Destiny is not a matter of chance and no child of coincidence.
Harlem Baby and Anansi: Princes and Powers,
2026 by Lisa Whittington
In Print.
In Scholarship.
In Cultural Record.
The WORK IS
SPEAKING
Lisa Whittington's fine art has entered conversations far beyond the studio. Her paintings have become subjects of academic scholarship, critical examination, national journalism, and cinematic storytelling.
From award-winning scholarship published by Oxford University Press to national media coverage and interviews documenting the influence of her work on major television productions, these publications reveal the expanding cultural life of her art.
Whittington does not create fine art to follow the conversation. Her work gives people something to talk about.
This archive brings together the institutions engaging with her work.
SCHOLARLY RECOGNITION & CRITICAL WRITING
MELUS | Oxford University Press
2026 Katherine Newman Essay Prize — Co-Winner
Literary Reparation: Lists, Till, and The Trees
Miriam Thaggert | 2025
Fine artist Lisa Whittington's painting Emmett Till: How She Sent Him and How She Got Him Back is cited in this award-winning scholarly essay examining Emmett Till's continuing presence in American literature, visual art, and cultural memory.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY | RESOURCES FOR LOSS
Emmett Till: How She Sent Him and How She Got Him Back
Sydney Wiredu | 2025
An extended student interpretation of Whittington's painting exploring grief, historical memory, racial violence, color, and the responsibility of representation.
Published as part of Resources for Loss, a Harvard-hosted academic project featuring student research and critical interpretation.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY | RESOURCES FOR LOSS
How She Sent Him and How She Got Him Back
Kira Traylor | 2021
A separate student interpretation of Whittington's Emmett Till painting, situating the work within broader discussions of loss, historical trauma, and cultural remembrance.
CONTEMPTORARY | ART & CULTURAL CRITICISM
The Rage: Some Closing Comments on “Open Casket”
Jared Sexton | 2017
In this critical essay examining the controversy surrounding Dana Schutz's Open Casket, Sexton discusses Whittington's painting and considers questions of Black representation, artistic responsibility, and the cultural significance of images of racial violence.
ECOTONE | LITERARY JOURNAL
The Sun Still Shines
Lisa Love Whittington | 2022
Whittington contributes her own writing and visual art to Ecotone, a literary journal exploring relationships among place, history, culture, and the environment.
Her contribution extends her artistic storytelling beyond the canvas into literary expression.
NATIONAL PRESS & FEATURES
NBC NEWS | THINK
#MuseumsSoWhite: Representation, Black Pain, and Why Painting Emmett Till Matters
Lisa Whittington | March 26, 2017
In this published commentary, Whittington addresses the responsibility of artists portraying Black suffering and the controversy surrounding Dana Schutz's painting Open Casket.
Writing from the perspective of a Black fine artist whose own work confronts Emmett Till's murder, Whittington examines questions of representation, ownership of historical narratives, and artistic accountability.
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
A Closer Look at 6 Artists from The Iconic Home
2021
An individual feature examining Whittington's artistic practice, creative philosophy, and work, including Double Consciousness: The Strange Meaning of Being Black.
The feature introduces her fine art to audiences interested in the intersection of visual art, design, architecture, and cultural identity.
COLOSSAL MEDIA
Painting a Memoir
Artist Interview
An extensive interview exploring Whittington's autobiographical painting A Harlem Story, her childhood in Harlem, the neighborhood's history, and the transformation of her original painting into a monumental public mural in Brooklyn.
The conversation examines how personal memory, architecture, cultural history, and storytelling intersect in her work.
HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
39 Black Designers Talk Being Black in the Design Industry—and What Needs to Change
2020
Whittington contributes her perspective to a national conversation examining race, representation, creative opportunity, and the experiences of Black artists and designers.
AL JAZEERA
Abstracting the Savaged Body of Emmett Till
M. Neelika Jayawardane | April 2, 2017
An examination of the controversy surrounding Dana Schutz's Open Casket and the broader responsibilities involved in representing Black suffering.
The article references Whittington's perspective as a fine artist and her published commentary on the portrayal of Emmett Till.
THE SOCIAL DISTANCING FESTIVAL
Featured Artist: Lisa Whittington
2021
A dedicated feature presenting selected works from Whittington's fine art practice, including Under A Soprano Sky, The Black Woman Coalition, and The Devil Finds Work.
The presentation introduces audiences to her use of historical narrative, symbolism, and contemporary Black experience.
MARGARET NOBLE | ARTIST REFLECTION
Scaled Discords
Artist Margaret Noble reflects upon race, creative responsibility, and the influence of Whittington's writing and feedback on her own artistic thinking.
An example of Whittington's ideas reaching beyond her individual practice into the work and conversations of other artists.
FILM, TELEVISION & CULTURAL CONVERSATIONS
MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION | THE CREDITS
Swagger Creator Reggie Rock Bythewood on Soaring to New Narrative Heights in Season 2
June 2023
Filmmaker Reggie Rock Bythewood discusses the influence of Whittington's fine art on Apple TV's Swagger.
Inspired by her painting Emmett Till: How She Sent Him and How She Got Him Back, Bythewood identified and named the colors Emmett Blue, Emmett Yellow, and Emmett Red, incorporating them into the series' visual identity.
The interview also discusses Whittington's contribution to the animated main-title artwork.
A significant example of fine art informing cinematic storytelling.
NPR
Swagger Follows a Young Basketball Prodigy, Inspired by Kevin Durant's Life Story
October 30, 2021
In this interview, Reggie Rock Bythewood discusses the inspiration behind Swagger and the importance of portraying the experiences of young Black athletes.
He references Whittington's Emmett Till painting and its influence on his thinking about the vulnerability, promise, and protection of Black youth.
NETFLIX | A DIFFERENT WORLD
In Conversation with Production Designer Bruton Jones
September 26, 2026
Production designer Bruton Jones discusses the reimagining of The Pit, bridging 34 years of television history and incorporating fine art into the visual storytelling of Hillman College.
Jones selected six original paintings by Whittington for the production, with five transformed into monumental murals. He also imagined Whittington as a former Hillman student who became an internationally recognized fine artist and returned artwork to her alma mater.
Her name subsequently appeared within Hillman's fictional institutional history through an onscreen exhibition at the Hillman College Art Museum.
Explore Lisa Whittington's A Different World Gallery
SELECTED INSTITUTIONAL PUBLICATIONS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE | ART IN EMBASSIES
Yaoundé Exhibition | 2022
Whittington's paintings Awaking in New York and Just Above My Head were presented through the U.S. Department of State's Art in Embassies program in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
The exhibition extended her work into an international setting of cultural exchange.
View Lisa Whittington's State Department Artist Profile
THE WORK IS SPEAKING.
And the conversation continues.
Sweet Reckoning by Lisa Whittington