Gilda Snowden
A painter and mentor who turned Detroit gardens, manhole covers and family history into vivid abstraction.
This artist's work is shown through the museum and artist links on this page while it remains under copyright or awaits a permission-cleared image.
Snowden was born in Detroit and grew up on the northwest side. She attended Cass Technical High School and earned a BFA and an MFA at Wayne State University, where she studied with John Egner in the orbit of the Cass Corridor movement.
She described all her work as autobiographical. Monument (1988) chronicles her family's journey from Alabama to Detroit. Her City Album rubbings record manhole covers she found on her bicycle, and her Flora Urbana encaustics draw on community gardens growing on former building sites.
She joined the College for Creative Studies in 1985 and became a central mentor to emerging artists. The Gilda Snowden Emerging Artist Awards have honored that work since 2015.