John Thomas Riddle Jr was born March 18, 1933 in Los Angles, California to John Thomas and Helen Louise (Wheeler) Riddle. At 68, he passed Sunday, March 3, 2002 following a heart attack while visiting family in Atlanta, Georgia.
John was a sculptor, painter and printmaker known for artworks that addressed the struggles of black Americans through history.
He was a figurative artist early in his career but changed his ideas about "what the purpose of art should be" after the riots in Watts neighborhood in 1965.
He began to concentrate on themes that explored the harsh realities of life in South Central Los Angeles, creating pieces from welded steel and debris left by the riots.
One such piece, titled "The Ghetto Merchant," was made out of a cash register he found in a burned-out Watts store. It was featured in an exhibit called "19 Sixties, A Cultural Awakening Re-Evaluated, 1965-1975" at the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles in 1989.
Later works often contained references to famous blacks, from Sojourner Truth to Dizzy Gillespie, and drew on African and American folk myths.
John's public commissions include a bronze statue on the grounds of the Georgia Capitol called "Expelled Because of Color." Other works are in the collections of the Oakland Museum, the California African American Museum, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Harriet Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia.
Riddle taught art at Los Angeles High School and Beverly Hills High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1974 he moved to Atlanta, where he taught at Spelman College, directed the city's Neighborhood Art Center and worked for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
In 1974 Riddle relocated to Atlanta and taught art at Spelman College. He later worked as executive director of Atlanta's Neighborhood Arts Center, and also served as assistant director of the Atlanta Civic Center for fifteen years. During his time there, Riddle installed a sculpture on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol commemorating the thirty-three black legislators elected to, and almost immediately removed from, the Georgia General Assembly during the Reconstruction era. The sculpture, entitled Expelled Because of Color, depicts a line of men and women making their way up a winding structure formed out of cast cinder blocks and topped with a ballot box.
Riddle moved back to Los Angeles in 1999 to work as program manager of visual arts for the California African American Museum (CAAM), where he organized the exhibitions William Pajaud: The Sights and Sounds on My New Orleans (with Samella Lewis), Echoes of Our Past: The Narrative Artistry of Palmer C. Hayden, and Celebration and Vision: The Hewitt Collection of African American Art.
He was honored by former U.S. HouseRepresentative Diane Watson on the floor of the U.S. Congress for his many contributions to the state of California.
🇺🇸 John joined the Air Force in 1953 and served four years. He attended night school on the GI Bill for nine years, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in art at California State University, Los Angeles.
Preceded in by his parents, John Sr and Helen Wheeler.
As important as art was to John , nothing was more important to him than his family.
John is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Carmen Willa Garrott Riddle, son and daughter in-law, Anthony Riddle and Rachel Russell; daughter, Deborah Riddle; daughter and son in-law, Shawn and Dr. Raymond Henderson; daughter and son in-law, Pamela and Todd Kilpatrick; daughter and son in-law, Spring and Robert Foster; son, Diallo Riddle; twelve grandchildren, sisters JoAnn Jefferson, Judy Kealing; brother, Paul Riddle; nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friends.
John was a sculptor, painter and printmaker known for artworks that addressed the struggles of black Americans through history.
He was a figurative artist early in his career but changed his ideas about "what the purpose of art should be" after the riots in Watts neighborhood in 1965.
He began to concentrate on themes that explored the harsh realities of life in South Central Los Angeles, creating pieces from welded steel and debris left by the riots.
One such piece, titled "The Ghetto Merchant," was made out of a cash register he found in a burned-out Watts store. It was featured in an exhibit called "19 Sixties, A Cultural Awakening Re-Evaluated, 1965-1975" at the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles in 1989.
Later works often contained references to famous blacks, from Sojourner Truth to Dizzy Gillespie, and drew on African and American folk myths.
John's public commissions include a bronze statue on the grounds of the Georgia Capitol called "Expelled Because of Color." Other works are in the collections of the Oakland Museum, the California African American Museum, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Harriet Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia.
