About

Willie Little

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Willie Little is a Black multimedia artist and author. His visual narratives document a fading part of rural southern life while also tackling topics of racism and Black Lives Matter, Social Justice, and the childhood memories of growing up on a tobacco farm in Eastern North Carolina.

His memoir, In the Sticks, documents his years growing up as a poor, Black and gay child in the rural south.

He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay area and Portland, Oregon.

Little is an artist whose genius incorporates sculpture, painting, sound installations, re-constructed architecture, re-cycled memorabilia, and real-life stories. 

Willie pours out his soul for all to see as he relives growing up during a time of radical change. The common thread in all the work he creates is his examination of the manifestations of physical and societal decay in American culture.

Willie received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His solo exhibits include the Smithsonian Institution, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the Froelick Gallery in Portland, the Noel Gallery in Charlotte, the American Jazz Museum, and the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.

Notable group exhibitions include the Corcoran, the California Folk Art Museum and three International Assemblage exhibitions in Berlin, Germany.

He also participated in The Hourglass Project: Baggage, an internationally renowned residency and exhibition program, which toured venues throughout South Africa, Belgium, and Mozambique; the work is archived in a catalog published by Caversham Press. (South Africa)

Little has an upcoming solo exhibition, In My Own Little Corner, opening at Oregon Contemporary, Portland, Oregon, August 5- October, 2022.

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Willie Little Curriculum Vitae

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Lectures/Workshops:

• Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
• Craft and Folk Art Museum forum with Betye Saar, Los Angeles, CA
• Sesnon Gallery, Porter College, UC Santa Cruz, CA
• Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC
• CCAC , Oakland California
• Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
• University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
• University of Capetown, Capetown, South AfricaBittney Springs High School, Nevada City, CA
• University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA
• Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University
• Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
• Piedmont Middle School, Charlotte, NC
• Northwest School of the Arts, Charlotte, NC
• Afro American Cultural Center, Charlotte, NC
• Tryon Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC
• Cabarras Art Guild, Concord, NC

TV Appearances:

• WLOS 13, ABC Affiliate Asheville, NC
• Out of the Ashes, WTVI Public Television Documentary
• North Carolina Now, WUNC Public Television
• Assignment Carolinas, WJZY 46
• South Carolina Public Television
• WBTV 3 News, story on Hugh McColl
• WBTV 3 News, Black History Month Showcase

Radio Appearances:

• KXL, KXL, Speaking Freely, Portland, OR 2019
• KWMR, San Francisco, CA 2018
• KBOO, Portland, OR 2018
• WUNC, NPR 2002
• Radio Disney 2002
• KERA, NPR Dallas, Texas 2000
• Mike Collins, WFAE, NPR 1998, 2000, 2008
• WSOC Morning Show, 1999
• Todd Munce Show, NPR, Detroit MI. 1998

Collections:

• Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
• Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 
• Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
• Ambassador of Madagascar
• Jeff Warner Designs, San Francisco, CA, Hawaii
• Peter Luder, Howard Kanini, London, England
• Traveling Collection of Judy Norell,
• Myth, Memory and Imagination (Washington, DC)
• Bank of America Corporate Offices, Charlotte, NC
• Jon D. Lowly    SF, CA
• Betsy Schmidt  Sacramento, CA
• Allison Knapp  SF, CA
• Emily Leff   Granite Bay, CA 
• Aynesh Johnson  NY, NY
• Patty and Jeff Baird- Cedar House Sport Hotel, Truckee, CA
• Sara Harris   L.A., CA
• Lisa Eisenpresser L.A., CA  
• Tanya Jordan-Taylor, Buchanan and Jordan Inc-Reno, CA
• Shaye Whittlesey  Nevada City, CA
• Wendy Whitson Asheville, NC 
• Paul Geenty Nevada City
• Danny Simmons, NYC
• Robert Gray, Palm Springs, CA
• Rick Wulff, Berkeley, CA
• Dr. Nicholas Daniels and Dr. John Eckels, San Francisco, CA
• First Charter Bank Headquarters, Charlotte, NC
• Tobacco Farm Life Museum, Kenly NC
• Afro- American Cultural Center, Charlotte, NC
• Davis Steel, Matthews, NC
• Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC
• Mary Tribble, Charlotte, NC
• Jodie and Frank Turner, Charlotte, NC
• McColl Center for Visual Art
• Headlands Center for the Arts

