Black American Leader series and the First Black American Congressmen collages are available to download, for personal and educational purposes, for free. Files are in this Google Drive Folder. Donations to support future work can be made via Venmo @Laura-DiPiazza-1

2023, The First Black Americans to serve in the U.S. Congress 1870-1887, digital collage

2023, Brooklyn, digital collage

Margaret Murray Washington – AKA Mrs. Booker T. Washington (1865-1925) American educator and anti-lynching activist.

Fredrick Allen Hampton (1948-1969) American activist, Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and deputy chairman of the national BPP.

Ida B. Wells (1862 – 1931) American journalist, educator, a founder of the NAACP and anti-lynching activist.

Georgia Blossom

T. Thomas Fortune (1856-1928) American journalist, publisher, writer, orator and civil rights leader.

Dred Scott (1799-1858) American activist and enslaved man. Scott sued for his and his family’s freedom in the Dred Scott v Sandford 1857 Supreme Court case.

American sharecropper (1880-?), Hinds County, Mississippi. Photography by Dorothea Lange 1937.

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) American novelist, college professor, essayist, book editor and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1993.

June Jordan (1936-2002) American poet, educator, activist and essayist.

Frederick Douglass (1818 – 1895) American abolitionist, social reformer, statesman, orator and writer. Library of Congress, Brady-Handy Collection

Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) American Congresswoman and first African American and woman to seek the nomination for president of the USA in 1972.

Octavia Butler (1947-2006) American science fiction writer. Recipient of several awards including the MacArthur Fellowship.

Minto Cato (1900-1979) American mezzo-soprano opera singer.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) American poet, educator and civil rights activist.

Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961) American civil rights activist, feminist, orator, businesswoman and educator.

James Baldwin (1924-1987) American novelist, poet, essayist, playwright and activist.

Playgrounds R 4 Us, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 16” x 16”

Sundown, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 22”x 28”

Fais Gaffe, 2020,  acrylic on canvas, 18″ x 36″

Farmhouse, 2020, acrylic on unstretched canvas, 16″ – NFS

Wheel Lock, 2020, acrylic on panel, 10″ x 10″ – NFS

Pace, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 20″

In Effect, 2020 acrylic on canvas, 12″ – NFS

Top Eye Open, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 18″ x 36″

Love’s Paradise, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 30″ x 30″ – NFS

Law’s comfort, 2018, acrylic paint on canvas, 24” x 24” – NFS

Koko’s Watching, 2018, acrylic paint on canvas, 36” x 48” – NFS

Ain’t Down, 2018, acrylic paint on canvas, 20” x 24”

Compartments, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 12″ x 36″

Harlem’s Lullaby, 2018, oil and acrylic paint on canvas, 11” x 14” – NFS

Long Way Home, 2018, acrylic paint on canvas, 30″ x 30″ – NFS

Toni’s Lorain, 2018, ink on paper, 36” x 24”

Cursive copy is an excerpt from a Toni Morrison interview on the Charlie Rose Show in 1993. Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC – founded 1933 – defunct 1954) map.

Control, 2013, print on metal, 16″x 16″

Our Beloved Pain, 2011, acrylic paint and ink on linen, 16″ x 20″

Etna, 2016, pointed pen flourished lettering

Hello, 2016, photography  © 2015 by Alice Hirschman

No Sleep ‘Til, 2015, gouache on paper, 14″ x 22″

Misha Bean, 2015, acrylic paint on canvas, 36″ x 36″

Our Depth, 2015,watercolor on paper, 12″ x 16″

Zora, 2014, gouache, watercolor and ink on paper, 19-1/2″ x 25-1/2″, 49.53cm x 63.5cm

“She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her” – Zora Neal Hurston

June, 2014, gouache, watercolor and ink on paper, 19-1/2″ x 25-1/2″, 49.53cm x 63.5cm

“To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself and that’s political.” – June Jordan

Road Map, 2014, acrylic and ink on canvas, 24″ x 30″, 61 cm x 76.2cm – NFS

Sunspots, 2014, acrylic and ink on canvas, 30″ x 40″, 76.2cm x 101.6cm – NFS

Cages, 2014, acrylic and ink on canvas, 24″ x 24″, 61cm x 61cm – NFS

He Swims, 2014, acrylic and ink on canvas, 18″ x 18″, 45.7cm x 45.7cm – NFS

Our Sleep, 2014, gouache and sumi ink on paper, 12.5″ x 16.25″, 31.75cm x 41.27cm

Our Beat, 2014, gouache and sumi ink on paper, 12.5″ x 16.25″, 31.75cm x 41.27cm

Our Love, 2014, gouache and sumi ink on paper, 12.5 x 16.25″, 31.75cm x 41.27cm

Let Them See You Sweat, 2013, Inkjet print,  19.7″ x 23.6″, 50 cm x 60 cm

Decimal 6, 2013, C-print, 15.7″ x 19.7″,  40 cm x 50 cm

Hanging Words, 2013, metal, paper and safety pins, 11″ x 26″ x .5″ – 27.94 cm x 66.04 cm x 1.27 cm – NFS

What drives us, 2013, gouache, ink, paper and vintage hard drive, 12″ diameter – 30.48 cm diameter – NFS 

What drives you, 2013, gouache, ink, paper and vintage hard drive, 12″ diameter – 30.48 cm diameter

This silver lining needs refining (in collaboration with Hugh Rennison) , 2013 , metal grommets, gouache, wire, card, 16.5″ x 23.2″ –  42 cm x 59.4 cm

The copy is a quote by Italian writer and poet Cesare Pavese and reads “The only joy in the world is to begin. It is beautiful to live because living is to begin again in every moment.”

Bewusstsein, 2013, vinyl, paper, discarded handwritten notes, wood and metal,  23.2″ x 57.8″ – 59.69 cm x 147.32 cm

Escape, 2012, acrylic paint on canvas board, 12″ x 12″ – 30.48 cm x 30.48 cm

Kneel, 2012, acrylic and oil pastels on canvas, 20″ x 20″ – 50.8 cm x 50.8 cm – NFS

Our Sunny View, 2012, spray paint and acrylic paint on cardboard, 26″ x 32″ – 66.04cm  x 81.28 cm, NFS

Shattered, 2012, acrylic paint, paper, ink, string, wire on canvas, 36″ x 48″ – 91.44 cm x 121.92 cm – NFS

Going Where?, 2012, metal and wood, 15″ x 11″ x 12″ – NFS

Contained, 2012, wood, glass, paper and textile, 48″ x 20″ x 6″ – NFS

A Husband and His wife, 2011, ink on paper, 14″ x 17″ – 35.6cm x 43.2cm

A Love Affair, 2011, ink on paper, 14″ x 17″ – 35.6cm x 43.2cm

Hunger, 2011, ink on paper, 18″ x 24″ – 45.7cm x 61cm

Yes & No, 2011, sumi ink on paper, 14″ x 17″ – 35.6cm x 43.2cm

The Rise of the Fall, acrylic paint on paper, 14″ x 17″ – 35.6cm x 43.2cm

Shin, 2011, digital photography

Moving Sandwich, 2011, pencil on paper, 18″ x 24″, 45.7cm x 61cm

Face Off, 2010, paper and enamel paint on glass, 11″ x 14″ – 27.94 cm x 35.56 cm

Save Face, 2010, paper and enamel paint on glass, 11″ x 14″ – 27.94 cm x 35.56 cm

48 images; Vox Somnium at Northern Stage, Vermont, 2017