Riddle taught art at Los Angeles High School and Beverly Hills High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1974 he moved to Atlanta, where he taught at Spelman College, directed the city's Neighborhood Art Center and worked for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
In 1974 Riddle relocated to Atlanta and taught art at Spelman College. He later worked as executive director of Atlanta's Neighborhood Arts Center, and also served as assistant director of the Atlanta Civic Center for fifteen years. During his time there, Riddle installed a sculpture on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol commemorating the thirty-three black legislators elected to, and almost immediately removed from, the Georgia General Assembly during the Reconstruction era. The sculpture, entitled Expelled Because of Color, depicts a line of men and women making their way up a winding structure formed out of cast cinder blocks and topped with a ballot box.
Riddle moved back to Los Angeles in 1999 to work as program manager of visual arts for the California African American Museum (CAAM), where he organized the exhibitions William Pajaud: The Sights and Sounds on My New Orleans (with Samella Lewis), Echoes of Our Past: The Narrative Artistry of Palmer C. Hayden, and Celebration and Vision: The Hewitt Collection of African American Art.
He was honored by former U.S. HouseRepresentative Diane Watson on the floor of the U.S. Congress for his many contributions to the state of California.
🇺🇸 John joined the Air Force in 1953 and served four years. He attended night school on the GI Bill for nine years, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in art at California State University, Los Angeles.
Preceded in by his parents, John Sr and Helen Wheeler.
As important as art was to John , nothing was more important to him than his family.
John is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Carmen Willa Garrott Riddle, son and daughter in-law, Anthony Riddle and Rachel Russell; daughter, Deborah Riddle; daughter and son in-law, Shawn and Dr. Raymond Henderson; daughter and son in-law, Pamela and Todd Kilpatrick; daughter and son in-law, Spring and Robert Foster; son, Diallo Riddle; twelve grandchildren, sisters JoAnn Jefferson, Judy Kealing; brother, Paul Riddle; nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friends.
John Thomas Riddle Jr was born March 18, 1933 in Los Angles, California to John Thomas and Helen Louise (Wheeler) Riddle. At 68, he passed Sunday, March 3, 2002 following a heart attack while visiting family in Atlanta, Georgia.
John was a sculptor, painter and printmaker known for artworks that addressed the struggles of black Americans through history.
He was a figurative artist early in his career but changed his ideas about "what the purpose of art should be" after the riots in Watts neighborhood in 1965.
He began to concentrate on themes that explored the harsh realities of life in South Central Los Angeles, creating pieces from welded steel and debris left by the riots.
One such piece, titled "The Ghetto Merchant," was made out of a cash register he found in a burned-out Watts store. It was featured in an exhibit called "19 Sixties, A Cultural Awakening Re-Evaluated, 1965-1975" at the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles in 1989.
Later works often contained references to famous blacks, from Sojourner Truth to Dizzy Gillespie, and drew on African and American folk myths.
John's public commissions include a bronze statue on the grounds of the Georgia Capitol called "Expelled Because of Color." Other works are in the collections of the Oakland Museum, the California African American Museum, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Harriet Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia.
Riddle taught art at Los Angeles High School and Beverly Hills High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1974 he moved to Atlanta, where he taught at Spelman College, directed the city's Neighborhood Art Center and worked for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
In 1974 Riddle relocated to Atlanta and taught art at Spelman College. He later worked as executive director of Atlanta's Neighborhood Arts Center, and also served as assistant director of the Atlanta Civic Center for fifteen years. During his time there, Riddle installed a sculpture on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol commemorating the thirty-three black legislators elected to, and almost immediately removed from, the Georgia General Assembly during the Reconstruction era. The sculpture, entitled Expelled Because of Color, depicts a line of men and women making their way up a winding structure formed out of cast cinder blocks and topped with a ballot box.
