Blanch Ackers was an African-American folk artist, who was born in Arkansas but spent most of her life in Michigan. She began drawing and painting while in her seventies, and her work has been acquired by the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
Early life
Ackers was born in 1914 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Paul (a poor sharecropper) She had one brother, James Markham. == Career ==
Career
She moved to the Detroit area with her brother in 1943 to work for a factory, as part of the Great Migration, then later to Ypsilanti, where she spent the rest of her life. Her drawings, such as Homestead and Yellow Interior, often reflected her memories of growing up in Arkansas. On her work, Ackers once said, "I imagine it and I start drawing." == Later life ==
Later life
Ackers had one daughter, Birdes Lawrence Gardner, and two sons, Brodis Williams and Willie Williams. She died in 2003 at a nursing home. == References ==