Bibliography:

• Karren, Howard, An Exhibit Makes Waves in Provincetown, The Provincetown Independent, October, 15, 2020
• Driscoll, Kathi Scrizzi, Provincetown Galleries, Artists Speak Out About Unprecedented Times, Cape Cod Times, October 14, 2020
• Larimore, Phillip On Willie Little: Proof of Promises Kept, Charlotte Viewpoint Metropolitan Ideas & Art, July, 2016
• Schreiber, Barbara, Willie Little Takes on Tea Party, Klan in Exhibition, Charlotte News and Observer, September, 2014
• Titcombe, Tara, Best of Winston Salem, US Airways Magazine, September, 2010
• Kopp, Bill, Willie Little’s Juke Joint: A Slice of the 50s, Laurel of Asheville, February, 2010
• Kopp, Bill, Juke Joint: Hookers, Batwings, Pigs’ Feet and Hair Tonic, Mountain Express, Asheville, 12/16/2009
• Motsinger, Carol, Juke Joint Revisted: Interactive YMI Exhibit re-creates lost culture, Citizen Times, Asheville, 12/13/2009
• Barden, Louise, The Darker Side of ‘Mixed Company’, South Park Magazine, 5/2008
• Vance, Donna, Exhibit adds to our grasp of divisions, Charlotte Observer,1/18/2008
• Singleton, Erica, Breaking Mythic assumptions, The Charlotte Post,1/24/2008
• Richard, Paul, Smithsonian’s ‘Juke Joint’ Last Call for a Vanished South
• Washington Post, 9/29/2003
• ‘Juke Joint’ Exhibit Opens In American Jazz Museum, Kansas City Call, 2003
• Lewis, Samella, PhD, African American Artists, 4th Edition, 2003
• Dickson, Laurie, Ode To Southern Roots, Artists’ Interiors… Creative Spaces, Inspired Living, 2003
• Lewis, Scott, ‘Out of the Box’ Artist Willie Little Gets Playful with Race, Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC, 6/5/02
• Maschal, Richard, Dolls Foster Study of Racial Stereotypes, Charlotte Observer, 6/3/02
• Greenburg, Blue, Down Memory Lane in the South, The Herald Sun, Durham, NC, 09/02
• Raleigh News & Observer, 10/02
• Arts & Science Council Newsletter, 2002
• Home Grown…Celebrating Arts of North Carolina, SECCA Catalogue, 2001
• Lee, Heath-Hartage, Treasure Hunt, Charlotte Place, November 2001
• Parker, Alan-Michael, South African Artists Depict ‘Truths’, Charlotte Observer, 08/01
• Paterson, Tom, A Little Homework, Winston-Salem Journal, 06/03/01
• Getting A Handle on ‘Baggage’, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/17/01
• Maschal, Richard,’ Prayer’: Focus on Faith Through the Artist’s Lens, Charlotte Observer, 05/11/01
• Like A Prayer: A Jewish and Christian Presence in Contemporary Art, Catalogue, 2000
• The Hourglass Project: Baggage, Catalogue, 2000
• Muller-Price, Debra, A Sanctuary for the Arts, Southern Accents, March-April, 2000
• Swisher, Amy, Little’s Big Gift, Creative Loafing, 09/02/00
• Brown, Derrick, ‘Door’ Opens for Charlotte Artist in Residence, Charlotte Post, Summer, 2000
• Willie Little’s tell-a-tale art, Independent Tribune, 03/31/00
• Downtown Magazine, Summer 2000, Winter 2001
• Grant, Kandice, Willie Little, A Revivalist of the Rural South Uses Art to Spin Living Tales of Times Past, Cultural Calendar, 04/05/00
• Higgins, Katherine, Little Draws from his Experiences as a Country Boy, The Smithfield Herald, 04/13/00
• Simpson, Thea, Little’s Art Tells Family Story, Life on Eastern NC Tobacco Farm, The Wilson Daily News, 04/18/00
• Fox, Catherine, Where Creativity Can Flourish, Atlanta Journal- Constitution, 01/09/00
• Fox, Catherine, Charlotte’s New Devotion to the Arts, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 01/09/00
