imported>Smasongarrison: Copying from Category:American women outsider artists to Category:American outsider artists Diffusing per WP:DIFFUSE and/or WP:ALLINCLUDED using Cat-a-lot

2025-03-20T05:13:17Z

Copying from Category:American women outsider artists to Category:American outsider artists Diffusing per WP:DIFFUSE and/or WP:ALLINCLUDED using Cat-a-lot

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{{Short description|American folk artist (1928–2022)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Ruby Williams
| birth_name = Ruby Curry
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|6|9}}
| birth_place = [[Bealsville, Florida]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|8|8|1928|6|9}}
| death_place = [[Plant City, Florida]]
| style = Folk art
| spouse =
| children = 2
| awards =
}}

'''Ruby C. Williams''' (June 9, 1928 – August 8, 2022)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://authenticflorida.com/ruby-c-williams/|title=Celebrating the Life of Miss Ruby C. Williams|first=Melanie|last=Lentz-Janney|date=August 11, 2022|website=Authentic Florida|access-date=August 12, 2022}}</ref> was an American [[folk art]]ist.<ref>{{cite web|title=RUBY C. WILLIAMS|url=http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~dacrotty/ruby.html|work=alumnus.caltech.edu|accessdate=December 3, 2010}}</ref>

== Life ==
Ruby Curry was born to Viola Curry Greene and Lawrence Curry in [[Bealsville, Florida]],<ref name="Attinger">{{cite news |last=Attinger |first=Phil |date=November 20, 2012 |title=Folk Artist Ruby Williams Imparts Life Lessons to Students |url=http://www.theledger.com/article/20121120/NEWS/121129989 |work=The Ledger |location=Lakeland, Florida |access-date=August 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214211430/http://www.theledger.com/article/20121120/NEWS/121129989 |archive-date=February 14, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>where she grew up in a community formed by freed [[slavery|slaves]], including Curry's great grandmother, Mary Reddick, who founded the community's school.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=2022-08-30 |title=Ruby C. Williams, Folk Artist With a Produce Stand, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/arts/ruby-c-williams-dead.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830212441/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/arts/ruby-c-williams-dead.html |archive-date=2022-08-30 |access-date=2022-08-31 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Known as Miss Ruby, she was an evangelical minister in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], for 25 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kentuck |date=2020-06-10 |title=Meet The Artist: Ruby Williams |url=https://www.kentuck.org/post/ruby-c-williams |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Kentuck Art Center |language=en}}</ref> She adopted the name Williams following her marriage, which ended in a "bitter divorce" in the 1960s.<ref name="NYT" />

After she returned to Florida in the 1980s,<ref name="NYT" /> she ran a produce stand and "walk in" gallery on [[State Road 60]].<ref name="Attinger" /> A self-taught artist, her career in [[folk art]] began in 1991 when her hand-painted signs, advertising her fruits and vegetables, were noticed by fellow folk painter, [[Rodney Hardee]], who helped her to draw the attention of local media and institutions, including the [[Polk Museum of Art]] in Lakeland, mounted exhibitions.<ref name="NYT" />

Williams' preferred medium was acrylic paint on plywood; initially, she used house paint for her creations. Her subject matter varied from scenes of everyday life to more whimsical or religious pieces.<ref name="NYT" />

In 2000, 25 of Williams' paintings were exhibited at the [[Paterson Museum]] in New Jersey.<ref name="NYT" />

In 2005 she received the Florida Folk Heritage Award<ref>{{cite news|title=Ruby C. Williams ( – )|url=http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/folklife/awardDetails.cfm?id=91|accessdate=December 3, 2010|newspaper=Florida Division of Historical Resources}}</ref> and was included in the show ''On Their Own – Selected Self-taught Artists'' at the [[Anacostia Community Museum|Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in Washington D.C.]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Anacostia Museum Opens Three Exhibitions Celebrating the Work of Self-taught African-American Artists|url=http://anacostia.si.edu/docs/Media_Room/On_Their_Own_Press_Release.pdf|accessdate=December 3, 2010|newspaper=Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture|date=April 20, 2005}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~dacrotty/ruby.html Caltech Alumni]
* [http://www.storycorps.net/blog/east-mobilebooth/sarasota-fl/miss-ruby-c-williams Story Corps]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ruby}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:20th-century American women painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American women painters]]
[[Category:American folk artists]]
[[Category:Painters from Florida]]
[[Category:People from Hillsborough County, Florida]]

{{florida-bio-stub}}
[[Category:American women outsider artists]]
[[Category:American outsider artists]]

Ruby Williams - Revision history

imported>Smasongarrison: Copying from Category:American women outsider artists to Category:American outsider artists Diffusing per WP:DIFFUSE and/or WP:ALLINCLUDED using Cat-a-lot