Villalongo with Robin Proudie of Descendants of Saint Louis University Enslaved.
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2026-03-07 • Sam Fox School
WashU’s Island Press, partners release “Printing Black America”
2026-03-07 • Sam Fox School
William Villalongo visiting in Island Press (Photo: Caitlin Custer)
WashU’s Island Press in the Sam Fox School and partners at five other printmaking workshops nationwide have released “Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century.” Created by artist William Villalongo and data scientist Shraddha Ramani, the portfolio is a reimagining of W.E.B. Du Bois’s “Data Portraits” informed by contemporary data and local research.
Du Bois originally created his “Data Portraits” as a series of infographics on the progress of Black Americans after Emancipation to be displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Villalongo and Ramani’s reimagined prints were aided by research into official records including the 2020 U.S. census; projects by Black scholars, social scientists, and activists; as well as hyper-local testimonies, data, and archives. The images were created through various printmaking techniques including silkscreen, etching, lithography and archival inkjet.
“Printing Black America” includes 30 prints, divided into six thematic portfolios. The third portfolio in the project, “Employment,” was published at Island Press. The five prints in the portfolio include three that reimagine original Du Bois works and two based on contemporary local research. "Employment” focuses on the Black workforce, providing insight into the dynamics that show how, when, and where Black people participated in the economy and offering an opportunity to reflect on the legacies of slavery.
“Occupations of Black Americans 1900-2012” shows the changing face of Black participation in various occupations since Du Bois’s original work in 1900 until today. Colorful plumes fluctuate between thick and thin as Black participation in each of the eleven categories shifts.”
“‘Sites of Wounding / Sites of Healing; Alternative Atlas: STL,” comes out of an interdisciplinary studio course developed by WashU’s Linda Samuels and Geoff Ward, inspired by Walter Johnson’s book, “The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States.” The resulting map depicts layers of these sites of wounding and sites of healing, recreated through the dissipation of layers through translucency along the map’s timeline.
“Employment and Income Disparities Between Black Women & Men in the U.S.” examines six professional fields through a series of triangles, with base and height correlating to employment and income, respectively. Some findings surprised the creators, such as the relatively small number of men hairstylists or the higher income and employment ratios for women in judicial fields.
“Reclaimed Family Tree: Ancestors Enslaved by Jesuits at St. Louis University and Region 1823-1865,” shares activist Robin Proudie’s reclaimed family tree as a cross-section of a tree, viewed from above. Proudie and members of her family were part of a research initiative by Saint Louis University and the Society of Jesus that revealed that SLU had enslaved more than 70 people from 1823-1865, many of them her ancestors.
“Average Annual Income and Expenditures of Black Families in the U.S.” is an update of one of Du Bois’s most iconic data portraits which was illuminated by beautiful photographs of Black families and a gold “one dollar” coin. The 21st century reimagining — using the plastic shopping bag as a scale — makes visible the greater portion of income that housing requires along with an increased investment in savings, education and healthcare.
Villalongo and Ramani made “Employment” in the Sam Fox School, collaborating with students and conducting research in St. Louis during the 2023-24 academic year as Arthur and Sheila Prensky Visiting Artists.
In addition to Island Press and the “Employment” portfolio, printmaking partners and portfolio themes include: USF Graphicstudio, Tampa, Fla. (Portfolio One: First Impressions); Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, Ny. (Portfolio Two: Populations); Highpoint Editions, Minneapolis, Minn. (Portfolio Four: Ownership); Mullowney Printing Company, Portland, Ore. (Portfolio Five: Education); and Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, Calif. (Portfolio Six: Communities).
For more information about the project, visit islandpress.washu.edu.
About Island Press
Founded in 1978, Island Press is a research-based printmaking workshop at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis committed to creating and publishing innovative prints and multiples, educating students and the broader community about print media, and advancing the printmaking field. Through intensive residencies, visiting artists at Island Press collaborate with the master printer, faculty, and students to explore the expansive theoretical and material terrain of the print.
About the artists
William Villalongo’s figurative paintings, works on paper and sculpture are concerned with representing the Black subject against notions of race, exploring metaphors of mythology and liberation. His work is included in the permanent collections of The National Gallery of Art, the Studio Museum In Harlem, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Princeton University Art Museum. A recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptor’s Grant, he lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y., and serves as an associate professor at The Cooper Union School of Art.
Shraddha Ramani is a Brooklyn-based urbanist and researcher who uses data visualization and mapmaking as tools to make cities more resilient and equitable. She previously served as director of the GIS Data Center at New York City Emergency Management and currently works with the city’s department of transportation on efforts to improve equity and accessibility. Originally from Bangalore, India, her work is heavily informed by her own immigrant experience and centers on democratizing data to better equip communities to make informed decisions about their futures.