Mildred Howard - Poetics of Memory

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is proud to present Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory, the first major museum survey of acclaimed Bay Area artist and 2025 Guggenheim Fellow Mildred Howard (b. 1945, San Francisco). Opening June 12, 2026, this landmark exhibition brings together five decades of Howard's artistic practice, including new and never-before-seen works. From early self-portraits and assemblages to large-scale installations and ephemera from the artist's archive, Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore the depth and evolution of Howard's practice. A fully illustrated publication will accompany the survey, ensuring the artist's work is documented for future generations.

Born in San Francisco in 1945 and a lifelong resident of the East Bay, Howard is celebrated for her mixed-media assemblages, immersive installations, and monumental public works that probe memory, identity, and the African American experience. While Howard has long been recognized as a powerful influence in Bay Area contemporary art and the Black Arts Movement, Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory arrives at a moment of growing national recognition for the artist. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, acknowledging her "transformative impact on American intellectual and cultural life" and cementing her position as a vital artistic voice.

"Mildred Howard is one of the most important living artists in the Bay Area," says Carin Adams, OMCA Senior Curator of Art. "Her work is simultaneously poetic and political, personal and collective. This exhibition celebrates her profound contributions to contemporary art, while affirming her place in the canon of American art history."

Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory unfolds as a layered journey through Howard's work and life. Visitors will enter into a section featuring early artworks and objects from Howard's own archive. Influences of fashion and African diasporic dance are highlighted alongside Howard's generative friendships with fellow artists, including Romare Bearden, Oliver Jackson, Hung Liu, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, and her mentor, Bay Area conceptual artist David Ireland. This area provides a deeply personal entry point into the recurring themes of her practice: memory, body, and language.