Noelle Lorraine Williams
Noelle Lorraine Williams (b. 1975) is a public humanities professional, multimedia artist, researcher, and curator based in Newark, New Jersey. Her work focuses on the history and social justice in the context of the US. She has stated that she uses women’s craft, photography, and video to tell stories of the African American movement and rebellion, “I present Black women’s stories to illuminate what it means to be American today.”
Williams received a Bachelor of Social and Historical Inquiry from The New School for Social Research, NY, and a Master in American Studies and Public Humanities from Rutgers University, Newark. She has exhibited at the Paul Robeson Gallery Rutgers University, Newark Public Library, The African American Museum in Philadelphia, Newark Museum, and Cue Art Foundation among others. Williams is the recipient of the 2021 Individual Artist Fellowship Award for Crafts from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
About her work in WOV II:
For “A Womb of Violet: Volume II”, Noelle Lorraine Williams has contributed several works: “Black Power! 19th Century: Newark’s First African American Rebellion Historical Poster”, “The Art and Beauty of Black Power”, and “Blood Money”, all from 2021.
The first one is a collage that includes, among photographs of people related to Newark’s “First African American Rebellion”, the Coe well, one of the oldest surviving artifacts carved by enslaved people in Newark, a not in the “Old First” membership ledger, a photograph of Plane Street Colored Church in 1905, and a sign of Black Lives Matter. “Blood Money” includes a "For Sale" advertisement for a freedom seeker and her child published in “Sentinel of Freedom” in 1816. More about this project can be found at blackpower19thcentury.com
You can learn more about her at noellelorrainewilliams.com