}</ref> While at Howard, Butler was mentored by members of AfriCOBRA. The artist collective's bright, colorful aesthetic and aim to create positive representations of Black Americans can be found in Butler's body of work, as well.<ref name="logan" />
Her quilts often feature portraits of famous figures in Black history, such as Paul Laurence Dunbar,<ref>{{cite news |title=I Know Why the Caged Bird Beats His Wings {{!}} Smithsonian American Art Museum |url=https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/i-know-why-caged-bird-beats-his-wings-120749 |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Smithsonian American Art Museum |language=en}}</ref> Jackie Robinson,<ref>{{cite web |title="42" Dedicated to Jackie Robinson |url=https://spencerart.ku.edu/art/collections-online/object/57317 |website=Spencer Museum of Art |access-date=11 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref> and Frederick Douglass,<ref>{{cite web |title=Art Minute: Bisa Butler |url=https://toledomuseum.org/collection/art-minute/art-minute-bisa-butler-the-storm-the-whirlwind-and-the-earthquake |website=Toledo Museum of Art |access-date=11 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref>. Butler uses a variety of patterned fabrics, which she carefully selects to reflect the subject's life, sometimes using clothing worn by the subject. Her portrait of Nina Simone, for example, is made of cotton, silk, velvet, and netting, whereas her portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat is made of leather, cotton, and vintage denim.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bisa Butler |url=https://soulinthehorn.com/creatives/bisa-butler/ |website=Soul in the Horn |access-date=11 January 2026}}</ref>
Along with her portraits of notable figures, Butler also creates pieces featuring everyday, unknown African American subjects that she bases on found photographs. She describes her fascination for her nameless subjects' unknown stories: "I feel these people; I know these stories because I have grown up with them my whole life."<ref name="Barnes">{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Sara |title=Quilted Portraits Honor the Stories of Black Men and Women Who Are Forgotten by History |url=https://mymodernmet.com/bisa-butler-art-quilt-portrait/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=My Modern Met |date=10 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> She strives "to bring as many of these unnamed peoples photos to the forefront" so "people will see these ordinary folks as deserving of a spotlight too."<ref name=":2" /> Her pieces are done in life scale in order "to invite the viewer to engage in dialogue--most figures look the viewers directly in their eyes."<ref name="Clark">{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Bob |title=April's Featured Artist: Bisa Butler |url=https://www.bobclarkbeyond.com/blog-post/aprils-featured-artist-bisa-butler |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Bob Clark Beyond |date=April 29, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
Her work, ''Harlem Hellfighters'', was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Renwick Gallery's 50th Anniversary Campaign.<ref name="Savig">{{cite book |last1=Savig |first1=Mary |last2=Atkinson |first2=Nora |last3=Montiel |first3=Anya |title=This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World |date=2022 |publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum |location=Washington, DC |isbn=9781913875268 |pages=228–238}}</ref> This work is Butler's largest quilt to date, measuring approximately 11 x 13 feet, and features nine life-sized figures.<ref name="Harlem" /> The photograph Butler used for this work is a 1919 black and white photograph of the 369th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters, from World War I. Butler says, "My work is to continue to lift them up in history so they can be seen in public spaces, where their heroic sacrifices become part of the American quest to fight against oppression and for freedom."<ref name="Harlem" />
In 2021, the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired her work ''Black is King'' as part of the institution's new acquisitions initiative.<ref name="PAAM">{{Cite web |title=Bisa Butler: Black Is King, 2021 |url=https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2021.062 |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=Pérez Art Museum Miami |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Valentine |first=Victoria L. |date=2021-08-21 |title=New Acquisitions: Pérez Art Museum Miami Adds 13 Works to Collection, Diverse Slate of Artists Includes Kenturah Davis, Bisa Butler, Karon Davis, Coco Fusco, and Sonia Gomes |url=https://www.culturetype.com/2021/08/20/new-acquisitions-perez-art-museum-miami-adds-13-works-to-collection-diverse-slate-of-artists-includes-kenturah-davis-bisa-butler-karon-davis-coco-fusco-and-sonia-gomes/ |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=Culture Type |language=en-US}}</ref>
