Ruby C. Williams
A few months ago I went to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, it was fantastic. The special exhibit was YUMMM! The History, Fantasy, and Future of Food. It continues through Sept. 3, 2017 if you have not seen it - put it on your list.
One of my favorite parts was the Story and Art of Ruby. Here is the story they wrote about her & also some photos of her art. Some of her art was clearly therapy for her and some was a basic sign for what she offered.
Ruby Williams
June 9, Birth year undisclosed—
Ruby C. WIlliams grew up in Bealsville, Florida, a town founded by freed slaves just after the 1865 Emancipation and located near Plant City, “The Winter Strawberry Capital of thWOrld.” Williams, who recalls picking strawberries for three cents a quart as a youngster, always wanted to be an artist: ” My family knew I had some talent about me but, we just didn’t have the money.” Williams became a minister and married one. Together they preached, raised a family, and lived in New Jersey for 25 years. After a devastating betrayal by her husband and best friend, Williams returned to Florida and opened her own produce stand along State Road 60.
To catch the eyes of passing motorists, Williams hand painted bright signs trumpeting her fresh fruits and vegetables. Some of her signs began to morph into expressions of her personal hurt, with messages like, “What! You are in a hotel room with my best friend?” and, “How can you preach the word of God and live?” Soon her customers were asking to buy art even more than her produce. Williams, true to her farming roots, is fond of telling customers and admirers she set up the stand to help local farmers and to earn a living, not to launch a career in art, but that For works in miraculous ways.
Williams’ work has since been collected and exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. She collaborated on an acclaimed children’’s book, I am Ruby, illustrated with her story of growing up in a family of farmers and aimed at promoting healthy eating habits in kids. Despite the artistic notoriety, Williams keeps her priorities straight. “ I love the farming more,” Williams told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012. “ I get my hands in the dirt and get to grow my own food. What is better than having a good pot of black-eyed peas, greens and corn bread? The art might or might not sell, but O always have something to eat.”
Ruby is also a respected healer. Her hands-on treatment of a once skeptical New York reporter “disappeared” his tumor.
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She signed all her signs R.C.W. Here are some of the sayings: Pass the Bread | At Last I have Something | Florida Fresh Orang | Hey Wait For Me | Put It On Man | So Sweet Berry Baby | I jumped in the Wrong Lane | Ms Chicken | Lemon Pie Art By Ruby | Don??S Shake My Apple | It Getting Better | Its A Great Thing To Love Someone | Ruby’s Own Berries | Farm Boy With A Duck | Sweet Orange Florida Best | The Lord is always guiding my hand | This is my baby | Farm Squash | Tired of Being the Good Guy | What Time is it Sugar | Piano Playing Cow I Give Better Butter Milk | Melon Slice | SO What Now | Farm Tomatoe.
here is a link to the AVAM - http://www.avam.org/exhibitions/yummm-show.shtml
