Composing Communities, the work of Aminah Robinson

Explore the sights, sounds, and stories of Columbus’s history through the textural works of Aminah Robinson. Viewers are enveloped by the vibrant colors, faces, text, and musical scores. Immerse yourself in Robinson’s eclectic world, and hear the music of the communities she created and captured. 

This exhibition is in memory of Terrance Dean, assistant professor in Black Studies at Denison University. Terrance was the Columbus Museum of Art’s first Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Scholar-in-Residence.

Work courtesy of the Estate of the Artist and the Columbus Museum Art

“Combining traditional art materials with found objects and everyday materials such as buttons, cloth, leather, twigs, shells, and music box workings, Columbus, Ohio, artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (1940-2015) created magical two- and three-dimensional works of art. Born in Columbus in 1940 she spent the first 17 years of her life in Poindexter Village, one of the nation’s early federally funded apartment complexes for African Americans. In 1974, she moved to Sunbury Road in the Shepard community of Columbus, where she remained until she passed away in 2015. She left almost her entire estate to the Columbus Museum of Art. The home studio was renovated and is now a residence for African American artists and writers and a daily workspace for local artists.”