Mildred Howard

Poetics of Memory

Spanning Howard’s five-decade practice, Poetics of Memory brings together her renowned collages, found-object sculptures, and immersive installations that explore memory, identity, and the African American experience. New and never-before-seen pieces punctuate the exhibition, while archival materials from Howard’s Oakland studio illuminate the cultural currents and lived experiences that shape her practice.

Born in San Francisco in 1945, Howard has been a lifelong resident of the East Bay. In the 1970s, she began making art influenced by textiles, African diasporic dance, and fellow artists like Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, and David Ireland. Howard’s studio became a space for experimentation, where her work has referenced both personal history and collective, generational experiences—from World War I and rapper Tupac Shakur to her family’s own roots in the Great Migration. Similarly, Howard’s monumental public artworks, found across the Bay Area, have highlighted often-overlooked histories, from the Black shipworkers of Hunters Point to the musicians who defined San Francisco jazz.

Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory invites visitors into Howard’s vibrant, poetic world to reflect on how personal memory and collective history intertwine and to connect their own lived experiences to the broader stories that define us.