Butler has worked on commission to create a number of magazine covers, including the Fall 2020 cover of Juxtapoz, the March 2020 cover of Time Magazine honoring Wangari Maathai, the 2020 ''Time'' magazine "Person of the Year" image of Porche Bennett-Bey and the May/June 2021 edition of ''Essence'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-22 |title=Bisa Butler Quilt Illustrates May/June Cover of Essence Magazine Dedicated to 'Year That Changed the World' |url=https://www.culturetype.com/2021/04/22/bisa-butler-quilt-illustrates-may-june-cover-of-essence-magazine-dedicated-to-year-that-changed-the-world/ |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Culture Type |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite web |title=Toledo Museum of Art acquires major new work by contemporary artist Bisa Butler |url=https://www.sent-trib.com/arts_and_entertainment/toledo-museum-of-art-acquires-major-new-work-by-contemporary-artist-bisa-butler/article_d009ad72-bf87-11ea-9711-8f93c3cd3b5e.html |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Sentinel-Tribune |language=en |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108074749/https://www.sent-trib.com/arts_and_entertainment/toledo-museum-of-art-acquires-major-new-work-by-contemporary-artist-bisa-butler/article_d009ad72-bf87-11ea-9711-8f93c3cd3b5e.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tarana Burke's memoir sports a cover image quilted by Butler.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haber |first=Leigh |date=2021-03-29 |title=Exclusive: Tarana Burke Reveals the Cover of Her Memoir, "Unbound" |url=https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/tarana-burke-reveals-the-cover-of-her-memoir-unbound |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Oprah Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)'s included Butler's work in its "Juneteenth Artist Showcase".<ref name=":4"/>
== Exhibitions == As part of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection, Butler's work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Epcot Center, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and other national and international venues.<ref name="Kinsey">{{cite news |title='The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection' coming to HMH |url=https://jhvonline.com/the-kinsey-african-american-art-history-collection-coming-to-hmh-p32824-152.htm |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Jewish Herald Voice |date=Dec 14, 2023}}</ref>
In 2018, Butler exhibited at EXPO Chicago and was praised in ''Newcity''<ref>{{cite web |date=October 2, 2018 |title=EXPO Chicago 2018: Critic's Picks |url=https://art.newcity.com/2018/10/02/expo-2018-critics-picks/ |website=Newcity}}</ref> and the ''Chicago Reader''.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 29, 2018 |title=Expo Chicago 2018: See it now |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/09/29/expo-chicago-2018-see-it-now |website=Chicago Reader}}</ref> In February 2019, her work was included along with that of Romare Bearden in ''The Art of Jazz'', a Black History Month exhibition in Morristown, New Jersey.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 23, 2019 |title='The Art of Jazz' celebrates Black History Month, and several causes, in Morristown |url=https://morristowngreen.com/2019/02/23/the-art-of-jazz-celebrates-black-history-month-and-several-causes-in-morristown/ |website=Morristown Green}}</ref> Butler's quilts are featured in art books such as ''Journey of Hope: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama'' (2010)<ref name="mazloomi">{{cite book |last1=Mazloomi |first1=Carolyn L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4QJiRF0jTwC&pg=PA36 |title=Journey of Hope: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama |date=2010 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=9780760339350 |pages=36–40 |authorlink=Carolyn L. Mazloomi}}</ref> and ''Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art : Hearne Fine Art 1988-2008'' (2008),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hearne III |first1=Archie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFE-oVb5zL4C |title=Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art : Hearne Fine Art 1988-2008 |date=2008 |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |isbn=9781607251309 |pages=10–11}}</ref>. In 2019, she was a finalist for the Museum of Art and Design's Burke Prize.<ref>{{cite web |title=Burke Prize 2019 |url=https://madmuseum.org/exhibition/burke-prize-2019 |website=Museum of Art and Design |accessdate=May 24, 2020}}</ref>