Riddle moved back to Los Angeles in 1999 to work as program manager of visual arts for the California African American Museum (CAAM), where he organized the exhibitions William Pajaud: The Sights and Sounds on My New Orleans (with Samella Lewis), Echoes of Our Past: The Narrative Artistry of Palmer C. Hayden, and Celebration and Vision: The Hewitt Collection of African American Art.
He was honored by former U.S. HouseRepresentative Diane Watson on the floor of the U.S. Congress for his many contributions to the state of California.
🇺🇸 John joined the Air Force in 1953 and served four years. He attended night school on the GI Bill for nine years, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in art at California State University, Los Angeles.
Preceded in by his parents, John Sr and Helen Wheeler.
As important as art was to John , nothing was more important to him than his family.
John is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Carmen Willa Garrott Riddle, son and daughter in-law, Anthony Riddle and Rachel Russell; daughter, Deborah Riddle; daughter and son in-law, Shawn and Dr. Raymond Henderson; daughter and son in-law, Pamela and Todd Kilpatrick; daughter and son in-law, Spring and Robert Foster; son, Diallo Riddle; twelve grandchildren, sisters JoAnn Jefferson, Judy Kealing; brother, Paul Riddle; nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friends.
John was a sculptor, painter and printmaker known for artworks that addressed the struggles of black Americans through history.
He was a figurative artist early in his career but changed his ideas about "what the purpose of art should be" after the riots in Watts neighborhood in 1965.
He began to concentrate on themes that explored the harsh realities of life in South Central Los Angeles, creating pieces from welded steel and debris left by the riots.
One such piece, titled "The Ghetto Merchant," was made out of a cash register he found in a burned-out Watts store. It was featured in an exhibit called "19 Sixties, A Cultural Awakening Re-Evaluated, 1965-1975" at the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles in 1989.
Later works often contained references to famous blacks, from Sojourner Truth to Dizzy Gillespie, and drew on African and American folk myths.
John's public commissions include a bronze statue on the grounds of the Georgia Capitol called "Expelled Because of Color." Other works are in the collections of the Oakland Museum, the California African American Museum, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Harriet Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia.
Riddle taught art at Los Angeles High School and Beverly Hills High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1974 he moved to Atlanta, where he taught at Spelman College, directed the city's Neighborhood Art Center and worked for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
In 1974 Riddle relocated to Atlanta and taught art at Spelman College. He later worked as executive director of Atlanta's Neighborhood Arts Center, and also served as assistant director of the Atlanta Civic Center for fifteen years. During his time there, Riddle installed a sculpture on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol commemorating the thirty-three black legislators elected to, and almost immediately removed from, the Georgia General Assembly during the Reconstruction era. The sculpture, entitled Expelled Because of Color, depicts a line of men and women making their way up a winding structure formed out of cast cinder blocks and topped with a ballot box.
Riddle moved back to Los Angeles in 1999 to work as program manager of visual arts for the California African American Museum (CAAM), where he organized the exhibitions William Pajaud: The Sights and Sounds on My New Orleans (with Samella Lewis), Echoes of Our Past: The Narrative Artistry of Palmer C. Hayden, and Celebration and Vision: The Hewitt Collection of African American Art.
He was honored by former U.S. HouseRepresentative Diane Watson on the floor of the U.S. Congress for his many contributions to the state of California.
🇺🇸 John joined the Air Force in 1953 and served four years. He attended night school on the GI Bill for nine years, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in art at California State University, Los Angeles.
Preceded in by his parents, John Sr and Helen Wheeler.
As important as art was to John , nothing was more important to him than his family.
John is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Carmen Willa Garrott Riddle, son and daughter in-law, Anthony Riddle and Rachel Russell; daughter, Deborah Riddle; daughter and son in-law, Shawn and Dr. Raymond Henderson; daughter and son in-law, Pamela and Todd Kilpatrick; daughter and son in-law, Spring and Robert Foster; son, Diallo Riddle; twelve grandchildren, sisters JoAnn Jefferson, Judy Kealing; brother, Paul Riddle; nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friends.
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