• Dunn, Debra, Artist Fellowship Awarded, Charlotte Observer, 06/23/00
• Norman, Bud, Art Display Celebrates Good Friends in Low Places, Wichita Eagle, 08/00
• Kansas African American Museum Inc., and Kansas Art Commission & K.T Weidemann Foundation Present Juke Joint, Catalogue, 2000
• Create Something, Charlotte Magazine, 01/01
• Brown, Linda-Louise, Americans, Creative Loafing, 02/27/99
• Myth, Memory and Imagination: Universal Themes in the Life and Culture of the South, Catalogue, The collection of Judy Norell, 1999
• Miller, Hanna, Jukin’ Charlotte Magazine, May 1999
• Lewis, Scott, Southern Exposure, Northern Light, Creative Loafing, 10/9/99
• Residents: 1999/2000, Catalogue, Tryon Center for Visual Art, 1999
• Juke Joint: A Community Story, Cover Story, North Carolina Arts Council Newsletter, Spring/Summer 1999
• Arts & Science Council Newsletter, Autumn 1999
• Haight,Kathy, Artsy Inaugural, Charlotte Observer, 07/11/99
• Meadows, Bob, Exhibit Portrays Life on a Tobacco Farm, Charlotte Observer, 08/30/98
• Brown, Linda-Louise, Praise Singer, Creative Loafing, 08/98
• Juke Joints Jive at Museum, Michigan Press, 07/23/98
• Colby, Joy-Hakanson, Multimedia ‘Juke Joint’ Pulls Visitors into the Southern Memories, The Detroit News, 07/3/98
• Cohen, Keri- Guten, Sculptures Bring Juke Joint to Life, Detroit News& Free Press, 08/16/98
• Pearson, Craig, Cultural Celebration, The Windsor Star, 08/14/98
• Museum Seeks ‘Paradise’ Memories, The Monitor, 07/16/98 (Michigan)
• This Joint is Jumpin’ (all Detroit, Michigan area, 07/26/98)
• Framingham Observer
• Garden City Observer
• Westland Observer
• Rochester Eccentric
• Troy Eccentric
• Southfield Eccentric
• West Bloomfield Eccentric
• Plymouth Observer
• Birmingham Eccentric
• Canton Observer
• Livonia Observer
• Colby, Joy- Hakanson, Artist Crafts a Slice of African American Life, Detroit Press, 1998
• Moran, K- Michelle, Rural Aesthetic, Troy Times (Detroit) 08/5/98
• Harley, Cathy, At Penn Center…The ‘Joint Jumping’, The Packet, Beaufort, SC, 1997
• Toppman, Lawrence, Installation Evokes Civil Rights –Era Church, Charlotte Observer, 1997
• Day, Jeffery, Gallery Exhibit Reserves Viewers’ Place at Juke Joint, The State Newspaper, SC, 03/09/97
• Joy, Pain Meet in ‘Juke Joint’, Greensboro News& Record, 05/08/97
• Marley, Dan, Hometown Hangout, The Macon Telegraph, 06/20/97
• MacNeil, William, Crossing Cultures Provide Impetus for Art Show, Pasatiempo, Santa Fe, NM, 04/97
• Santa Fe Magazine, 1997
• Seawright, Sandy, Two Way Street, Creative Loafing, 08/15/97
• Young, Jeri, ‘Amazing Grace’ Exhibit at New South, Charlotte Post, 10/31/96
• Drake, Nicholas, Little Creates a ‘Juke Joint’ From his Memory, The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC, 06/20/96
• Walker, Sherry, Pride Goes to ‘Juke Joint’, Pride Magazine, August, 1996
• Walker, Sherry, Willie Little’s Juke Joint, C Magazine, Volume 2, Number 3, Cover Story, Spring, 1996
• Meadows, Bob, Artist Brings his Childhood to Life, Charlotte Observer, 04/07/96
• Mint Museum of Art, Catalogue, 1994-95

Other Experience:

• Grant Panelist, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, Oregon, 2020 
• National Advisory Board, McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC, Emeritis
• National Advisory Board, McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC, 2011-2015
• Board of Directors, Tryon Center for Visual Art. Charlotte NC 2001-2002, Advocate for fellow artists, Strategic and Diversity committees