Butler's first solo museum exhibition ''Bisa Butler: Portraits'' was co-organized between the Art Institute of Chicago and the Katonah Museum of Art.<ref name="Hall">{{cite magazine |last=Hall |first=Phil |title=Quilting in the age of Covid |url=https://www.wagmag.com/quilting-in-the-age-of-covid/ |access-date=February 6, 2026 |work=WAG magazine |publisher=Westfair Communications |date=8 March 2021}}</ref> It was scheduled to first open at the Katonah Museum of Art from March 15 to June 14, 2020; however, after temporarily closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition was extended to October 4, 2020.<ref name="katonah">{{cite web |title=Bisa Butler: Portraits |url=https://www.katonahmuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibition/bisa-butler-portraits |website=Katonah Museum of Art |access-date=11 January 2026}}</ref><ref name="Gershowitz"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Adler |first1=Paul |title=Boundary Breaker Bisa Butler Debuts First Solo Show in Westchester |url=https://westchestermagazine.com/things-to-do/bisa-butler-portraits-katonah-museum/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Westchester |date=March 4, 2020}}</ref>
From May 13, 2022 to April 2, 2023, Butler's quilt ''Harlem Hellfighters''<ref name="Harlem" /> was showcased in the Renwick Gallery's exhibition This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World which showcased the dynamic landscape of American craft today.<ref name="SAAM">{{Cite web |title=This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World {{!}} Smithsonian American Art Museum |url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/this-present-moment |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=americanart.si.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>
From November 17, 2022 to March 12, 2023, the Skirball Cultural Center presented Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories, an exhibition with works by more than forty artists, including Bisa Butler.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories {{!}} Skirball Cultural Center |url=https://www.skirball.org/museum/fabric-nation-american-quilt-stories |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.skirball.org}}</ref>
From May 6, 2023 to June 30, 2023, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery presented Butler's quilt exhibition: The World Is Yours.<ref name="Bisa Butler: The World Is Yours">{{Cite web |title=Bisa Butler: The World Is Yours |url=https://deitch.com/new-york/exhibitions/bisa-butler-the-world-is-yours |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=deitch.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Public collections == {{Div col}} * 21c Museum of Art, Louisville, Kentucky<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance |url=https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/museum/exhibit/dressupspeakup/ |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=21c Museum Hotels |language=en-US}}</ref> * Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois<ref name="safety">{{cite news |title=Bisa Butler's The Safety Patrol |url=https://www.artic.edu/articles/760/bisa-butlers-the-safety-patrol |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=The Art Institute of Chicago |date=19 September 2019 |language=en}}</ref> * Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), San Francisco, California<ref name="FAMSF">{{cite news |title=A Talk on Quilted Portraits with Artist Bisa Butler |url=https://www.famsf.org/events/talk-quilted-portraits-artist-bisa-butler |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) |date=February 15, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> * Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-18 |title=A Man's Worth |url=https://www.kemperart.org/collection/mans-worth |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art |language=en |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111032410/https://www.kemperart.org/collection/mans-worth |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota<ref name=":0" /> * Mount Holyoke Art Museum, Hadley, Massachusetts<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 January 2020 |title=Broom Jumpers {{!}} Mount Holyoke College Art Museum |url=https://artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu/object/broom-jumpers |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu}}</ref> * Museum of Arts and Design, New York<ref name="Parson">{{cite news |last1=Parson |first1=Wendi |title=Museum of Arts and Design Highlights Permanent Collection Through More Than 60 Historic Works and New Acquisitions |url=https://madmuseum.org/press/releases/museum-arts-and-design-highlights-permanent-collection-through-more-60-historic-works |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) |date=February 2, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts<ref name="Close">{{Cite web |title=Bisa Butler is Having a Moment |url=https://www.artandobject.com/news/bisa-butler-having-moment |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=Art & Object |date=April 23, 2020 |author-first=Cynthia |author-last=Close |language=en}}</ref> * Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kindred |url=https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/72086/kindred;jsessionid=786329574428B982556D822403FEDB31 |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=art.nelson-atkins.org |language=en}}</ref> * Newark Museum of Art, Newark, New Jersey<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Claire Oliver Gallery |date=August 11, 2020 |title=Bisa Butler |url=https://www.claireoliver.com/artists/bisa-butler/?print=pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117045109/https://www.claireoliver.com/artists/bisa-butler/?print=pdf |archive-date=2021-11-17 |access-date= |website=}}</ref> * Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida<ref name="Claeysen-Gleyzon">{{cite web |last1=Claeysen-Gleyzon |first1=Coralie |title=Bisa Butler - Time Magazine 2020 |url=https://omart.org/news/bisabutler-time/ |website=Orlando Museum of Art |access-date=11 January 2026}}</ref> * Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, Florida<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Felsberg |first=Kaylie |date=2021-08-20 |title=Bisa Butler's Quilted, Jewel-Toned Portraits Are Receiving Universal Acclaim |url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-bisa-butlers-quilted-jewel-toned-portraits-receiving-universal-acclaim |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Artsy |language=en}}</ref> * Smithsonian American Art Museum<ref name="Baptiste">{{cite news |last1=Baptiste |first1=Laura |last2=Mejorado |first2=Rebekah |title=Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquires More than 200 Artworks for its Craft Collection Including Major Works by Bisa Butler, Sonya Clark, Roberto Lugo, Preston Singletary and Wanxin Zhang |url=https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/smithsonian-american-art-museum-acquires-more-200-artworks-its-craft-collection |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Smithsonian American Art Museum |date=May 10, 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Urist">{{cite news |last1=Urist |first1=Jacoba |title=The Genius Behind Bisa Butler's Vibrant Quilts |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/bisa-butler-quilts-portraits-vibrant-color-180982331/ |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |issue=July/August |date=2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="SAAM"/> * Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.<ref name="McMillian">{{cite news |last1=McMillian |first1=Cynetra |last2=Wood |first2=Melissa |title=National Museum of African American History and Culture Debuts Its First Visual Art Publication |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-debuts-its-first-visual-art |access-date=11 January 2026 |work=National Museum of African American History and Culture |date=September 3, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> * Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-02 |title=Toledo Museum of Art acquires major new work by contemporary artist Bisa Butler |url=https://www.toledomuseum.org/about/news/toledo-museum-art-acquires-major-new-work-contemporary-artist-bisa-butler |access-date=2020-08-11 |website=The Toledo Museum of Art |language=en |archive-date=December 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204084543/https://www.toledomuseum.org/about/news/toledo-museum-art-acquires-major-new-work-contemporary-artist-bisa-butler |url-status=dead }}</ref> {{Div col end}}
== See also == {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} * Diedrick Brackens * Sheila Hicks * Michael James * Carolyn L. Mazloomi * Faith Ringgold * Stephen Towns {{Div col end}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.bisabutler.com/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241221064622/https://www.bisabutler.com/ |date=December 21, 2024 }} * [https://www.instagram.com/bisabutler/ Bisa Butler] on Instagram * [https://www.facebook.com/FiberArtNow/photos/a.297716656955535/2292423134151534/?type=3&theater Cover of ''Fiber Art Now'' magazine, Spring 2019] * {{YouTube |title=Bisa Butler's Portraiture Quilts (BRIC TV, 2016) |id=lNo8jwfCpIY}} * {{cite web |website=Black Art in America |title=The Quilting Tradition |date=November 9, 2018 |url=https://blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2018/11/09/the-quilting-tradition/ |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808081304/https://www.blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2018/11/09/the-quilting-tradition/ |url-status=dead }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Bisa}} Category:Living people Category:1973 births Category:20th-century African-American artists Category:20th-century African-American women Category:21st-century American artists Category:21st-century American women artists Category:21st-century African-American women Category:21st-century African-American artists Category:African-American women artists Category:Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni Category:American quilters Category:Artists from Orange, New Jersey Category:Artists from South Orange, New Jersey Category:Howard University alumni Category:Montclair State University alumni Category:Textile artists from New Jersey